Head of People

Hybrid, San Rafael, California (preferred) or Bozeman, Montana

About the Job

High Camp Flasks is at an inflection point. We're growing rapidly to 25-35 full-time employees over the next 18-24 months and we need a full-time leader to define our culture deliberately and build the people systems that allow us to scale with excellence.

This role is foundational. The Head of People will shape how we hire, develop talent, celebrate wins, support each other through challenges, and operationalize the values that make High Camp distinctive. You'll report directly to our CEO and sit at the leadership table. Your work will be visible in every onboarding, every performance cycle, every team member and every decision we make about who we are as a company.

Who Are We?

High Camp Flasks was born from a love of craft cocktails and the great outdoors. We design Fortified Barware—flasks and drinkware that blend rugged utility with timeless style, built for people who value design, craftsmanship, and adventure.

We're a team that holds ourselves to high standards. We raise the bar in every detail, own it like it's our company, and execute and improve with momentum and care. We think big and innovate boldly, collaborate to create, and show integrity in action by doing what we say we're going to do. If you're energized by building, evolving, and raising the standard as we grow, we'd love to meet you.

We're profitable and bootstrapped. We've chosen operational excellence over growth without limits. Our leadership team is calm, professional, and genuinely invested in people development. And we're fully remote, with two beautiful hub cities—Bozeman, Montana and San Rafael, California—for intentional in-person time.

What Will Our Head of People Do?

Culture, Engagement & Belonging

• Gather employee feedback and turn it into visible action; strengthen remote connection through rituals and intentional in-person time
• Hold regular 1:1s with every employee to build trust, surface issues early, and support wellbeing
• Run recognition programs, guide DEI efforts, and source wellness resources

People Strategy & Org Design

• Partner on workforce planning: headcount roadmap, org structure, compensation strategy, and pay bands
• Benchmark roles/markets and support org changes as the company evolves
• Run engagement surveys; track key people metrics (attrition, time-to-fill, engagement) and act on insights

Leadership, Communication & Company Cadence

• Own meeting norms and culture standards; represent the people/culture lens in weekly leadership meetings
• Run all-hands, leadership updates, and company-wide comms to keep teams aligned and informed

Employee Relations & Risk Management

• Serve as the trusted, neutral first point of contact for employee questions (including anonymous intake)
• Manage sensitive situations with discretion: investigations, mediation, performance risk, and offboarding

Talent Acquisition & Onboarding

• Lead full-cycle recruiting for ~1–5 open roles: JD creation, sourcing, screening, interviews, and candidate experience (Greenhouse recruiter partner)
• Coordinate references/background checks and steward employer brand through offer
• Own onboarding end-to-end: pre-start logistics, Day 1, 30/60/90 check-ins, and continuous improvement

People Operations, Performance & Tools

• Administer benefits, payroll, and time off (Rippling); partner with broker on renewals/open enrollment
• Manage leaves/accommodations and multi-state compliance (CA/MT/CO); maintain handbook and scalable policies
• Run performance reviews (templates, timelines, manager support, calibration), learning needs, coaching, and career leveling
• Own HR vendor relationships/renewals and implement tools (including AI) to increase reach and efficiency

Who Will Love This Job?

You've built culture and people processes from the ground up in a high-growth environment and understand that people work is strategic work while being energized by rolling up your sleeves—this is a scrappy environment where you'll do hands-on work alongside the strategic thinking. You're comfortable wearing multiple hats, moving fast, and building systems that scale as we grow.

