Senior Manager, People & Organization (P&O)

The role

The Senior Manager, P&O is the core HR partner for the studio. You will manage onboarding, benefits, payroll, and employee support for the overhead team and production crews.

What you will do

• Own the end-to-end employee lifecycle including onboarding, status changes, offboarding, and records maintenance.
• Manage benefits administration, open enrollment, and employee questions.
• Resolve payroll issues working with Payroll, Finance, and corporate P&O teams.
• Ensure compliance with employment law, Sony policies, and IATSE agreements.
• Partner with corporate teams to coordinate employee leaves, workplace accommodations, and return-to-work transitions.
• Partner with Compensation and studio leadership on promotions and internal equity.
• Partner with Production, Studio Operations, and department heads to support crew ramp-ups and wrap-downs.
• Advise on hiring plans, offers, and workforce planning across productions.
• Coach producers, supervisors, and managers on performance, conflict resolution, and team culture.
• Handle employee relations matters with discretion and fairness.

Required qualifications

• 8+ years of progressive HR experience
• 3+ years in a people-management role
• Strong knowledge of onboarding, benefits, payroll, and California employment law
• Working knowledge of guild and union environments
• Proficiency with HRIS and payroll systems (e.g., Workday)
• Excellent judgment, discretion, and communication skills
• A real interest in animation and filmmaking
• A service mindset: responsive, approachable, and solution-oriented
• The ability to balance process and compliance with the pace and flexibility creative work demands
• The ability to work respectfully with IATSE representatives and apply agreement terms accurately and consistently
• Comfort managing multiple priorities across productions in different phases

Nice to have

• Experience in media, entertainment, animation, VFX, or another project-based creative environment
• Experience with IATSE is a plus

About the company

Sony Pictures Animation is a pre-production animation studio based in Los Angeles, California, creating both feature animation and animated series. They empower filmmakers to lead the creative process to produce bold and innovative visual storytelling.