Fractional Talent & People Operations Lead

(Contract / Fractional, Vancouver or Remote-Friendly)

About Us:

A&K Robotics is a leader in self-driving technology. We develop autonomous electric mobility pods that empower people to move with more freedom and independence, starting in airports. We work with leading airports and partners to deliver thoughtful, human-centred mobility experiences.

We are a small, focused team working on hard problems with real-world impact. We care deeply about how our work affects people, and we hold a high bar for quality, integrity, and collaboration.

Role & Context:

As A&K Robotics grows, we are intentionally strengthening how we hire, onboard, and support our team. We believe that doing this well early creates leverage and avoids unnecessary friction later.

To date, hiring and onboarding have been handled collaboratively across the team, but as we grow, we want to be more deliberate and consistent about how we hire and onboard, while keeping leadership closely involved in key decisions.

We are looking for a Fractional Talent & People Operations Lead to partner closely with the CEO and leadership team and take ownership of the execution of hiring and people operations.

This role is focused on immediate hiring execution and establishing strong people foundations, with scope evolving over time as the company grows.

This is not a policy-heavy HR role. It is a hands-on, practical role for someone who enjoys moving quickly, building structure where it’s needed, and helping teams do their best work.

What you’ll be doing at A&K:

Hiring & recruiting execution

• Partner directly with leadership to define roles, success criteria, and hiring priorities

• Draft, refine, and manage job descriptions and postings

• Run end-to-end recruiting processes, including sourcing, screening, coordination, and candidate communication

• Conduct initial candidate screens and provide clear summaries and recommendations

• Ensure candidates are treated with clarity, respect, and follow-through throughout the hiring process

Onboarding & early success

• Design and coordinate onboarding plans tailored to each role

• Ensure new hires have clarity on expectations, priorities, and success metrics

• Check in during the first 30-90 days to surface risks early and support strong ramp-up

People operations & foundations

• Build lightweight, scalable hiring and onboarding processes

• Support basic performance feedback and documentation

• Help leadership identify people-related risks and opportunities early

• Maintain clear templates, documentation, and records as the team grows

Founder enablement

• Reduce operational drag on the CEO and leadership team

• Bring structure, follow-through, and calm to fast-moving situations

• Operate independently while staying closely aligned with leadership

What you’ll bring to the team:

• 5+ years experience in talent, recruiting, people operations, or a closely related role

• Strong technical literacy, including the ability to evaluate candidates for complex technical roles (such as, technical project management, software, hardware, AI and robotics-adjacent positions)

• Comfort reading technical resumes, asking informed screening questions, and distinguishing strong technical experience from surface-level familiarity (engineering background not required)

• Demonstrated experience successfully hiring for senior or complex technical roles in small or early-stage teams

• Comfort operating in ambiguous, fast-moving environments

• Strong judgment and ability to prioritize what matters most

• Clear, concise written and verbal communication

• A practical, human approach to people and performance

• High ownership mentality and strong follow-through

You care about doing things well. You are comfortable moving quickly without being careless.

Nice-to-haves:

• Experience working with early-stage or venture-backed startups

• Direct experience hiring within robotics, autonomous systems, or hardware-software integrated teams

• Familiarity with the Canadian employment context (BC experience is an asset)

Time commitment:

This is a fractional role with variable weekly hours depending on hiring activity and company needs. Typical workload will range from 10-30 hours per week, with an average of approximately 20 hours per week over time. We aim to plan work collaboratively and provide visibility into upcoming peaks whenever possible, typically with 6-8 weeks of forward-looking visibility.

Engagement details:

• Fractional contract role

• Initial engagement expected to be 3-6 months

• Flexible working arrangement (Vancouver or remote-friendly)

• Clear scope, direct access to leadership, and efficient decision-making

Most importantly, you share our values:

• Diversity makes innovation. We debate, listen, respect and include different perspectives

• Always strive to learn and be better. We push the bar higher and insist on the best

• Create value for people. Think big, be bold and see opportunities where others see challenges

• Make it better than we found it. Consider the long-term impact of our actions today

• Grit. Good things take work. We commit, battle and deliver as a team

Compensation:

This is a fractional contract role compensated at $70-$85 CAD per hour, depending on experience and scope.