People Operations Generalist

About Exa

Exa is developing a search platform designed for the AI era. Backed by a $250M Series C led by a16z, with Benchmark, Lightspeed, and YC also participating again, the company’s valuation is now $2.2 billion. Its Search API is already used by agents, Fortune 500 companies, and AI labs. The team is largely based in San Francisco and includes people from Harvard, MIT, Meta, Google Research, as well as founders and dropouts.

The company is moving quickly to build what it believes will become the most advanced search engine ever created. The culture is described as high-agency, low-ego, and driven by the belief that this is one of the few remaining problems truly worth solving well.

Role Overview

Exa is expanding in Singapore and is looking for someone locally to own people operations and workplace support. This will be the first dedicated operations hire in the Singapore office, giving the role a major hand in shaping how the office grows from a small team of 5 to 10, 20, and beyond.

The position acts as a bridge between the People lead in San Francisco and the team in Singapore. The person in this role will make sure employees have what they need to work effectively, whether that means handling office logistics, helping new hires settle in, or ensuring employment and benefits processes remain organized and compliant across the region.

The ideal candidate is someone who genuinely cares about employee experience, from creating a smooth first day to being a dependable person employees can approach with questions. The role also covers the behind-the-scenes work that keeps the office functioning well, including workplace operations, visa coordination, and vendor management.

Key Responsibilities

• Manage onboarding for every new hire in Singapore, from offer stage through the first day, and ensure the experience feels welcoming.
• Support relocating employees with practical local orientation, including housing guidance, neighborhood information, and day-to-day settling-in support.
• Work with the global payroll provider and employment counsel to help work permits and related processes move forward smoothly.
• Oversee benefits administration for the Singapore team, including health insurance coordination and responses to employee questions.
• Handle office operations and facilities support as the team grows.
• Maintain accurate and well-organized people records and employee data.
• Assist accounting and compliance partners so expense handling stays accurate and well controlled.
• Serve as the approachable first contact for employee questions about benefits, visas, office operations, and related matters.
• Create playbooks, workflows, and systems that support scaling without operational confusion.
• Help organize company events, offsites, and team-building moments that employees enjoy.
• Continuously identify ways to improve the employee experience, from small details to larger operational improvements.

Requirements

• 2 to 4 years of experience in people operations, HR, office management, or startup operations.
• Working knowledge of Singapore employment practices and MOM requirements.
• Excellent organizational skills with the ability to manage vendors, deadlines, and multiple moving parts reliably.
• Strong written communication skills and the ability to be a warm, dependable point of contact for employees.
• Good judgment and discretion when handling confidential information.
• Self-directed, proactive problem-solving in a fast-changing environment.
• A strong sense of ownership and the ability to act without waiting to be told.
• Genuine interest in supporting people and helping build a workplace employees enjoy.

Additional Information

This role favors people who have previously worked in top-tier startups or scale-ups, helped a company scale rapidly, or coordinated work across multiple countries or time zones.

The position is intended for someone who is comfortable working in person in Singapore.

Compensation is stated as SGD 100K to SGD 135K.

The company emphasizes that it is looking for someone who helps make both the team experience and the supporting operational systems stronger as the Singapore presence grows.

Employees in this role would also be involved in supporting company events and team moments that strengthen the culture.

The company highlights the importance of making Exa a place people genuinely want to work, with a people-first mindset and strong operational discipline.

Why This Role Matters

A company’s strength depends on both its people and the systems that support them. As Exa builds something ambitious in Singapore, this role is meant for someone who cares about getting both the employee experience and the underlying operations right, so the team feels supported and the infrastructure keeps pace with growth.

If that sounds like the kind of work you want to do, the company would like to hear from you.