---
title: 'People Operations & Culture Generalist at Cellanome'
canonical: 'https://feeny.ai/job/people-operations-culture-generalist-cellanome-foster-city-nf3fdmz0w1t7'
type: 'job'
last_seen: '2026-09-11'
---

# People Operations & Culture Generalist at Cellanome

- **Company:** Cellanome
- **Location:** Foster City, CA
- **Posted:** 2026-09-02
- **Last confirmed live:** 2026-09-11
- **Apply:** https://job-boards.greenhouse.io/cellanome/jobs/4710736006

## Job description

We’re a well-funded start-up. You’ll get a chance to wear many hats, be a part of a growing team, and have the potential for exciting financial and career growth.

Here’s what sets us apart. We’ve set our sights on some of the biggest challenges facing biology today. We’re amassing a world class team of engineers, scientists, team builders and problem solvers to tackle these challenges heads-on. We’re passionate about developing the next generation technologies that will unravel the complexities of biology.

This is a unique opportunity to build, be part of an exciting start-up and be surrounded by good humans who are super capable, humble and down-to- earth.

Cellanome is scaling fast, and the People team is building the operational foundation to support ~150 employees across Foster City, San Diego, and Singapore. We're looking for a People Operations Generalist who can support the core operational engine, make the Foster City office and its events run seamlessly, and keep hiring activity on track.

This is a hands-on, build-and-improve role where you'll turn manual processes into clean, repeatable ones. You’ll have an eye for automation and efficiency, and you get to shape the People Operations function, working cross-functionally with Finance, Legal, and across our science and engineering teams. You'll partner closely with People leadership, who set strategy, while you own end-to-end execution. This is a genuine build opportunity for someone who wants a hand in designing the operational core and curating the employee experience.

The role splits roughly into core operations (50%), workplace and events in Foster City (30%), and recruiting / people team coordination (20%), through the mix will flex as our needs evolve.

Essential Duties include but are not limited to the following:

- Core People Operations (~50%)
- Run the employee lifecycle end to end: onboarding, offboarding, and all lifecycle changes in Rippling, with accuracy and speed.
- Administer leave of absence programs across multiple states, coordinating with employees, managers, carriers, and payroll on eligibility, documentation, and return-to-work.
- Own day-to-day benefits administration, including employee questions, open enrollment logistics, carrier and broker coordination, and reconciliation.
- Support multi-state (and cross-border) payroll processing, resolving edge cases and partnering with Accounting on the payroll RACI.
- Keep compliance documentation audit-ready across every state and entity where we operate, flagging gaps proactively.
- Serve as a responsive first point of contact for employee questions, escalating anything sensitive or high-stakes to People leadership.
- Identify and implement automations that cut down manual work and turnaround time.
- Workplace & Events, Foster City (~30%)
- Own the day-to-day employee experience at the Foster City office, creating a sense of belonging, community, and engagement that drives team connection and productivity
- Plan and execute onsite events and celebrations, partnering with the local events committee, from All Hands meeting logistics to team milestones to holiday events.
- Manage office vendors and services (food, gifting platforms, supplies), holding them accountable on cost and quality.
- Serve as the go-to for onsite needs and help strengthen cross-site connection between our Foster City, San Diego, and Singapore offices.
- Recruiting & People team Coordination (~20%)
- Coordinate interview scheduling and candidate logistics in partnership with Talent Acquisition, delivering a smooth, professional candidate experience.
- Support offer and pre-boarding logistics so new hires have a seamless path from offer to Day One.
- Keep recruiting workflows and systems clean and up to date.

Minimum Qualifications:

- 4 years in a People Operations, HR (People) Operations, or HR Generalist role, ideally in a fast-moving, venture-backed environment.
- Required hands-on experience across leave of absence administration, benefits, payroll, and multi-state HR compliance. California employment law experience strongly preferred.
- Proven ability to run onsite events and workplace programs from concept through flawless execution.
- Comfort owning vendor relationships around workplace and events and holding them accountable.
- Systems thinking: you can map a process end to end, find the friction, and redesign it to be simpler for everyone.
- Experience with ATS/HRIS (Greenhouse/Rippling a plus) and appetite for using AI and automation to optimize recurring work.
- Sound judgment on when to handle something directly and when to route it up.
- A confident, warm communicator who lands well with employees and managers at every level.
- Comfort juggling multiple priorities and shifting gears quickly without losing what matters most.
- Demonstrated ability to perform the Essential Duties of the position with or without reasonable accommodations.

