People Operations & Systems Specialist

Relay is a digital banking platform that gives self-made business owners the tools and know-how to be great with money—bringing clarity, confidence, and control to every dollar earned, so they can turn hard work into lasting success. We do this by replacing financial guesswork with real visibility, transforming cash flow from a constant source of stress into a clear signal owners can use to run stronger, more resilient businesses.

THE MISSION

Our People Team exists to build Relay into a company high-performing, ambitious people actively choose and a place where they do career-defining work.

We are hiring a People Operations & Systems Specialist to close our operational gap and build the technical infrastructure that lets the People team operate at a fundamentally different level of efficiency going forward.

The Problem Statement

Right now, two problems sit on top of each other.

First: our People tech stack is fragmented, data lives in multiple systems with limited connectivity, manual handoffs fill the gaps, and there's no single source of truth for People data.

Second: our operational and coordination work (onboarding logistics, systems admin, day-to-day People requests) currently has no dedicated owner, which means it's landing on people whose job is meant to be something else.

This role exists to solve both, in sequence. You'll own the operational work directly from day one, and as you build the automation and systems layer underneath it, that same work should increasingly run itself. The goal is not to add process, but to eliminate it.

WHAT YOU'LL BE DOING

The primary areas of ownership in this role include, but are not limited to:

People Operations & Coordination

• Own day-to-day People operational work: onboarding/offboarding logistics, systems admin, employee data updates, and ad hoc People requests.

• Own People data end to end: keep headcount, attrition, compensation, and hiring metrics accurate and fast to pull from day one, build that into a self-serve dashboard system in Rippling (or connected tooling) as the year progresses, run analyses that surface trends and risks, and prepare ad hoc reporting for board materials and executive updates in partnership with People leadership.

• Be the responsive point of contact for operational asks that don't need a People Business Partner or specialist judgment call.

• Document current-state processes with clear eyes as you run them, building the foundation for what comes next.

Process Mapping & Automation Strategy

• Map every People process end to end: onboarding, offboarding, employee changes, benefits enrollment, performance cycles, and more.

• Identify what can be fully automated, what needs a human in the loop and why, and what is manual today only because no one has built the solution yet.

• Build a prioritized automation roadmap and own delivery against it.

• Evaluate workflow automation and integration platforms and make a recommendation on what we should adopt.

Systems & Infrastructure Ownership

• Own our full People tech stack: HRIS, ATS, onboarding, employee experience, and benefits tools, with a mandate to make them work together. Current stack: Rippling, Gusto, Ashby, CultureAmp, Notion, Google Suite, Claude, ChatGPT, Jira, and various benefits/insurance provider platforms.

• Build and maintain integrations using native connectors, automation tooling, and lightweight custom solutions where gaps exist, partnering with IT to surface underutilized capability before we add anything new.

• Own vendor relationships across the stack: renewals, escalations, utilization tracking, and contract management, and lead structured evaluations with clear criteria when new tooling is needed.

• Track ROI on People tech investments, flag what isn't earning its cost, and own documentation on system configurations, integrations, and decisions via Notion.

AI-Powered Workflows

• Use AI tools actively and practically, not as a novelty, to automate recurring workflows, reduce manual reporting, and surface insights without human intervention.

• Identify where AI can replace manual judgment in low-stakes, high-frequency People tasks and build those workflows.

• Stay close to what's new in HR/People tech and AI tooling and experiment quickly.

WHO YOU ARE

You’re a strong fit for this role if the following are true:

• You're comfortable owning both the operational grind and the systems work that eliminates it. You don't see the coordination work as beneath you. You're motivated by the fact that you'll personally feel the pain points you're automating.

• You have 2-4 years of hands-on experience owning and improving systems and tooling, and you've shipped automations that other people now depend on. The specific tools matter less than your ability to transfer it to whatever stack Relay adopts.

