About the Role:
As a Principal People Partner (R&D), you will architect and champion people strategies and solutions for a designated organization or subset of teams within Gusto. You will shape the future direction of our people practices, serving as the principal advisor to executive leadership on organizational effectiveness. This role demands exceptional strategic partnership capabilities, as you'll work directly with C-suite and senior leaders to translate business vision into comprehensive people strategies. You'll lead strategic integration across all specialized People functions (Invite, Talent Development, Compensation and Benefits), orchestrating company-wide initiatives that drive significant organizational outcomes. Your expertise will enable you to identify emerging talent trends and organizational challenges before they impact the business, and develop proactive strategies in partnership with functional People leaders. In this role, you will excel in dynamic and challenging environments, applying your passion for developing and refining processes and practices while establishing best practices that elevate the entire People organization.
About the Team:
Gusto's People team is growing and scaling with the company! As our business scales and becomes more complex, and as we add hundreds of new Gusties each year, we need to ensure that our strategies for engagement with our employees are positive, engaging, values-driven and compliant
Here’s what you’ll do day-to-day:
- Lead and define the organization's People objectives, including attracting, hiring and onboarding great talent, developing and retaining Gusties, and achieving our goals around representation and inclusion.
- Develop and implement innovative talent solutions that address complex business challenges, partnering strategically with specialized People functions (Invite, Talent Development, Compensation and Benefits).
- Design and execute business and talent initiatives that support our short and long-term business goals, including driving practices that enable high performance and operational excellence.
- Serve as a trusted strategic advisor to directors and senior leadership, providing coaching and guidance on organizational effectiveness, performance management, and leadership development.
- Own end-to-end organizational design initiatives and workforce planning by assessing capabilities, identifying talent gaps, developing people resources, and introducing succession planning.
- Build strong cross-functional partnerships to ensure people initiatives are cohesive and support broader organizational objectives while creating a consistent Gustie experience.
- Identify and translate current and future business needs into comprehensive People/Talent Plans, leveraging data and workforce analytics to drive strategic decision-making.
- Lead organizational development interventions such as change management, team effectiveness, and leadership coaching with minimal guidance.
Here’s what we're looking for:
- Progressive HR Experience: 15+ years of progressive HR leadership experience with 7+ years in senior strategic people roles. Proven ability to craft and deliver enterprise-level strategies in partnership with executive leadership.
- Strategic Thinking & Business Acumen: Strong capability to align People initiatives with business objectives, translating high-level strategies into actionable plans that drive organizational success.
- Relationship Management & Executive Presence: Exceptional interpersonal skills with proven ability to influence and coach directors and senior leaders, building strategic partnerships and maintaining executive presence.
- Organizational Design & Change Management: Advanced knowledge of organizational design principles and demonstrated success leading organizational change initiatives that result in measurable improvements.
- Cross-Functional Collaboration: Experience partnering effectively with specialized HR functions (Invite, Talent Development, Compensation and Benefits) to develop integrated people solutions.
- Workforce Analytics & Data-Driven Approach: Significant experience leveraging data and workforce analytics to inform strategic decision-making and demonstrate business impact.
- Talent Development & DEI Leadership: Strong track record of developing talent strategies and implementing diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives that enhance organizational performance.
- Agility & Ethical Practice: Ability to thrive in fast-paced, ambiguous environments while maintaining strong commitment to confidentiality and handling sensitive issues with integrity.
Our cash compensation amount for this role is between $188,510 - $232,496/year in Denver, and between $221,275 - $272,906/year for New York/San Francisco. Final offer amounts are determined by multiple factors including candidate location, experience and expertise and may vary from the amounts listed above.