We  provide competitive total compensation packages, including base pay, benefits, and equity. In California, the estimated base salary for this position is $115,000 - $135,000/year. Within the range, individual pay is determined by work location and additional factors, including job-related skills, experience, and relevant education or training. What you can expect from us:

You’ll feel the energy when you walk in our door – we work hard, we have fun and we have ambitious plans to grow. Cellanome offers a comprehensive employment package that includes a competitive salary, generous stock options, great individual, and family health plans, a 401(k) and flexibility to balance work and life.

We embrace and celebrate the diversity of our employees. We are committed to equal employment opportunity regardless of race, color, ethnicity, ancestry, religion, national origin, gender, sex, gender identity or expression, sexual orientation, age, citizenship, marital or parental status, disability, veteran status, or other class protected by applicable law. We are proud to be an equal opportunity workplace.

We will ensure that individuals with disabilities are provided reasonable accommodation to participate in the job application or interview process, to perform essential job functions, and to receive other benefits and privileges of employment. Please contact us to request accommodation.

## About Cellanome

## Company Overview
- **One-liner**: Cellanome is a biotechnology company developing a live-cell analysis platform that integrates time-lapse imaging with single-cell transcriptomics to reveal how cells evolve, interact, and respond over time.
- **Entity Type**: Private (Series B)
- **Headquarters**: Foster City, California, United States
- **Founded**: 2020
- **Founders**: Mostafa Ronaghi (Co-founder, Executive Board Member), Rowan Chapman (Co-founder, Executive Board Member)

## Core Business
- Primary industry/industries: Biotechnology Research, Life Science Tools, Drug Discovery
- Target customers: B2B; academic research labs, biopharma R&D departments, and contract research organizations (CROs)
- Mission or purpose statement: “Enabling scientists to discover what’s happening inside an individual cell and how it interacts with other cells — fundamental to detecting diseases early, developing more precise treatments, and transforming health outcomes.” [cellanome.com](https://www.cellanome.com/careers)

## Products & Services
- **Cellanome R3200 Platform**: A fully integrated system combining instrumentation, consumables, and software for live-cell analysis. The platform uses proprietary **CellCage™ technology** — biocompatible, tunable microenvironments created via micro-3D printing that allow for culturing, perturbation, time-lapse imaging, and downstream single-cell transcriptomics in a unified workflow. [cellanome.com](https://www.cellanome.com/)
- **Applications**: Supports research in oncology (tumor-immune interactions), immunology, neuroscience (neuron growth, synapse formation), aging & metabolic disease (cellular senescence), and more. Generates AI-ready, structured multimodal datasets linking morphology, function, and molecular profiles. [cellanome.com](https://www.cellanome.com/)

## Market Standing
- **Valuation/Market Cap**: Not publicly disclosed
- **Key Metric**: Total Funding of **$213.7M** across 4 rounds [LinkedIn](https://www.linkedin.com/company/cellanome)
- **Funding History**:
  - Seed Round (Oct 2021): $2.0M
  - Series A (Dec 2021): $21.0M
  - Series A (Aug 2022): $40.7M
  - Series B (Jan 2024): **$150.0M** (2 investors) [LinkedIn](https://www.linkedin.com/company/cellanome)
- **Notable Investors/Partners**: Backed by “top-tier investors.” Chairman of the Board includes **Jay Flatley** (former CEO of Illumina). Board also includes **Omead Ostadan** (CEO), Mostafa Ronaghi, Rowan Chapman. [cellanome.com](https://www.cellanome.com/company)
- **Growth Signals**:
  - **Headcount**: 96 employees (+668.8% YoY growth) [LinkedIn](https://www.linkedin.com/company/cellanome)
  - **LinkedIn Followers**: 5,711 (+154.8% yearly) [LinkedIn](https://www.linkedin.com/company/cellanome)
  - Active job postings: 6 (up +100% yearly) [LinkedIn](https://www.linkedin.com/company/cellanome)
  - Offices in Foster City (HQ), San Diego, and Redwood City, CA; additional presence in Singapore, South Korea, and the UK. [LinkedIn](https://www.linkedin.com/company/cellanome)

## Competitive Advantages
- **Proprietary CellCage™ Technology**: A unique micro-3D printed biocompatible enclosure that keeps cells alive and intact, enabling dynamic observation (time-lapse imaging) followed by single-cell molecular profiling — unlike traditional methods that destroy cells for analysis. [cellanome.com](https://www.cellanome.com/)
- **AI-Ready Multimodal Data**: The platform generates structured, longitudinal datasets that link cellular behavior/morphology to transcriptomics, specifically designed to power AI/ML-driven discovery in biology and drug development. [cellanome.com](https://www.cellanome.com/)
- **Founding Team & Board**: Led by veterans from Illumina (Jay Flatley, Mostafa Ronaghi) and other life science powerhouses, providing deep industry expertise and credibility. [cellanome.com](https://www.cellanome.com/company)
- **Massively Parallel Scale**: Enables studies from single cells to complex ensembles at high resolution, addressing a critical gap in current static analysis tools. [cellanome.com](https://www.cellanome.com/)