• You are genuinely data-minded: you can pull, clean, model, and present data without someone checking your work, and you find patterns other people miss.

• You are comfortable working with People technology at a configuration and integration level. You know where to look when something breaks, you form a view on what to do about it, and you act on it.

• You are curious about the technical layer underneath the tools you use. You may not have built custom integrations from scratch yet, but you'd learn what you needed to if the problem required it, and you'd find that interesting.

• You care about employee experience and understand that the quality of the operational layer is what shapes how people actually feel about working somewhere.

What this role is not:

• This is not a role for someone who prefers to work within existing systems rather than redesign them. If your instinct is to document the workaround rather than eliminate the problem, this is not the right fit.

• This is not a role for someone who needs a fully defined mandate before they can move. The scope will evolve and you will be expected to drive it.

You can check out the draft 30-60-90 day plan for this role here https://www.notion.so/relayfi/People-Systems-Automation-Specialist-349da8b7f885808d9c4ec7cc4b40f46a on our Candidate Hub.

THE INTERVIEW PROCESS

Stage 1: A 20-30 minute introductory video call with the hiring manager

Stage 2: A 45-60 minute behavioural & situational interview with the hiring manager

Stage 3: A take home case study assignment and a 60 minute presentation and discussion to a few members of the People Team

Stage 4: A 30-45 minute Google Meets video call with a member of our leadership team

OUR COMPENSATION APPROACH

We believe Relayers should feel rewarded for the impact they have on our mission and growth. Compensation follows impact. As impact increases, compensation grows, and we do not limit compensation changes to a once-a-year review cycle.

The annual salary range for this role is $80,750 - $109,250 CAD. For candidates who demonstrate full readiness for the defined scope of the role, the typical annual starting salary is $95,000 CAD. We may also consider levelling this role up for someone more senior into their career. In this case, the typical starting annual salary could be up to $115,000 CAD.

Offers below this point reflect candidates we believe can grow into the full scope of the role with support and development. Offers above this point reflect impact that meaningfully exceeds the role’s defined expectations or an expanded scope from day one.

For more information on our compensation philosophy and perks and benefits, visit our Candidate Hub https://www.notion.so/Candidate-Hub-1c7da8b7f88580a893f7d7c7852b064e?pvs=21.

Why Relay Might Be the Perfect Fit For You

• You push relentlessly for reinvention: You're always asking "how can this be better?" -- in your work, in your craft, in yourself. Comfort is a signal to push harder, not coast. You'd rather build something better than defend something familiar.

• You crave autonomy: We trust our team with big challenges and the freedom to solve them. If you’re someone who takes initiative, is comfortable taking risks, and seeks input when needed, you’ll find the freedom here empowering.

• You own your work: You take pride in your work, follow through on commitments, and feel a deep sense of responsibility for outcomes, not just tasks.

• You build with AI, not just use it: You're actively embedding AI into how you work, pushing what's possible, and bringing your team along with you.

• You care about impact, not noise: You care deeply about the substance of your work. You measure success by results, not recognition, and you let your work speak for itself. 

• You’re energized by complexity and ambiguity: You enjoy tackling problems that don’t come with a playbook. You’re comfortable building from scratch, iterating as you go, and collaborating to shape the best path forward.

• You seek out feedback: You see directness as respect, not criticism. You actively seek input, sit with hard truths, and use feedback as fuel for improvement.

• Small businesses are why we're here: Relay exists to help them thrive -- and that mission has to resonate with you.

Join Us

We're looking for people who are relentless, curious, and care deeply about the work. You're encouraged to apply even if your experience doesn't perfectly match the job description -- your perspective and drive matter more. We welcome diverse backgrounds and people who think critically, challenge the status quo, and want to help small businesses thrive.

If you require accommodations at any stage of the hiring process, please reach out to your Talent Partner.

Disclaimer: For compliance reasons, all offers of employment at Relay are conditional upon a successful background check and employment verification through Certn.