Lead People Systems Engineer

About the role

You will reimagine core People workflows including recruiting, onboarding, performance management, and daily employee tasks through an AI-first lens rather than relying on incremental automation. You will design and build AI-powered workflows, copilots, and agents that automate and enhance People processes across the entire employee lifecycle from hire to retire. You will architect and implement systems that integrate securely with SaaS platforms such as Workday, Greenhouse, Sana, and existing Klaviyo internal platforms. You will partner closely with our internal IT AI team to establish best practices around prompt engineering, LLM system design, orchestration, versioning, testing, security, and observability of AI systems. You will enable AI use cases such as copilots, assistants, and automated workflows that drive faster execution and better decision-making for People teams globally. You will act as a thought partner to People leadership, translating business problems into scalable AI solutions while ensuring responsible AI, privacy, and governance for sensitive employee data.

Key facts

What you'll do

• Reimagine end-to-end People workflows through an AI-first architecture that fundamentally changes how Klaviyo hires, develops, and retains talent.
• Design and build intelligent AI-powered copilots and agents that automate complex People processes across the employee lifecycle.
• Architect integrations between AI systems and critical SaaS tools including Workday, Greenhouse, Sana, and internal Klaviyo platforms.
• Partner with the internal IT AI team to define and enforce standards for prompt engineering, LLM orchestration, and system design.
• Establish robust practices for versioning, testing, security, and observability of AI-driven People systems.
• Enable People teams by creating reusable frameworks and workflows that make AI tools more accessible and actionable.
• Develop playbooks and training materials that help non-technical stakeholders confidently use and iterate on AI-powered tools.
• Identify high-leverage opportunities to replace manual, legacy workflows with AI-native solutions across the employee journey.
• Define clear success metrics focused on efficiency gains, time savings, and operational effectiveness for People processes.
• Act as a strategic thought partner to People leadership, advising on what is possible with AI beyond requested features.
• Ensure all AI systems handle sensitive employee data with security, privacy, and trust at the core of the design.
• Collaborate with Security, Legal, and Global IT to ensure compliant and ethical deployment of AI across People systems.
• Work closely with Security, IT, and GTM Systems teams to align on shared AI infrastructure and governance standards.
• Contribute to company-wide AI patterns, tooling, and best practices that scale across the organization.
• Help non-technical stakeholders build confidence in using and customizing AI tools for their teams.

Requirements

• You are excited to reimagine People operations in an AI-first world and challenge traditional ways of managing employee lifecycle workflows.
• You have the ability to partner across People Operations, Talent Acquisition, Talent, and Finance to design solutions that meet evolving business needs.
• You are comfortable designing systems that integrate with multiple SaaS platforms and internal enterprise systems.
• You bring a strong sense of ownership for defining long-term architecture and standards for AI within the People Technology organization.
• You have experience establishing best practices for prompt engineering, LLM system design, and observability of AI applications.
• You are passionate about responsible AI, data privacy, and governance, especially when handling sensitive employee information.
• You are skilled at translating complex business problems into scalable technical solutions that involve AI and automation.
• You are comfortable influencing stakeholders at all levels, including senior People leaders, Security, Legal, and IT teams.
• You have a collaborative mindset and genuinely enjoy enabling non-technical teams to adopt and leverage new technologies.
• You are proactive in identifying opportunities to replace manual workflows with AI-native alternatives that drive efficiency and effectiveness.

Practical notes

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