## Strategic Focus
- **Commercialization**: Actively expanding research, engineering, and commercial teams to bring the R3200 platform to market and partner with leading academic labs and biopharma companies. [cellanome.com](https://www.cellanome.com/careers)
- **Data Infrastructure for Biology**: Building the foundational data layer (“data infrastructure that biology has been missing”) to enable a new era of precision medicine and AI-driven therapeutic development. [cellanome.com](https://www.cellanome.com/company)
- **Key Research Verticals**: Deepening applications in oncology, immunology, neuroscience, and aging/metabolic disease. [cellanome.com](https://www.cellanome.com/)

## Why Work Here
- **Culture**: Described as “smart, humble, and kind” — a team that is “serious about science and about building a workplace where people feel connected, supported, and inspired.” Emphasis on collaboration, curiosity, and groundbreaking science. [cellanome.com](https://www.cellanome.com/careers)
- **Work Environment**: Monthly company meetings, socials, and employee-led interest groups. “We work hard and have fun.” [cellanome.com](https://www.cellanome.com/careers)
- **Growth**: Hands-on learning and meaningful opportunities to take on new challenges. Rapidly growing company (+668% headcount YoY) offers significant career development potential. [cellanome.com](https://www.cellanome.com/careers)
- **Compensation & Benefits**: Competitive salary, attractive equity, comprehensive health plans (individual & family), 401(k) plan, and flexibility to balance work and life. [job-boards.greenhouse.io](https://job-boards.greenhouse.io/cellanome)
- **Locations**: HQ in Foster City, CA; labs/offices in San Diego and Redwood City, CA. Hybrid/office roles likely given lab-based nature of many positions. [LinkedIn](https://www.linkedin.com/company/cellanome)
- **Engineering Culture**: Opportunity to work on cutting-edge problems at the intersection of biology, micro-engineering, optics, and AI/ML. Actively hiring a Machine Learning Engineer and Computational Biologist. [job-boards.greenhouse.io](https://job-boards.greenhouse.io/cellanome)

## Sources
1. [cellanome.com](https://www.cellanome.com/)
2. [cellanome.com - Company](https://www.cellanome.com/company)
3. [cellanome.com - Careers](https://www.cellanome.com/careers)
4. [job-boards.greenhouse.io - Cellanome](https://job-boards.greenhouse.io/cellanome)
5. [LinkedIn - Cellanome](https://www.linkedin.com/company/cellanome)

## Other roles at Cellanome

- [Senior Staff Manufacturing Process Engineer](https://feeny.ai/job/senior-staff-manufacturing-process-engineer-cellanome-foster-city-tmj34geb8xc2) — Foster City, CA
- [Head of Systems Engineering](https://feeny.ai/job/head-of-systems-engineering-cellanome-san-diego-e98aqfq8pam5) — San Diego, CA
- [Senior Manufacturing Technician](https://feeny.ai/job/senior-manufacturing-technician-cellanome-foster-city-vst2btwy4rhq) — Foster City, CA
- [Staff Internal Service Engineer](https://feeny.ai/job/staff-internal-service-engineer-cellanome-san-diego-5hc8tsst9kqp) — San Diego, CA
- [Lead Research Associate, Services](https://feeny.ai/job/lead-research-associate-services-cellanome-san-diego-eq4qjjv91sx2) — San Diego, CA
- [Research Associate II (Temporary)](https://feeny.ai/job/research-associate-ii-temporary-cellanome-san-diego-mzxyrcyhx4jg) — San Diego, CA
- [Software and Informatics Product Manager (Temporary)](https://feeny.ai/job/software-and-informatics-product-manager-temporary-cellanome-foster-city-vjsgwk85w7fm) — Foster City, CA
- [Staff Scientist, Chemistry](https://feeny.ai/job/staff-scientist-chemistry-cellanome-foster-city-4a6dpwpt8xqv) — Foster City, CA
- [Senior Field Service Engineer](https://feeny.ai/job/senior-field-service-engineer-cellanome-foster-city-ca-or-san-diego-mw2rm1btt7z9) — Foster City CA OR San Diego, CA
- [Senior Director, Artificial Intelligence](https://feeny.ai/job/senior-director-artificial-intelligence-cellanome-foster-city-kmzb44myv0q2) — Foster City, CA