Technical HR Business Partner

Technical HR Business Partner Reporting to: Chief People Officer About the Role We're looking for a strategic HR Business Partner to partner with our Engineering, Research, Product Strategy, and Technical Operations organizations. This is a highly consultative role focused on helping technical leaders build high-performing, efficient teams while navigating the unique challenges of an AI company. As a trusted advisor to senior engineering and research leaders, you'll influence organizational design, workforce planning, leadership effectiveness, performance management, and employee engagement. You'll combine business acumen with strong people expertise to help technical teams move quickly while creating an exceptional employee experience. This role is ideal for someone who thrives in fast-paced technology environments and enjoys partnering with leaders to solve complex technical problems. What You'll Do Strategic Business Partnership Design and build new people programs, policies, and frameworks from the ground up - not just administer existing ones. Partner closely with Engineering, Research, Product Strategy, and Technical Operations leaders as their primary HR advisor. Build trusted relationships with executives and people managers to influence organizational health and business outcomes. Translate business priorities into thoughtful people strategies that support rapid innovation and growth. Coach leaders through organizational change, team effectiveness, leadership development, and difficult people decisions. Use people data and organizational insights to influence workforce planning, hiring strategies, retention, and engagement. Organizational Design & Talent Strategy Partner with leadership on organizational design, team structures, and succession planning. Support workforce planning across engineering and research functions, ensuring teams are positioned to scale effectively. Advise leaders on career frameworks, internal mobility, and growth opportunities for highly specialized technical talent. Identify organizational risks and proactively recommend solutions that improve team effectiveness. Leadership Coaching & Performance Coach managers through performance management, employee development, feedback, and complex employee relations matters. Guide leaders through performance improvement plans, promotions, and talent calibration. Design, evolve, and run the semiannual performance review process, ensuring fairness and consistency across the company. Help managers build inclusive, high-performing teams through effective coaching and leadership practices. Employee Experience Partner with leaders to strengthen employee engagement, retention, and team culture. Support onboarding strategies that accelerate productivity for engineers and researchers. Champion initiatives that improve collaboration across globally distributed technical teams. Act as a trusted resource for employees navigating career growth, organizational change, and workplace concerns. Talent & Compensation Partner with Recruiting to align hiring strategies with business priorities. Own compensation planning, leveling discussions, and promotion processes. Provide market-informed guidance on attracting and retaining highly competitive AI and engineering talent. Collaborate on talent reviews and succession planning for key technical roles. HR Operations & Compliance Ensure people practices align with employment laws and company policies across multiple regions. Partner with Legal and the broader People team to manage employee relations matters with sound judgment and consistency. Drive scalable people processes that balance operational excellence with an outstanding employee experience. What We're Looking For 5+ years of progressive HR Business Partner experience supporting technical organizations. Experience leveraging AI tools to improve HR workflows, automate administrative work, generate insights, and build more scalable people programs. Experience partnering with Engineering, AI/ML, Research, Infrastructure, Product, or other highly technical teams. Proven ability to coach senior leaders and influence decision-making through trusted relationships. Strong experience with organizational design, workforce planning, performance management, and leadership coaching. Experience supporting globally distributed teams across multiple regions. Excellent employee relations judgment and conflict resolution skills. Strong analytical skills with the ability to translate people data into actionable insights and people programs/initiatives Comfortable navigating ambiguity and rapidly changing priorities in high-growth environments. Experience working in startup or scale-up technology companies is preferred. Familiarity with AI, machine learning, or developer organizations is highly desirable. Hands-on experience serving as a Rippling administrator, including configuring core modules, building and optimizing workflows, troubleshooting system issues, and leveraging automation to create scalable people processes. Equal Employment Opportunity We are an equal opportunity employer and do not discriminate on the basis of race, religion, national origin, gender, sexual orientation, age, veteran status, disability, or other legally protected statuses.