---
title: 'Senior Manager, People at OXMAN'
canonical: 'https://feeny.ai/job/senior-manager-people-oxman-new-york-1ytxv2s36w6g'
type: 'job'
last_seen: '2026-09-11'
---

# Senior Manager, People at OXMAN

- **Company:** OXMAN
- **Location:** New York, NY
- **Compensation:** $142k–$178k
- **Employment:** full-time
- **Work type:** onsite
- **Posted:** 2026-06-18
- **Last confirmed live:** 2026-09-11
- **Apply:** https://jobs.ashbyhq.com/oxman/77d93c37-4140-45fc-9a9c-5381930bfc70/application

**Skills:** HRIS, ATS, Payroll systems, New York State labor regulations, Federal labor regulations, ChartHop, Ashby, TriNet, Compensation benchmarking, International employment considerations, Visa processing, Multi-entity People operations, Strategic project management

> OXMAN is seeking a Senior Manager, People to lead the People function as a one-person team, reporting to the CFO. This role involves owning the full employee lifecycle, from recruiting and onboarding to compliance, payroll, and culture development, while advising senior leadership on workforce strategy.

## Job description

OXMAN Overview OXMAN is a nature-based research and design company based in Manhattan. We incubate ventures and technologies that reimagine the relationship between humanity and the natural world. Working across disciplines -- from architecture and ecology to materials science and computation -- we develop nature-centric solutions to critical environmental challenges.

## Role Overview

OXMAN is seeking a Senior Manager, People to lead our People function as a one-person team, reporting directly to the CFO. This is a rare opportunity for a seasoned HR Generalist and People Operations leader to serve as the strategic and operational backbone of the People function at a visionary, fast-moving design and science company. The ideal candidate brings deep generalist expertise across the full spectrum of HR operations, including employee relations, compliance, benefits, payroll, performance management, and culture; comfortable overseeing the recruiting function through strong external partnerships and structured hiring processes, rather than serving as the primary recruiter. They will have built or managed People infrastructure in startup or incubator environments and thrive in organizations where no two days look alike. They understand that at 22 people and growing, culture is lived in the day-to-day, and that the policies, programs, and operational foundations they put in place will shape OXMAN for years to come.

## Key Responsibilities

- Design and execute People strategies aligned with company objectives, including policy development, compliance, and culture initiatives.
- Oversee the recruiting function by partnering with hiring managers and external search partners to coordinate the end-to-end hiring process across research, design, engineering, and operations, ensuring quality, consistency, and alignment with OXMAN’s unique talent profile.
- Manage external recruiting partnerships and serve as the internal point of accountability for recruiting outcomes, process integrity, and candidate experience.
- Build and administer performance management, employee engagement, recognition, and succession planning programs.
- Advise the CFO and senior leadership on People matters including workforce planning, organizational design, and scaling strategy.
- Ensure all workplace policies reflect current legal, ethical, and industry best practices across federal and New York State employment law.
- Oversee compensation benchmarking, benefits administration, and payroll operations.
- Support managers on employee relations, conflict resolution, and organizational change.
- Design programs to support rapid growth, potential spin-offs, and role definition in a high-change environment.
- Own and optimize the People technology stack (HRIS, ATS, payroll systems) and generate data-driven People metrics and reporting.

Required Experience

- 5+ years of progressive HR/People experience with a strong generalist foundation across employee relations, compliance, HR operations, and benefits administration.
- Demonstrated experience as a sole People leader or in a small HR team, ideally in a startup, incubator, or high-growth organization.
- Experience overseeing or managing the recruiting function, including coordination of external search partners and internal hiring processes. Ownership of the function, not necessarily hands-on sourcing..
- Working knowledge of HRIS/ATS systems, payroll platforms, and New York State and federal labor regulations.
- Proven ability to advise and influence senior leadership including C-suite stakeholders.
- Experience establishing People operations from scratch or in a lightly resourced environment.
- Bachelor’s degree in Human Resources, Business, or a related field.

## Preferred Experience

- Prior experience in VC-backed, design-driven, science-oriented, or architecture/AEC organizations.
- Experience supporting organizational spin-offs, entity formation, or rapid headcount scaling.
- Exposure to international employment considerations, visa processing, or multi-entity People operations.
- Strategic project management experience tied to organizational transformation.
- Certifications such as SHRM-CP, SHRM-SCP, or PHR are preferred.

Technical Skills

- Proficiency with HRIS platforms (e.g., ChartHop).
- Familiarity with ATS tools (Ashby) and structured interviewing frameworks.
- Experience managing strategic relationships with PEO (TriNet).
- Ability to manage payroll administration and benefits enrollment independently.
- Comfort with data analysis and People metrics reporting.
- Working knowledge of compensation benchmarking tools and methodologies.

Essential Qualities

- Credible and executive-ready, comfortable presenting to and partnering with the CFO and CEO.
- Resourceful and self-directed, able to build from scratch without a team or template.
- Mission-aligned, energized by work at the intersection of design, science, and ecology.
- Meticulous and compliance-minded, no detail too small when it comes to employment law or documentation.
- Warm and people-first, operating as the kind of People leader employees actually want to talk to.
- Adaptable and calm under pressure, thriving in a fast-moving, ever-changing environment.
- Exceptional verbal and written communication skills.

