People Systems Engineer in Los Angeles

Hadrian - Manufacturing the FutureHadrian is building autonomous factories that help aerospace and defense companies manufacture rockets, satellites, jets, and ships up to 10x faster and up to 2x cheaper. By combining advanced software, robotics, and full-stack manufacturing, we are reinventing how America produces its most critical parts.We are accelerating our mission with the launch of Factory 3 in Mesa, Arizona, a 290,000-square-foot facility creating 350 new jobs. We are expanding rapidly to support thousands of future hires, launching Hadrian Maritime to expand into naval production, and introducing a Factory-as-a-Service model that delivers complete systems instead of individual parts.Hadrian is backed by leading investors including T. Rowe Price, Lux Capital, Founders Fund, and Andreessen Horowitz. Our fast-growing team is united around reindustrializing American manufacturing for the 21st century and beyond.The RoleAt Hadrian, we are not just building autonomous factories — we are building the teams, systems, and culture that will power the future of aerospace and defense manufacturing. As we scale, the People team plays a critical role in shaping how we attract, enable, and retain world-class talent across both engineering and advanced manufacturing.Working on the People team at Hadrian means designing and operationalizing the foundation of a company that blends cutting-edge robotics, AI, and precision manufacturing — while supporting a workforce that spans software engineers, machinists, program managers, and everything in between.We are looking for builders: thoughtful, action-oriented team members who care deeply about people, process, and performance — and who want to help create a company culture that is as strong as the infrastructure we are deploying.If you are energized by complexity, mission-critical work, and the chance to shape the trajectory of a company from the inside out, we would love to hear from you.Our People function is scaling fast - and we are building the data infrastructure to match. As our People Systems Engineer, you will have the rare opportunity to design and build this foundation from the ground up, creating systems that will power how we operate for years to come.Working closely with our People Systems Product Manager, you will own the technical architecture of our People stack. That means building integrations that connect Rippling seamlessly with the rest of our ecosystem, automating data flows to unlock speed and accuracy, and setting engineering standards that make our infrastructure scalable and reliable.As we scale, a key area of ownership for this role will be evaluating our readiness for a dedicated BI tool - assessing our data foundation, exploring architecture options, and building the data layer needed to support a platform like Looker or Tableau.If you want to own the full arc of a People data infrastructure build, from the first integration to a production-grade analytics platform - this is that opportunity.What You'll DoArchitect and implement a unified data access layer for People systems, including building MCP-style services that expose structured People data to LLM-powered interfaces - enabling natural querying, workflow automation, and intelligent tooling across HRIS, ATS, and adjacent systemsDesign, build, and maintain integrations between Rippling and adjacent systems - ATS, finance, workforce management, collaboration tools - using REST APIs, webhooks, and integration platformsBuild and own data pipelines that move People data reliably between systems, with error handling, logging, and monitoring so nothing breaks silently and problems surface before they become business issuesPartner closely with the People Systems PM to translate roadmap priorities into technical solutions - you will help shape requirements, not just execute themDesign and evolve the People data model and underlying data layer (e.g. warehouse or equivalent), ensuring it supports both operational workflows and downstream analytics/BI use casesAssess readiness for and help implement a BI layer (e.g. Looker, Tableau), including defining data models, transformations, and metrics that enable reliable People analyticsEstablish and maintain engineering standards for how integrations and pipelines are built, documented, and handed off - you are building for the long term, not just to shipSupport technical work across the broader People tech stack - including Confluence and other tools where engineering capability creates meaningful leverageWhat We're Looking For4+ years of engineering experience with a meaningful focus on systems integrations, data pipelines, or internal tooling - People or HR domain experience is a strong plusStrong programming ability in Python, or comparable (e.g. TypeScript/Node), with the ability to work across data and backend systemsHands-on experience building and maintaining REST API integrations - authentication patterns, rate limiting, webhook management, and robust error handling are second nature to youExperience building ETL or ELT pipelines that move structured data reliably between systems at scaleFamiliarity with integration platforms such as Workato, Zapier, or similar - and the judgment to know when to use one versus building customDesign data models with analytical use cases in mind, not just operational needsComfortable operating with high autonomy alongside non-technical stakeholders - you can move fast without waiting to be unblocked and you communicate tradeoffs clearlyA bias toward action and ownership - comfortable operating independently in a hypergrowth startup environmentWhat Will Set You ApartExperience working with LLMs, embeddings, or building AI-powered internal tools (e.g. RAG pipelines, natural interfaces over structured data)Direct experience integrating Rippling, Workday, BambooHR, or similar HRIS platforms via APIHands-on experience with BI tools like Looker, Tableau, or Power BI - ideally including the data modeling and pipeline work required to make them useful, not just the visualization layerExposure to modern data stack tooling - Snowflake, BigQuery, Redshift - even if you have not built a full warehouse end-to-endExperience supporting both exempt and non-exempt populations in manufacturing, defense, or similarly complex environmentsCompensationFor this role, the target salary range is $140,000-$213,000 (actual range may vary based on experience). This is the lowest to highest salary we reasonably and in good faith believe we would pay for this role at the time of this posting. We may ultimately pay more or less than the posted range, and the range may be modified in the future. An employee's pay position within the salary range will be based on several factors, including, but not limited to, relevant education, qualifications, certifications, experience, skills, geographic location, performance, and business or organizational needs.BenefitsMedical, dental, vision, and life insurance plans for employees401(k)Relocation support may be provided for certain situations, based on business needFlexible vacation policyITAR RequirementsTo conform to U.S. Government space technology export regulations, including the International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR) you must be a U.S. citizen, lawful permanent resident of the U.S., protected individual as defined by 8 U.S.C. 1324b(a)(3), or eligible to obtain the required authorizations from the U.S. Department of State. Learn more about the ITAR here.Hadrian Is An Equal Opportunity EmployerThe company's policy is to provide equal employment opportunity for all applicants and employees. The company does not unlawfully discriminate on the basis of any protected class. When necessary, the company also makes reasonable accommodations for disabled candidates and employees.J-18808-Ljbffr