People Business Partner

About CoLab

At CoLab, we want to help mechanical engineering teams bring life-changing products to market years sooner.

CoLab is a cloud based platform for engineering design review. We make it easy for subject matter experts (SMEs) across your business to access, evaluate, and comment on 2D drawings and 3D models. Our built-in AI peer checker, AutoReview, scans designs for common errors or non-compliance with your standards and guidelines. AutoReview creates markups and comments on your files, in context – just like a human checker.

With CoLab, human SMEs and AI work together to help you make better decisions and improve designs faster. We automatically capture knowledge from across your global business that would otherwise be buried in emails, spreadsheets, slide decks, and unknown locations in Sharepoint or PLM. Then, we make sure every lesson learned and every design guideline is applied exactly when it matters.

Companies like Johnson Controls, Komatsu, Schaeffler, and Polaris have launched products 40% faster, cut BOM costs by 50%, and reduced quality escapes by 15% in 1 year.

About the Role

As our People Business Partner, you’ll play a critical role in building the foundation that helps CoLab scale while keeping things human. This is a new role created to support our growth, and you’ll be the go-to person for core people operations, employee support, and all the pieces that make the day-to-day experience at CoLab smooth, compliant, and meaningful.

You’ll manage everything from onboarding and benefits, to performance cycles, compensation logistics, and ad hoc people programs. You’ll also provide backup support for our People Ops Manager and Employee Experience Lead and occasionally jump in on recruiting coordination, references, and employer branding.

This role is for someone who thrives on autonomy, figures things out without being asked, and takes ownership from day one. If you’ve worked in a fast-paced environment and want to help shape how a modern People function runs at a high-growth company, this is your opportunity.

Our Ideal Candidate

You have a strong foundation in HR operations and people programs, ideally in a scale-up or high-growth setting. You don’t need hand-holding, but you do want context and collaboration. You’re confident in owning the details, whether leading onboarding for a new cohort, navigating the latest benefits policy, or coordinating a cross-border work permit, and you communicate clearly and respectfully, even when things get complex.

You care deeply about helping people thrive at work, and you bring structure, empathy, and good judgment to everything you do.

What You’ll Be Responsible For

• Owning core people operations: onboarding, offboarding, benefits administration, performance and compliance
• Partnering with managers as a trusted advisor on team performance, feedback practices, employee relations, and other people related needs
• Leading or supporting our approach to performance reviews, total rewards, and policy updates
• Assisting with payroll administration as needed
• Managing day to day employee questions and provide people-related support across teams, ensuring clear guidance on policies, benefits
• Supporting PR/work permit coordination and documentation
• Pitching in on recruitment logistics (e.g. reference checks, scheduling) as needed
• Collaborating with the Employee Experience Lead on office operations, events, and employee initiatives

Qualifications

Must-Haves

• 3+ years in a People Ops, HRBP, or similar role
• Experience running onboarding, benefits, and compliance workflows
• Strong organizational skills with the ability to self-manage and prioritize across tasks
• Clear written and verbal communication, with a high attention to detail
• Experience interpreting and applying employment law and standards
• Comfortable working in office at our St. John’s, NL, OR Toronto, Ontario offices. 
  
  

Nice-to-Haves

• Experience managing audits or leading audit-readiness programs
• Prior experience in a high-growth SaaS or startup environment
• Exposure to PR/work permit processing and immigration support
• Strong judgment and ability to navigate ambiguity with confidence and care
  
  

The Extra Details

• Compensation: Full-time, permanent position with competitive salary and stock options
• Benefits: Extended health plan, unlimited paid vacation, RRSP matching
• Location: This role is hybrid and based in St. John’s, NL or Toronto, ON 
  
  

Equity Note

Frequently cited statistics show that people who identify with historically marginalized groups are likely to apply to jobs only if they meet 100% of the qualifications. We encourage you to help us break that statistic and apply even if you don’t meet every single qualification — your potential is what matters most to us.