Position Overview

Why This Role Matters

Core Competencies

• Strategic Thinking & Vision – Connects people strategy to business outcomes; anticipates future organizational needs.
• Change Leadership – Designs and leads transformations that endure; builds resilience and adaptability.
• Stakeholder Influence – Builds trusted partnerships; navigates complexity with confidence and diplomacy.
• Data‑Driven Decision Making – Leverages people analytics to inform strategy and measure impact.
• Employee Experience Design – Applies human‑centered design to elevate the end‑to‑end employee journey.
• Execution Excellence – Translates strategy into action; delivers results in fast‑paced environments.

Key Responsibilities

1. Strategic HR Business Partnership

• Serve as the primary strategic People partner to North America senior leadership, aligning people strategy to business objectives and growth plans.
• Build trusted advisor relationships with leaders across Product, Engineering, Finance, Sales, and Operations.
• Translate business strategy into actionable people initiatives spanning talent, structure, culture, and capability.
• Participate in business planning cycles, providing workforce insights and strategic recommendations.
• Act as a thought partner on complex business decisions with people implications, including M&A, restructuring, and market expansion.

2. Organizational Transformation & Design

• Lead and co‑design organizational transformation initiatives, particularly across Product and Engineering.
• Partner with leaders to assess organizational effectiveness and recommend structural improvements that enhance agility and speed.
• Drive enterprise‑wide organizational design projects, including future‑state modeling, facilitation, and transition planning.
• Develop and execute change management and communication strategies for major organizational shifts.
• Build internal organizational design capability and establish repeatable transformation methodologies.

3. Employee Experience Optimization

• Champion a best‑in‑class employee experience strategy across North America, from onboarding through offboarding.
• Lead listening strategies (engagement surveys, focus groups, stay interviews) and translate insights into action.
• Partner with Total Rewards, Talent Acquisition, and Learning & Development to deliver a cohesive employee journey.
• Identify and eliminate friction points across the employee lifecycle using data, technology, and process improvement.
• Define and track employee experience KPIs aligned to engagement, retention, and productivity.

4. HR Practice Transformation & Innovation

• Lead the evolution of People practices from transactional to proactive and value‑driven.
• Evaluate and implement best‑in‑class approaches to performance management, succession planning, talent calibration, and career development.
• Champion people analytics and dashboarding to enable evidence‑based decision‑making.
• Introduce HR technologies, automation, and self‑service capabilities to improve efficiency and experience.
• Partner with the broader People team to ensure policies are modern, compliant, and experience‑centered.

5. Talent Strategy & Workforce Planning

• Partner with leaders on strategic workforce planning, skills gap analysis, and succession planning.
• Support enterprise talent calibration processes with a consistent, fair, and development‑focused approach.
• Collaborate with Talent Acquisition to shape recruitment strategies for critical technical and leadership roles.
• Drive internal mobility and talent pipeline initiatives to strengthen retention and reduce external hiring reliance.
• Partner with Learning & Development to build early‑career and leadership development programs.

6. Culture, Engagement & DEI

• Champion Candescent’s culture and values across the North America organization.
• Design and execute engagement strategies that foster belonging, psychological safety, and high performance.
• Partner with DEI leaders to embed inclusive practices into talent systems and leadership behaviors.
• Facilitate leadership team effectiveness sessions, team launches, and cultural alignment workshops.

7. Employee Relations & HR Operations

• Provide coaching and guidance to leaders on complex employee relations and performance issues.
• Ensure consistent application of HR policies and compliance with federal, state, and local employment laws.
• Partner with Legal and Compliance on investigations, accommodations, and sensitive employee matters.
• Maintain strong working knowledge of employment regulations across key North America jurisdictions, including Georgia.
• Oversee HR operational excellence, including data integrity, process compliance, and audit readiness.

Qualifications & Experience

Required

• 10+ years of progressive HR experience, including 5+ years in a senior HRBP or People Partner role.
• Bachelor’s degree or equivalent work experience ; Master’s degree or MBA preferred.
• Experience in a technology, FinTech, SaaS, or similarly complex, fast‑paced environment.
• Proven success leading large‑scale organizational transformation and change initiatives.
• Strong experience partnering with Product and Engineering teams (Agile, DevOps, product‑led growth).
• Deep knowledge of U.S. employment law across multiple jurisdictions.
• Demonstrated use of people analytics and HR technology to drive outcomes.
• Exceptional executive presence with the ability to influence at the C‑suite level.

Preferred

• SHRM‑SCP, SPHR, or equivalent certification.
• Change management or organizational design certifications (e.g., Prosci, ACMP).
• Experience in a high‑growth FinTech or financial technology organization.
• Familiarity with HRIS and engagement platforms (e.g., Workday, UKG, Glint, Culture Amp).
• Experience supporting a distributed, hybrid North America workforce.