Vice President, People

Radiant is scaling rapidly. We're looking for a Vice President of People to help preserve what makes Radiant special while building the people infrastructure to support the next phase of growth.

This is a hands-on leadership role reporting to the COO. You'll lead Radiant's People function end-to-end—culture, performance management, HR operations, total rewards, compliance, employee relations, and systems—while partnering closely with the VP of Talent Acquisition and leaders across Engineering, Operations, and Finance. You'll inherit a Director of People Operations as a direct report and grow the team thoughtfully (expected to expand to ~4 by the end of this year, including this hire). You'll be a core culture steward as we scale across multiple sites, with the El Segundo HQ as the center of gravity.

This role is based in El Segundo and requires in-office presence five days per week.

What You’ll Do

• Build the People function for scale: Stand up the processes, systems, and operating cadence needed to support rapid hiring and organizational growth across HQ and new sites
• Protect and strengthen Radiant's culture: Identify what makes Radiant "Radiant," translate it into clear policies and expectations, ensuring they scale as the company grows
• Drive performance and talent systems: Implement performance management, feedback, calibration, and career development frameworks that raise the bar while supporting high-velocity execution
• Establish rigorous measurement frameworks to quantify People initiatives, track outcomes, and tie people investments to business results
• Build leadership communication infrastructure: Create the systems and rhythms that keep a scaling organization informed and aligned
• Lead employee relations and compliance: Ensure consistent, fair, and legally sound practices; manage sensitive issues with discretion and rigor in a high-accountability environment
• Own total rewards strategy: Evolve compensation philosophy, leveling, equity administration, benefits, and retention programs to match stage and market realities—including future decisions on PEO structure
• Partner with Recruiting and leadership: Collaborate to forecast hiring needs, improve onboarding, and ensure teams are staffed effectively—especially as manufacturing headcount ramps
• Enable multi-site operations: Support El Segundo, the DC office (primarily government affairs), and the Oak Ridge facility as it grows into a manufacturing workforce
• Build and lead a high-performing People team: Hire, coach, and develop People leaders who can scale programs and deliver excellent employee experiences without bureaucracy
• Create scalable operating infrastructure: Optimize HRIS/people systems, policies, workflows, and analytics to help leadership make better decisions and run the business effectively

What We’re Looking For

Required

• Significant experience leading People/HR functions in high-growth environments (e.g., scaling headcount meaningfully in a short period)
• Demonstrated ability to build People infrastructure from scratch or overhaul it for rapid scale (performance management, comp/leveling, policies, HRIS, etc.)
• Strong judgment and executive presence—you can partner with technical and operational leaders, influence decisions, and handle sensitive situations
• Track record of building culture intentionally, not performatively—especially in intense, mission-driven organizations
• Experience leading and developing People teams, with a willingness to be hands-on as needed
• Comfort with ambiguity and speed - Radiant is building something new; you'll need to create clarity without slowing the company down
• Proficient with data and analytics tools; ability to build dashboards and work fluently with People Analytics data

Preferred

• Experience in hardware, manufacturing, aerospace/defense, energy, or other regulated/physical industries
• Experience supporting multi-site organizations and/or launching new facilities (especially hourly/manufacturing workforces)
• Familiarity with ITAR/EAR environments and operating in export-controlled contexts
• Experience with CMMC or similar federal compliance frameworks
• Comfort operating in environments requiring security clearances
• Strong quantitative and systems mindset (HR analytics, operating rhythms, and scalable process design)