People Operations Lead
San Francisco
Full Time
2 hours ago
Senior LevelHR
Over $120K

USD per year

Job Description

Overview

What We Do

Shepherd is an AI-native commercial insurance platform transforming how high-hazard industries get covered. Our mission is to make risk frictionless for the builders and operators shaping the physical world — protecting progress from concept through construction and into decades of operation. The infrastructure behind the AI boom — data centers, semiconductor fabs, renewable energy assets — has to be built and insured. But traditional carriers weren't built for this speed:

  • Complex commercial construction projects routinely wait weeks for a single quote
  • Legacy carriers rely on static applications and disconnected systems
  • Brokers chase carriers through calls, emails, and resubmissions

We built Shepherd to solve that. Our AI performs the same underwriting workflows in seconds, and integrates real-time data from construction technology partners — Procore, Autodesk, OpenSpace, DroneDeploy, and others — to see risk as it actually exists, not just as it was reported on a static form. We're pursuing the most ambitious technical vision in commercial insurance: fully autonomous underwriting. We're closing in on the first fully agentic submission in the industry — email in, price out, no human intervention until the last mile. With Shepherd, safety, speed, and quality no longer trade off against one another — they compound. We're building:

  • Faster decisions
  • Smarter, more accurate pricing
  • Better risk outcomes for insureds who invest in safer practices

We're not just modernizing insurance products. We're building the risk infrastructure for the next generation of financial services.

Our Investors

In March 2026, Shepherd raised a $42M Series B — bringing total funding to over $60M — led by Intact Private Capital, the investment arm of one of the largest insurers in the world. Intact is not only our lead investor but also a carrier partner, a testament to the confidence the incumbent industry has in what we're building. Our investors:

  • Intact Private Capital
  • Spark Capital
  • Costanoa Ventures
  • Y Combinator
  • Susa Ventures
  • And several others

Our Team

We're a team of technologists and insurance enthusiasts, bridging the two worlds together. Check out our About page to learn more.

About You

People Operations at Shepherd is about building the infrastructure that allows us to scale without losing what makes us great. We’re looking for an experienced People Ops leader to build and own the systems and programs that shape how we hire, develop, and retain our team. This person will play a central role in ensuring that as we grow, the culture and standards we’ve built continue to strengthen. This is a unique opportunity to join a dynamic early-stage startup and take true greenfield ownership across all three pillars of People Operations: day-to-day execution, systems and tooling, and strategic programs.

About the Role

As we scale rapidly across multiple offices and functions, we’re making deliberate investments in the people, programs, and systems needed to support a company of our ambition. This role will be central to that effort — designing and building the foundations of our People Operations function as Shepherd continues to grow.

  • Design and own Shepherd’s performance management framework, including review cadence, calibration methodology, rating rubrics, and documentation standards
  • Evaluate, select, and implement a performance management platform (e.g., Lattice), including configuration, rollout, enablement, and ongoing administration
  • Build and scale a manager development program for Shepherd’s growing cohort of first-time and early-career managers, including training materials, playbooks, and feedback loops with leadership
  • Develop and maintain a company-wide job leveling framework, with clear career paths,...
How to Apply
About Shepherd

Shepherd provides financial services and insurance solutions tailored for builders and operators shaping the physical world. They focus on smarter underwriting powered by data and technology to modernize commercial insurance with speed, intelligence, and human judgment.

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