People and Hospitality Associate

Location: In-office, Columbus OH

At River, we are building the most trusted and honest financial institution in the world, powered by bitcoin. We believe in a future where every person will have bitcoin savings and every business will hold bitcoin on their balance sheet. We obsessively design and build delightful products that help our clients buy, sell, secure, and use Bitcoin.

River is headquartered in Columbus, OH, and has raised more than $50 million from leading investors, including Goldcrest, Kingsway, Polychain, M13, DG, and Valor.

As our People and Hospitality Associate, you’ll play a critical role in shaping the employee experience and supporting River’s growth. You will own core administrative operations, drive people processes, and ensure HR systems run smoothly and efficiently. From onboarding new hires to supporting leadership initiatives, you will be a vital partner across teams, helping us scale with excellence.

What You Will Do

People Operations & HR Support

• Act as a voice for employees and advocate for a best-in-class employee experience, identifying pain points, proposing solutions, and driving improvements across people processes.

• Partner with the Director of People to continuously improve onboarding practices and be a key resource to new hires: schedule sessions, coordinate with IT on equipment, send documentation, and guide new hires through day one.

• Manage and optimize recruiting practices: schedule interviews, liaise with candidates and hiring managers. Support training hiring managers on best practices within Ashby, and updating training materials.

• Support with optimization of our HRIS system, including data, reporting, and permissions. This includes learning modules housed within the HRIS and necessary compliance and reporting.

• Partner with the Director of People and Director of Finance on payroll functions for US employees, global employees and all contractors. Ensuring all payments are correct, timely and well documented.

• Track state tax notices and work with the People or Finance team to ensure they’re routed appropriately and resolved.

• Partner with the Director of People to review employee expense reports in Airbase, ensuring alignment with company policies. Act as an advocate for a positive employee experience, consistently looking for ways to streamline and simplify the process.

• Deliver a high-quality benefits experience by serving as a liaison between employees and vendors and identifying opportunities for improvement.

• Maintain internal People Ops documentation, ensuring accuracy, usability, and scalability as River grows. Including the Employee Handbook, manager training documentation, onboarding and offboarding materials, etc.

Hospitality

• Own daily office operations, including lunch programs, snack and supply stocking, and vendor coordination. Be the tastemaker and look for ways to elevate our space and in-office experience.

• Manage building access, parking logistics, and visitor coordination, ensuring a welcoming and seamless environment for employees and guests.

• Plan and execute event logistics for internal gatherings, including travel, meals, expenses, and team-building activities.

• Lead coordination of employee celebrations and company-wide events (e.g. birthdays, offsites, holiday parties).

• Drive execution of River’s annual retreat, working with Leadership to design and deliver a high-impact, memorable experience for all employees.

• Own swag and client gifting operations, including inventory management, vendor coordination, fulfillment, and quality improvements that reflect our brand and drive a delightful experience.

What We Look for in You

• Exceptional attention to detail and organizational skill.

• Strong communicator—both written and verbal.

• Proactive, solution-oriented, and able to thrive in ambiguity.

• Trusted with sensitive information and demonstrates sound judgment.

• Eager to optimize systems and enhance experiences.

• Collaborative mindset and enthusiasm for supporting others.

• Energized by the pace and purpose of a mission-driven startup.

Salary and Benefits

• Salary range: $65,000 - $85,000

• Competitive compensation and equity

• Unlimited PTO

• Parental leave

• Medical, dental, and vision insurance

• 401(k)

• In-office lunch benefit