People Operations Generalist, Japan

WHO WE ARE

Notion is the collaborative AI workspace where teams and agents think together https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vkpYpWfEK5s. We're building one place where your knowledge, projects, meetings, and AI tools live side by side, so work feels faster, clearer, and less fragmented. Millions of individuals, small teams, and large companies run their work on Notion.

Notinos (our employees) are customer zero in bringing this future of work to life. We care about craft, humanity, and building things that last — not just shipping the next feature, but setting a standard for how modern teams (with humans and agents working together) think and execute.

ABOUT THE ROLE

As a People Operations Generalist, you'll be the backbone of Notion's employee experience, owning the critical touch-points that make our team members feel supported throughout their journey. From the moment someone accepts their offer through their growth and transitions at Notion, you'll ensure every process runs smoothly - managing onboarding, compliance, HRIS transactions, off-boarding, and more, with a focus on Japan-specific compliance and broader APAC coverage. You'll partner closely with cross-functional teams including Recruiting, Legal, Finance, People Partners, and IT to deliver seamless operational execution. This role requires someone who thrives on operational excellence, can juggle competing priorities, and genuinely cares about executing high quality work.

This role is based in Tokyo, Japan. We work from our offices on Mondays, Tuesdays and Thursdays (our Anchor Days) because we do our best thinking and building together in person. We’re looking for someone who’s excited to work alongside the team during those days.

WHAT YOU'LL ACHIEVE

- Own end-to-end People Operations execution globally with an emphasis in APAC timezone coverage, ensuring timely support and reducing cross-timezone handoffs (Tokyo, with broader APAC coverage as needed).

- Support new hire onboarding - onboard new hires to our HRIS, verify background checks, and end-to-end onboarding coordination. Ensure all new employees are set up for Day 1.

- Support off-boarding - process terminations in our HRIS, draft separation paperwork, and partner with People Partners, IT, and other cross-functional teams on critical off-boarding logistics.

- Operationalize Japan-specific workflows and compliance processes, including Japanese-language, document-heavy work-streams such as social insurance administration support and coordination, leave processing and related documentation, payroll coordination, and labor/regulatory obligations and audits.

- Coordinate with external vendors and internal stakeholders to ensure accurate, timely execution – especially where local judgement and documentation quality are critical.

- Act as the initial point of contact for employees. Triage and resolve questions or requests submitted to our People Operations ticketing system.

- Manage the day-to-day transacti