Senior Director, People Business Partner

About the role

This role involves partnering with C-level executives to shape talent strategies and drive organizational effectiveness. You will lead a global team of People Business Partners, translating business objectives into talent initiatives for a high-performing, remote organization. Your work will focus on organizational transformation and developing leadership capabilities.

Key facts

What you'll do

• Act as the primary people partner for several C-level executives, building trust to implement a global people strategy that enhances team growth and effectiveness.
• Design and lead large-scale organizational changes, including structure, workforce planning, and change management, adapting to AI's impact on the business.
• Provide guidance to global engineering teams, especially those with on-call responsibilities.
• Manage talent reviews, succession planning, and leadership development to ensure the organization has necessary skills for its long-term goals.
• Present people analytics to leadership, highlighting organizational health, skill gaps, and talent retention, then translate these insights into strategic recommendations.
• Offer direct coaching to executives and senior leaders on leadership, team dynamics, and complex people challenges.
• Collaborate with Total Rewards, Talent Acquisition, Talent Management & Development, and People Operations to integrate talent needs into company-wide programs.
• Lead and develop a high-performing team of People Business Partners, establishing a clear vision and fostering a culture of coaching and accountability.

Requirements

• Demonstrated experience leading people strategy through major organizational transformations, such as AI-driven workforce shifts, rapid growth, or technology pivots in enterprise technology or SaaS.
• Proven ability to navigate priorities across Product/Engineering, Finance, Total Rewards, and Talent Acquisition, influencing decisions in a global, fast-paced environment.
• Experience building and scaling a People Business Partner team, enhancing strategic impact and developing PBPs into effective business partners for senior leaders.
• Executive presence and credibility to advise C-suite and VP-level leaders with confidence, especially in ambiguous or high-stakes situations.
• Ability to lead effectively across different time zones, fostering aligned and accountable teams in a fully remote setting.

Skills & tools

• People analytics
• Organizational design
• Workforce planning
• Change management
• Talent reviews
• Succession planning
• Leadership development
• Coaching

Practical notes

• This role is remote within the United States.
• Salary range is for US residents only and does not include bonuses, equity, or benefits. Sales roles may be eligible for incentive pay up to 100% of base salary.
• Benefits include health, financial, and well-being support, flexible paid time off, Team Member Resource Groups, equity compensation, a growth and development fund, and parental leave.
• GitLab welcomes applicants with varying experience levels; not meeting every requirement should not deter you from applying.