Director, People

What You'll Do

Talent Strategy & Leadership Support

Partner closely with the Chief People Officer to align people strategy, organizational priorities, and leadership support.

Serve as a trusted partner to leaders and managers on learning and development, team dynamics, coaching, performance issues, employee relations and organizational effectiveness. Serve as an effective listener, champion and problem solver.

Design and lead manager training and development programs to improve leadership capability, feedback quality, performance management and team health.

Provide regular feedback and perspective to the leadership team on people trends, organizational health, manager effectiveness, and cultural opportunities.

Employee Engagement & Culture

Ensure Pendulum’s mission and values are upheld across all people programs and practices.

Utilize data and metrics to understand the employee experience and develop programs and implement practices that demonstrate commitment to strengthening company culture and living our values.

Oversee employee engagement activities with a view to encouraging onsite collaboration and inclusion of remote employees.

Be a culture champion, including owning company events and recognition programs.

HR Operations

Lead day-to-day HR operations across the company, ensuring a high-quality employee experience and strong execution of core people processes.

Talent Acquisition: Develop a data-oriented approach to manage and scale hiring practices as the company grows, including onboarding processes that allow employees to acclimate quickly.

Compensation & Benefits: Build on compensation and benefits offerings to attract and retain talent consistent with a performance-based culture.

Employee Relations: Partner with company leadership and outside employment counsel on sensitive or complex legal and employment matters, using sound judgment and a proactive approach to conflict resolution.

Compliance: Help ensure HR policies, practices and documentation are compliant, practical and aligned with company values.

Systems: Oversee HR systems, including ADP Workforce Now, Ubiquity, Health Equity, Lever, Lattice and Google Drive.

Who We’re Looking For

Experience & Education

10+ years of progressive experience in People/HR, ideally in fast-growing startup or scale-up environments.

At least 4+ years in a management or senior leadership capacity within People/HR.

Bachelor’s degree required; HR certification (SPHR / SHRM-SCP) preferred.

Hands-on experience leading HR operations: HRIS systems, onboarding/offboarding, compensation banding, benefits administration and employee relations.

Broad knowledge and understanding of federal, state, and local employment laws.

Competencies & Attributes

An inspiring leader and visionary who is passionate about the impact of people, yet business-minded and results oriented.

High emotional intelligence with the ability to develop and maintain collaborative relationships, credibility and trust with stakeholders, peers and colleagues across the organization.

Sound judgment and the ability to make clear grounded decisions and recommendations, including on complex, multi-disciplinary problems.

Ability to turn people data into insights and actions that drive continuous improvement for employee programs and performance.

Strong prioritization, project planning and management (from conception to completion) and change management skills.

Ability to work well autonomously and cross-functionally in a fast-paced, deadline-driven environment.

Strong verbal and written communication skills, including the ability to effectively present to executive audiences.

Belief in transparent and open communication and the power of individuals to improve and enable those around them.

What Success Looks Like

In the first year, success means that

The CPO has a reliable operational partner - someone who owns the day-to-day People function with minimal oversight, freeing the CPO to focus on strategy, leadership, and organizational development.

Managers across the organization feel meaningfully better supported: clearer on expectations, better equipped to lead their teams, and confident they have a trusted HR partner to turn to.

Employee engagement data shows positive trends, and the culture feels cohesive, inclusive, and aligned with Pendulum's mission.

HR operations run with consistency and rigor: processes are documented, systems are clean, compliance is current, and the employee experience from offer letter to offboarding reflects the company's values.

Salary & Benefits

$200,200-$225,000

Medical, Dental, and Vision

Commuter Benefits

Life & STD Insurance

Company match on 401 (k)

Flexible Time Off (FTO)

Equity