--- title: 'People Operations Lead at Cognition' canonical: 'https://feeny.ai/job/people-operations-lead-cognition-san-francisco-9pavqqb3fsh2' type: 'job' last_seen: '2026-09-07' --- # People Operations Lead at Cognition - **Company:** [Cognition](https://feeny.ai/companies/cognition) - **Location:** San Francisco, CA - **Employment:** full-time - **Work type:** onsite - **Posted:** 2026-08-21 - **Last confirmed live:** 2026-09-07 - **Apply:** https://jobs.ashbyhq.com/cognition/a751b58c-1d1b-48c6-96b4-c668100a9787 ## Job description WE ARE AN APPLIED AI LAB BUILDING END-TO-END SOFTWARE AGENTS. We're the makers of Devin, the first AI software engineer. Our team is extremely talent-dense. Among our founding team, we have world-class competitive programmers, former founders, and leaders from companies at the cutting edge of AI including Scale AI, Palantir, Cursor, Waymo, Tesla, Lunchclub, Modal, Google DeepMind, and Nuro. Building Devin is just the first step—our hardest challenges still lie ahead. If you’re excited to solve some of the world’s biggest problems and build AI that can reason on real-world tasks, apply to join us. ## ABOUT THE ROLE We're growing fast and bringing in world-class talent from around the globe, and we're doing it differently than most. That kind of momentum doesn't run itself. We're hiring someone to build the engine behind it: the HR processes, playbooks, and systems that can scale as fast as we do. This is a rare chance to own real scope early. You'll help build and run our core HR functions from the ground up, including onboarding, benefits, compensation, compliance, and employee relations. You'll also own our immigration program end to end. Along the way you'll solve hard problems, work cases that actually matter to people's lives, and watch the things you build become how the company runs. In this role you will: - Own and evolve our People systems and operational infrastructure, ensuring our HR technology, data, workflows, and integrations are accurate, scalable, and effective as Cognition grows. - Design the systems that make People Operations scalable, including tracking, playbooks, checklists, documentation, and clear ownership so that nothing falls through the cracks. - Lead benefits operations and administration, partnering with brokers, vendors, payroll, Finance, and employees to deliver a high-quality benefits experience in the US and support our evolving international benefits programs. - Build and manage our compliance infrastructure, translating employment requirements into practical processes and controls across an increasingly complex, multi-state and international workforce. - Develop and maintain employee policies and our handbook, balancing compliance requirements with Cognition’s culture and operating philosophy. - Bring an operational lens to business decisions, surfacing risks, dependencies, and tradeoffs early and helping leaders navigate complex People situations with strong judgment. - Partner closely with Payroll, Finance, Legal, IT, Recruiting, and external vendors to ensure People programs are executed accurately and seamlessly. - Use data and operational insights to identify issues and improve programs, building reporting, controls, and processes that allow the team to operate proactively rather than reactively. - Jump into high-priority People and business projects as needed. We are a lean team operating in a rapidly evolving company, so the scope of this role will continue to expand alongside Cognition. Requirements for this role: - 7+ years in people operations or HR at a fast-growing startup or tech company - Strong end-to-end People Operations experience, with the ability to own and scale programs across areas such as benefits, immigration, compliance, systems, and employee operations. - Experience in a fast-growing startup or technology company, with comfort operating in a high-velocity environment where priorities evolve quickly and processes are still being built. - Strong first-principles thinking and a can-do attitude — you can break down ambiguous problems, challenge existing assumptions, and figure out practical solutions without waiting for a playbook. - Strong data-driven, analytical, and program management skills, with the ability to use data to inform decisions, manage complex cross-functional initiatives, and drive work from idea through execution. ## EQUAL OPPORTUNITY Cognition is an equal opportunity employer. We do not discriminate on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, age, disability, veteran status, or any other protected characteristic under applicable law. We are committed to providing reasonable accommodations for candidates with disabilities throughout the hiring process - please let us know if you need any. ## About Cognition ## Company Overview - **One-liner**: Cognition is an applied AI lab that operates Devin, the first autonomous AI software engineer capable of planning, writing, testing, and shipping production code. - **Entity Type**: Private (Series D – latest funding round closed ~June 2026) - **Headquarters**: San Francisco, California, United States (550 Third Street) - **Founded**: 2023 - **Founders**: Not publicly disclosed in available sources; the founding team includes multiple IOI gold medalists and builders from Google DeepMind, Scale AI, Cursor, and Waymo. ## Core Business - **Primary industry**: