HR Business Partner at Cobot

Collaborative Robotics is seeking an HR Business Partner to own and evolve the People Operations infrastructure at our fast-growing startup. Reporting to the VP, Talent, this individual will serve as the primary HR partner to the business—bringing strong judgment, discretion, and operational excellence to support our employees and leadership team, while acting as a trusted advisor on people-related decisions. This is a highly hands-on role for someone who thrives in a “player-coach-of-one” environment: you’ll own the day-to-day HR function end-to-end, while staying closely aligned with leadership and external partners. You will be expected to both set direction and execute—moving work forward independently while also knowing when to seek input, pressure-test decisions, and ensure quality. This is not a purely program-management role; you will be directly responsible for a meaningful portion of the work yourself. You will further what “good” looks like for HR at Cobot—establishing scalable, right-sized practices that balance compliance, speed, and employee experience without overengineering beyond what a ~100-person startup needs. Join us to reimagine the future of human-robot interaction. Collaborative Robotics is a team of innovators and builders redefining the future of human-robot interaction. We are working to realize a world where robots are a trusted extension of your surroundings. They work, adapt, and react around you. Not the other way around. This role is located onsite at our Santa Clara, CA headquarters. Key Responsibilities: - Serve as the primary day-to-day HR partner for employees and managers, providing clear, thoughtful guidance and building trust through responsiveness, sound judgment, and consistent follow-through - Exercise strong discretion and professionalism when handling sensitive employee information; maintain appropriate boundaries and confidentiality at all times - Act as the main point of contact for external HR, compliance, and agency partners—working with a leads-with-trust mindset while setting clear expectations, driving timelines, reviewing outputs in detail, and stepping in directly where needed to ensure quality and completeness - Administer and manage employee benefits programs including open enrollment, vendor relationships, and employee inquiries, ensuring a high-quality and well-communicated employee and partner experience - Provide support for people managers in performance management and employee relations. Triage issues thoughtfully, document appropriately, and escalate when needed with clear context and recommendations - Lead onboarding and offboarding coordination across all systems and processes (e.g., HRIS, payroll, benefits, compliance, exit interviews, knowledge transfers), ensuring consistency, completeness, and a positive employee experience - Maintain compliance with federal, state, and local employment laws, applying sound judgment to balance compliance requirements with a pragmatic, startup-appropriate approach - Track and manage required employee trainings, certifications, and compliance workflows with a high degree of reliability and follow-through - Support policy development, handbook updates, and company-wide communication, prioritizing clarity and usability over complexity - Manage Workers’ Compensation claims and leave-of-absence tracking (FMLA, CFRA, ADA, etc.) with accuracy, timeliness, and care - Run and optimize the annual performance review process - Maintain clean, organized, and audit-ready employee records across all HR systems, ensuring information is consistently documented, easy to access, and never dependent on individual ownership - Build and implement practical, lightweight solutions to recurring people and operational challenges, and stay close enough to the work to continuously refine them over time - Advise leadership on employee-related risks, tradeoffs, and decisions, and translate those decisions into clear, executable processes and follow-through - Partner cross-functionally with recruiting and leadership as needed during periods of growth Minimum Qualifications: - 6–10+ years of experience in Human Resources or People Operations roles, ideally including time in both high-growth startups and more structured environments - Experience operating as a primary or sole HR partner, or as a senior member of a small HR team (e.g., #2 to a Head of HR) with broad ownership across the employee lifecycle - Strong working knowledge of employment law and HR compliance best practices (multi-state required; California preferred), with the ability to apply them with good judgment rather than rigidly - Demonstrated track record of handling sensitive and confidential situations with discretion, sound judgment, and appropriate boundaries - Experience partnering with external vendors or agencies, including setting expectations, managing timelines, reviewing outputs, and ensuring high-quality execution - Strong operational discipline and attention to detail, with a habit of keeping systems, documentation, and records clean, accurate, and audit-ready - Proven ability to balance ownership with collaboration—comfortable operating independently, while proactively seeking input and alignment to avoid errors and improve outcomes - Experience partnering with senior leaders and influencing decisions in ambiguous or high-stakes situations - Strong prioritization and execution skills; able to manage multiple workstreams without letting details slip - Comfortable operating in ambiguity and building or refining processes without a predefined playbook - Excellent communication skills and a strong internal service orientation; able to build trust with employees and leaders at all levels - Experience with modern HR tech stacks such as Ashby, TriNet, Empower, Carta, or similar systems - Enjoy working in a fast-paced, collaborative, and dynamic startup environment as part of a small team - Willing to occasionally travel - Must have and maintain US work authorization Preferred Qualifications: - PHR, SHRM-CP, or equivalent certification - Familiarity with equity administration, performance management tools, and training platforms - Previous experience supporting hybrid or distributed teams - Experience working in robotics, deep tech, or other highly regulated environments - Experience stepping into or owning an HR function with limited infrastructure and building it up over time The annual base salary range for this position is $160,000-$175,000 plus equity and comprehensive benefits including medical/dental/vision plans, 401(k) plan, unlimited paid vacation time, paid sick leave, and parental leave. Our salary ranges are determined by role and experience level. The range reflects the minimum and maximum target for new hire salaries for the position in the noted geographic area. Within the range, individual pay is determined by additional factors, including job-related skills, experience, and relevant education or training. Cobot is an Equal Opportunity Employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to legally protected characteristics. We are committed to providing reasonable accommodations for candidates with disabilities in our recruiting process. If you need any assistance or accommodations due to a disability, please let your recruiter know. To all recruitment agencies: Collaborative Robotics does not accept agency resumes. Please do not forward resumes to our employees. Collaborative Robotics is not responsible for any fees related to unsolicited resumes.