Senior Manager, People Operations

M3 (www.m3as.com) is a leading provider of hospitality-specific software solutions, delivering cloud-based tools for hotel accounting, financial reporting, labor management, payroll, and business intelligence. Built by hoteliers for hoteliers, M3 empowers hotel owners, operators, and management companies to streamline back-office operations, reduce costs, gain real-time insights, and drive portfolio performance across thousands of properties in North America and beyond.

Description Summary:     

The Senior Manager, People Operations serves as a strategic and operational People partner and as a steward of company culture. This role leads core people operations, employee relations, performance management, payroll and compensation administration, culture and experiences and compliance efforts in a growing and fast paced technology environment.    

If you've outgrown “executing the process” and are ready to own people programs, lead a team, and be the person the leadership team trusts to run point, this is your next role.  This role represents People Ops in cross-functional projects, system implementations, integration work and strategic programs.   

This position directly manages the Payroll & People Operations Analyst and the People Generalist, ensuring payroll, benefits, HR systems, and employee lifecycle processes are handled accurately and efficiently while maintaining strong partnership with managers and leadership. This is a hybrid role (2 days in office/3 WFH) and reports to the EVP, People. 

Essential Duties:

The duties listed below are the essential functions of this position, and they may change as the needs of the company demand. All associates are expected to do what is necessary to get the work done and to cooperate fully with their supervisor’s requests for additional or altered duties.

Strategic & Advisory HR: 

• Partner with leaders to support team effectiveness, performance, and talent optimization. 
• Coach managers on employee relations, development, and feedback conversations. 
• Lead performance review cycles and support compensation planning processes. 
• Build and maintain effective relationships with employees and managers to foster strong employee connections.   
• Own people program deployment including total rewards, talent management and learning and development initiatives.  
• Identify trends using people data and recommend improvements to policies and practices. 
• Serve as a trusted resource for employees, maintaining discretion and sound judgment. 
• Partner with teams on workforce transformation, employee enablement, and change management programs involving AI or other emerging technologies.  

 People Operations & Compliance: 

• Oversee payroll and benefits administration 
• Review payroll cycles for accuracy and compliance, escalating and resolving exceptions the Payroll & People Operations Analyst surfaces. 
• Oversee leave management and employment law compliance 
• Maintain and improve People processes and internal controls. 
• Set direction for HRIS optimization and process enhancements, with configuration and system level execution  
• Serve as escalation point for complex employee relations matters. 
• Oversee employee onboarding and offboarding process and optimization   

Culture & Employee Experience: 

• Act as a steward of company culture, partnering with executive leadership to define, model, and reinforce organizational values. 
• Design culture building programs (engagement surveys, listening sessions, focus groups) and translate findings into concrete action plans. 
• Treat onboarding, performance conversations, and offboarding as culture reinforcement moments  

Leadership & Team Management: 

• Lead, coach, and develop the internal People Operations team by setting clear priorities, allocating resources, managing performance, and building the skills needed to deliver high-quality employee programs.  

Communication and Change Management 

• Develop and coordinate communications supporting enterprise People strategies, programs, processes and initiatives. 
• Develop communication and change management approaches that support successful implementation and adoption. 
• Help leaders and teams understand the business rationale, expectations and desired outcomes associated with enterprise talent initiatives. 

Education/Training/Experience: 

• Minimum of 7+ years of progressive HR experience, with at least 2 years in HR Manager or Senior HRBP level role  
• Prior experience managing or overseeing payroll and benefits and HRIS systems (examples: UKG, Greenhouse, Predictive Index, etc.) 
• Proven experience in a high growth, mid-sized SaaS or technology company. 
• Demonstrated ability to coach leaders, influence without authority, and drive change.  
• Extensive knowledge of employment laws and HR compliance matters.  
• High attention to detail, exceptional judgement, and strong communication skills (written and verbal).  
• Ability to thrive in a PE-backed, fast scaling environment with evolving structures and priorities.  
• Demonstrated ability to handle highly sensitive information with integrity, professionalism, and absolute discretion.  
• Demonstrated ability to balance innovation with employee experience, responsible use, organizational risk, and measurable business outcomes related to AI utilization in the workforce. 
• Demonstrated experience building or leading culture and engagement initiatives.  
• PHR, SPHR or equivalent certification preferred.