How Ariel Chen built trust before she built automation

Ariel Chen coordinates People Operations at Figma, where a two-person team tracks over 100 background checks each month across 12 countries. In a role where a missed screen can delay someone’s start date or create compliance issues, Ariel built a system her team can rely on. When every screen says “pending” Figma hires globally, and international background checks often take longer than the two-week lead time between onboarding cohorts.