Human Resources & Employment Compliance Manager

Human Resources & Employment Compliance Manager

Location: California (Remote)

Type: Full-Time, Exempt

Compensation: $105,000 – $115,000

Reports To: Chief Financial Officer, dotted line to Chief Executive Officer

About BAM!

Brains & Motion Education (BAM!) is one of the fastest-growing providers of afterschool enrichment and summer camps. Every year we spark joy and ignite potential in tens of thousands of students through high-energy STEM challenges, character-building sports, and imaginative arts projects. Learning should be fun — and every child in our programs should be safe.

About the Role

This role owns HR for BAM!, with California employment law and youth-safety background compliance as critical functions of the job. California is where we run the majority of our afterschool programs, summer camps, and child care programs, and where our employment law and screening obligations carry the highest stakes. We also run afterschool programs in Illinois and seasonal summer camps in seven other states, so the job balances seasonal employment, including a large summer hiring push. Our full-time corporate staff are fully remote.

The compliance responsibilities are substantial: youth-serving background screening, California employment law, seasonal hiring and payroll compliance across camp and programming states, and sensitive personnel matters, all handled in close partnership with our executive team and outside counsel. You'll also run day-to-day HR operations, benefits and leave administration, the full new-hire experience, employee relations and performance management, and engagement and culture for a fully remote team. On any given day, compliance work can take priority given what's at stake, but engagement and culture aren't an afterthought; they run in parallel. The right person gets the high-stakes compliance details right while building a well-run, people-first HR function.

You'll manage our HR & Payroll Specialist, our HR Operations & Systems Specialist, and an external HR consultant.

What You'll Own

Employment Law & Compliance

• California employment-law compliance as the core of the job: FLSA, FMLA/CFRA, ADA, EEO, wage-and-hour, pay transparency, plus every required notice and posting.
• Seasonal compliance in our camp states: tax account registrations, new-hire notices, wage-and-hour rules, and state paid-leave and disability programs where they apply to short-season staff.
• Separations and severance, state-specific final-pay and separation-notice rules, and COBRA.
• Partnership with legal counsel on accommodations, workplace investigations, and subpoena or litigation responses.
• The Employee Handbook and all HR policies; ensuring they remain current, consistent, and defensible as laws change.

Youth Safety & Background Screening

• Our youth-serving screening program under California's AB 506 (Bus. & Prof. Code § 18975), plus the equivalent clearances required in each state where we run camps.
• Live Scan fingerprint screening through the California DOJ (and, via DOJ, the FBI), including subsequent-arrest notifications for active staff. You'll serve as our designated Custodian of Records for DOJ criminal history data.
• Sex offender registry checks, and child-abuse registry checks for our licensed programs.
• Child abuse prevention policies, including two-mandated-reporter supervision standards, and mandated reporter training completion.
• Our background check vendor and its payroll integration, periodic re-screening, and audit-ready records for licensing, county health departments, client districts, and partner schools.
• Post-offer review of screening results, running individualized-assessment and adverse-action processes under the California Fair Chance Act, applicable local ordinances, and the FCRA; escalating to counsel where warranted.
• Getting all of this done at seasonal volume, so that camp staff are cleared and ready before opening day.

HR Operations, Benefits & People

• HRIS administration, recordkeeping, retention, reporting, and confidentiality protocols; oversight of payroll.
• Benefits and leave administration, including leave coordination for our year-round team.
• Workers' Compensation and unemployment claims, and liaison for related insurance matters.
• The full new-hire experience: postings, offers, onboarding, compliance packets, I-9 completion and — where legally required or permitted — E-Verify, plus state-specific notices. You'll also partner with hiring managers on pay structure and market competitiveness.
• Employee relations and performance management: grievances, investigations, mediation, manager coaching, and consistent, well-documented corrective action.
• Providing real-time support for field managers who have questions about how to handle incidents and issues with seasonal staff working at schools and camps.
• Recognition and connection across our remote team, supporting a respectful, inclusive, transparent culture.

What You Bring

• 5+ years of progressive HR experience with real depth in compliance, employment law, and HR operations.
• Strong California employment law knowledge; comfort reading and applying statutes, regulations, and local ordinances.
• Direct background check administration experience. Youth-serving, fingerprint-based, or other regulated screening (Live Scan, FBI, registries, state clearances) strongly preferred.
• Familiarity with fair chance / ban-the-box rules and FCRA adverse-action processes.
• Experience partnering with counsel on separations, accommodations, and investigations.
• Comfort with seasonal hiring cycles — the ability to onboard 100+ seasonal staff in a compressed window without letting compliance slip.
• Excellent judgment and discretion, including sound instincts about what employee data belongs in third-party tools. That extends to AI tools — we're curious and happy to experiment; expertise isn't required.
• HRIS proficiency, staff management experience, a Bachelor's in HR or a related field, and PHR/SPHR or SHRM-CP/SCP are all preferred.

Requirements

• This position is 100% remote. Due to critical compliance obligations related to state payroll tax jurisdiction, employee benefits administration, and management of complex California wage and hour laws, candidates must reside in and maintain legal residency within the State of California throughout their employment.
• This position is subject to BAM!'s background screening process for staff supporting youth-serving programs. Screening occurs after a conditional offer, and results are assessed individually in accordance with applicable law.

Why BAM!

• Protect what matters most. Owning our screening and compliance program makes you directly responsible for the integrity of an organization serving tens of thousands of kids.
• Own a function, not a task list. Real scope, autonomy, and executive access. A large part of this role is running a defined regulatory checklist flawlessly, at volume.
• Work that matters. A mission built on the academic, emotional, social, and creative development of young learners, especially those from historically underserved communities.

Benefits

Medical · Dental · Vision · 401(k) · Basic Life and AD&D · Voluntary Short-Term Disability · Voluntary Additional Life/AD&D · Voluntary Hospital Indemnity · Flexible Time Off

Equal Employment Opportunity

Brains and Motion Education is proud to be an equal opportunity employer and is committed to maintaining a diverse and inclusive work environment. Pursuant to the California Fair Chance Act and, where applicable, the San Francisco Fair Chance Ordinance, we will consider for employment qualified applicants with arrest and conviction records. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, gender, gender identity or expression, sexual orientation, national origin, physical or mental disability, age, veteran status, or any other basis protected by federal or state or local law.

If you need a reasonable accommodation to participate in the application or interview process, contact [email protected] and we'll work with you.