You're the person who:

• Takes ownership. When you see something that needs doing, you pick it up rather than wait for someone to assign it
• Leads with empathy. Your interactions are shaped by genuine care, especially with people navigating sensitive moments
• Communicates clearly. Your writing is sharp across chat, documents, and email. You explain complex information to audiences with varying expertise
• Thinks in systems. When something breaks, you trace it to the root cause, fix the cause, and document the fix so it stays fixed
• Stays calm under pressure. You're not intimidated by conflict or complexity. You listen, take a beat, and move to the next constructive action
• Is warm and candid. Feedback flows in both directions. You pursue hard conversations when they're needed, but you do it with kindness
• Holds yourself to a high standard. You care about craft and attention to detail, consistent with how we show up as a brand

Qualifications / Must-Have

• Based in the San Francisco Bay Area with willingness to commute to our San Rafael office 2 - 3 times per week.
• 5-8 years of HR and people operations experience, with at least 3 years owning a people function or major program independently
• Building people processes from the ground up: You've defined culture in a high-growth environment, designed and documented people processes, mapped organizational structures, and coached managers and individual contributors.
• Remote-first or distributed team people ops experience
• The ability to write clear, on-brand policy and employee-facing communication
• The ability to hold difficult conversations with managers, candidates, or employees with kindness and clarity
• A calm, neutral, trustworthy presence in a small company without an HR team to fall back on
• Highly organized, with the ability to prioritize efficiently across competing demands
• Bachelor's Degree (any subject; HR, organizational psychology, business, communications, or a strong liberal arts background all work well)
• Travel: Occasional; 2 - 4 trips per year to our other hubs

Nice-to-Have

• Rippling HRIS or Greenhouse ATS experience
• Experience supporting a sales organization through aggressive hiring growth
• Total rewards or compensation benchmarking experience
• Multi-state HR compliance experience (especially CA, MT, CO)
• HR certification (SHRM-CP, SHRM-SCP, PHR, SPHR)

First Year Priorities

• Publish the first complete Employee Handbook and onboarding program
• Run all four cycles of the new performance review process cleanly
• Hit key hiring milestones while maintaining quality and candidate experience
• Plan and execute a company-wide offsite with training
• Build a 2027 people plan: headcount roadmap, compensation framework refresh, and career path clarity
• Establish measurable retention and engagement baselines

Support & Mentorship

• Direct line to Nic Barisone (CEO) and Whit Gautreaux (President/Co-Founder), both of whom are invested in people development
• Access to outside advisors on organizational design and compensation
• Budget for HR-specific conferences, courses, and certifications
• Partnership with our contract recruiter and benefits broker

Career Path

Clear path to expand your role as the company grows. You'll likely hire and lead your first direct report within 18-24 months.

Why This Role, Why Now, Why High Camp?

Define the culture of a rapidly growing premium consumer brand from a foundational stage. Most director-level people roles are inherited functions with established systems and a queue of issues to fix. This one is generative. You'll set the rituals, norms, and operating principles that shape how High Camp functions as we scale. This is rare and is one of the most attractive parts of the role.

Real responsibility and visible impact. The work you do—the handbook you build, the onboarding program you design, the performance review process you implement—will visibly shape the company's daily operations.

A founder team that genuinely values people-work. Nic and Whit back the people function with investment, attention, and decision-making authority. You won't be fighting for a seat at the table; you'll already have one!

A team and culture worth building for. High Camp is made up of intelligent, calm, professional people who collaborate well and have fun together. Leadership holds itself to the same standards it holds employees to. We hold company offsites 2x per year in beautiful and joyful destinations to facilitate friendships, productivity, and fun.

A business built for the long term. We're profitable and bootstrapped. We've chosen operational excellence over growth without limits. The work is steady and meaningful (and not a frantic chase for outside capital!).

A brand customers genuinely value. You'll want one of our flasks. The product is beautiful, and people love it!

Salary and Benefits

• Base salary: $175K - $225K depending on experience
• Bonus: 20% target
• PTO: Unlimited
• Medical, dental and vision
• 401(k) with up to 5% company match
• Remote-first environment

Additional Details

High Camp Flasks is an Equal Opportunity Employer. We celebrate diversity and are committed to creating an inclusive environment for all employees. We do not discriminate on the basis of race, color, religion, sex (including pregnancy, sexual orientation, or gender identity), national origin, age, disability, genetic information, marital status, veteran status, or any other legally protected characteristic. Applicants must be currently authorized to permanently work in the United States. At this time, we are not able to sponsor employment visas or provide relocation assistance for this role.