Artificial Intelligence / Software Engineering - **Target customers**: B2B, primarily large enterprises and government institutions (“some of the largest and most complex institutions in the world”) - **Mission**: “To expand human capacity — not by replacing meaningful work but by working alongside people as an exponential collaborator, helping them think deeper and move faster.” ## Products & Services - **[Devin](https://cognition.ai/)**: An autonomous AI software engineer that plans, writes, tests, and ships production code. It integrates with existing codebases and toolchains. Available as a cloud platform and via Devin Desktop. Deployed at major enterprises and government agencies. ## Market Standing - **Valuation**: $1.596B (implied by latest Series D round, ~June 2026) [cbinsights.com](https://www.cbinsights.com/company/cognition-ai) - **Key Metric**: Total funding raised – $1.596B (Series D) [cbinsights.com](https://www.cbinsights.com/company/cognition-ai) *(Note: The company’s own website previously stated “over $400M” raised; CB Insights reports a higher total as of mid-2026.)* - **Notable Investors/Partners**: Founders Fund, Lux Capital, 8VC, Bain Capital Ventures, Avenir, Elad Gil, and 42+ others [cbinsights.com](https://www.cbinsights.com/company/cognition-ai) - **Growth Signals**: - Rapid global expansion with offices in San Francisco, New York, Austin, Washington D.C., London, Singapore, Tokyo, and more. - Launched “Cognition for Government” (Feb 2026) and an “AI Productivity Guarantee” (June 2026). - Named a Highflier in the AI 100 (2024) by CB Insights. - Active hiring across Sales, Customer Engineering, R&D, Marketing, and GTM roles in multiple regions. ## Competitive Advantages - **First-mover in autonomous AI software engineering** – Devin is widely recognized as the first AI agent that can independently complete end-to-end software tasks. - **Elite founding team** – 10 IOI gold medals; alumni from DeepMind, Scale AI, Cursor, Waymo, Nuro, etc. Of the initial 35 team members, 21 had previously founded a company. - **Massive capital backing** – Over $1.5B raised enables aggressive R&D and go-to-market expansion. - **Enterprise traction** – Deployed at “some of the largest and most complex institutions in the world,” including government agencies. ## Strategic Focus - **Deepening autonomous reasoning** – Continuously improving Devin’s ability to handle complex, multi-step engineering tasks (e.g., FrontierCode benchmark). - **Global scale** – Building out sales and deployment teams in APAC, Europe, LATAM, and the Middle East. - **Government & regulated sectors** – Dedicated federal team and FedRAMP-oriented offerings (e.g., “Cognition for Government”). - **Product ecosystem** – Expanding from cloud to desktop and offering productivity guarantees to reduce customer risk. ## Why Work Here - **Culture**: “Talent-dense,” interdisciplinary, low-ego, and urgency-driven. The team works on “the hardest problems in AI” and values shipping real impact. - **Work model**: Hybrid/office-first with major hubs in San Francisco, New York, Austin, London, Singapore, Tokyo, and others. Many roles list specific locations, suggesting in-office presence is expected. - **Benefits**: Comprehensive medical, dental, vision insurance; unlimited PTO; meals in primary offices; wellness stipend; commuter benefits; 401(k); HSA/FSA; fertility and family building support. - **Engineering culture**: Strong emphasis on applied AI, customer proximity (“we work alongside our customers”), and building infrastructure that redefines software engineering. ## Sources 1. [cognition.ai](https://cognition.ai/) – Company homepage and product overview 2. [cognition.ai/careers](https://cognition.ai/careers) – Careers page with benefits and open roles 3. [cognition.ai/about](https://cognition.ai/about) – About page with team background and principles 4. [cbinsights.com](https://www.cbinsights.com/company/cognition-ai) – Funding, valuation, and competitor data ## Other roles at Cognition - [Country Leader - South Korea](https://feeny.ai/job/country-leader-south-korea-cognition-south-korea-aswm754d5273) — South Korea - [Legal Operations](https://feeny.ai/job/legal-operations-cognition-san-francisco-wqy05tza5xf6) — San Francisco, CA - [Head of EMEA Marketing](https://feeny.ai/job/head-of-emea-marketing-cognition-london-mwgg79ty56km) — London, United Kingdom - [Facility Security Officer](https://feeny.ai/job/facility-security-officer-cognition-washington-8d3ksmnmns4y) — Washington, DC - [Head of LATAM Marketing](https://feeny.ai/job/head-of-latam-marketing-cognition-sao-paolo-56px7yraf2rm) — Sao Paolo, Brazil - [Event Marketer](https://feeny.ai/job/event-marketer-cognition-san-francisco-h9fse9vdqf7y) — San Francisco, CA / Austin, TX / New York, NY - [Talent Operations Coordinator, R&D](https://feeny.ai/job/talent-operations-coordinator-r-d-cognition-san-francisco-f20171kjeahn) — San Francisco, CA - [Founding GTM Recruiter - Japan](https://feeny.ai/job/founding-gtm-recruiter-japan-cognition-tokyo-pm6kdfr9c8nh) — Tokyo, Japan - [Founding Recruiting Operations Coordinator - APJ](https://feeny.ai/job/founding-recruiting-operations-coordinator-apj-cognition-singapore-5chzfr7ygn49) — Singapore - [Executive Assistant, Sales Leadership](https://feeny.ai/job/executive-assistant-sales-leadership-cognition-san-francisco-hfr7hwk1a1xz) — San Francisco, CA