## About OXMAN

## Company Overview
- **One-liner**: OXMAN is a design company fusing design, technology, and biology to invent multi-scale products and environments that empower synergy between Nature and humanity.
- **Entity Type**: Private (Startup/Early Stage)
- **Headquarters**: New York, New York, United States (787 Eleventh Ave)
- **Founded**: 2024 (public launch)
- **Founders**: Neri Oxman

## Core Business
- Primary industry/industries: Design Services, Biotechnology, Materials Science, Architecture
- Target customers: B2B (corporate partners, industry clients), Academia, and Nature as a "co-client"
- Mission or purpose statement: To shift from human-centric design to Nature-centric design, creating design solutions by, for, and with Nature while advancing humanity. The company aims to heal the rift between Nature and humanity.

## Products & Services
- **O° Shoe (The O Shoe)**: A 100% biodegradable shoe made without petrochemicals, producing zero microplastics. Unveiled in October 2024. Represents the company's platform technology applied to consumer goods.
- **Platform Technologies**: R&D arm that invents platform technologies enabling design and production "by, for, and with Nature." These platforms can be applied across industries and scales—from consumer goods to urban plans, pharmaceuticals to apparel, organisms to rockets.
- **Design & Consulting Services**: Activist design practice that partners with industry and academia to implement Nature-centric values across design, manufacturing, construction, and operational practices.

## Market Standing
- **Valuation/Market Cap**: Not publicly available (private company)
- **Key Metric**: Total Funding — Not publicly disclosed
- **Notable Investors/Partners**: Goodman Group (partnership to explore design for ecosystem biodiversity and resilience), Foster + Partners (designed the OXMAN lab in NYC)
- **Growth Signals**: Headcount of ~24 employees (+4.5% YoY growth); active job postings; public launch in October 2024 with significant press coverage; first product (O° Shoe) unveiled; partnership with major real estate group Goodman Group

## Competitive Advantages
- **Founder & Brand**: Founded by Neri Oxman, a world-renowned designer, architect, and former MIT Media Lab professor, giving the company immense credibility and a powerful network.
- **Interdisciplinary Approach**: Uniquely combines hardware, software, and "wetware" (biology) in a single practice, integrating an atelier, workshop, and lab.
- **Nature-Centric Design Philosophy**: A radical differentiator positioning Nature as a "co-client," moving beyond sustainability toward regeneration and synergy.
- **Platform Technologies**: Cross-scale, hierarchical design tools that can be applied across multiple industries, creating a defensible IP moat.
- **First Mover in Biodegradable Materials**: The O° Shoe is a tangible proof point of their platform's capability, addressing the massive microplastics problem.

## Strategic Focus
- **Platform Development**: Scaling their platform technologies for broader industry application across multiple sectors.
- **Partnerships**: Leading corporate partners in implementing Nature-centric values across their operations (e.g., Goodman Group).
- **Product Commercialization**: Bringing the O° Shoe and other bio-integrated products to market.
- **Talent Acquisition**: Building a world-class interdisciplinary team of designers, engineers, scientists, and makers.
- **Thought Leadership**: Advancing the "Nature-centric design" philosophy as a new paradigm for the design and construction industries.

## Why Work Here
- **Mission-Driven Culture**: A clear, bold vision to heal the rift between Nature and humanity. Work is framed as a "calling" with profound impact.
- **Interdisciplinary Excellence**: Opportunity to work at the intersection of design, engineering, biology, and computation with a world-class team.
- **Creative & Intellectual Freedom**: Emphasis on taking risks, exploring "impossible" challenges, and pursuing profound questions.
- **Values**: The company culture emphasizes integrity, empathy, mediation of dichotomies (design/R&D, made/grown), balancing the timely and timeless, and pursuing the profound.
- **Work Environment**: Based in a first-of-its-kind atelier, workshop, and lab in New York City, designed by Foster + Partners.
- **Team Composition**: Small (~24 people), highly specialized team with backgrounds from MIT Media Lab, top universities, and leading design/tech firms. Emphasis on self-direction and collaboration across disciplines.
- **Location**: New York City (HQ) with presence in France. Hybrid/office policy not explicitly stated but likely in-person given the lab/workshop nature.

## Sources
1. [oxman.com](https://oxman.com/company)
2. [oxman.com](https://oxman.com/mission)
3. [oxman.com](https://oxman.com/careers)
4. [linkedin.com](https://www.linkedin.com/company/oxman)
5. [prnewswire.com](https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/oxman-unveils-the-o-shoe---a-100-biodegradable-shoe-made-without-petrochemicals-producing-zero-microplastics-302290648.html)
6. [prnewswire.com](https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/neri-oxman-launches-oxman-a-revolutionary-practice-transforming-design-generation-manufacturing-and-construction-for-the-simultaneous-benefit-of-humans-and-the-natural-environment-302264818.html)
7. [fosterandpartners.com](https://www.fosterandpartners.com/news/foster-partners-and-neri-oxman-complete-the-groundbreaking-design-and-innovation-lab-for-oxman)
8. [goodman.com](https://www.goodman.com/news/2024/oxman-partnership)

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