Sr. Director, HR Business Partner — R&D

## Responsibilities - Partner at the top: You'll be the primary HRBP for our R&D organization - directly supporting VP+ leaders including the CPO, CTO, and CIO. That means candid advice, not polished answers. You'll help them think through the hardest people questions: how to structure growing teams, where talent risk is hiding, and when a leadership problem is actually an org design problem (or vice versa). - Shape how R&D runs as AI changes everything: AI isn't coming to Klaviyo's R&D org - it's already here. You'll partner with leaders and teams to navigate what that actually means: redesigning roles, rethinking team structures, and building the skills that let people work alongside AI rather than behind it. - Drive talent strategy, not just talent process: You'll translate business priorities into people strategies - org design, succession planning, hiring strategy, and leadership development - that hold up as the company scales. You know the difference between a process that creates clarity and one that just creates paperwork. - Lead with data: You'll use advanced people analytics and data signaling tools to spot trends before they become problems, make the case for investment, and measure whether the things we're doing are actually working. - Lead and develop an HRBP team: You'll build and coach a team of HRBPs supporting R&D - setting a high bar, modeling what great HRBP work looks like, and creating the conditions for them to do their best work. - Connect the dots across the People function: You'll work closely with the Head of HRBP and Talent Development to shape how the broader HRBP team operates - building efficient / automated processes, leading cross-functional projects (performance calibration, org design, career architecture), and maintaining strong partnerships with close partners such as TA, People Ops, Total Rewards, and Employment Legal. ## What Success Looks Like - R&D leaders treat you as a trusted advisor - not because you're available, but because your perspective is worth seeking out. - You've built a team of HRBPs who are raising the bar on what strategic partnership looks like. - Org design, succession, and talent decisions are grounded in data and built around a clear point of view. - Your fingerprints are on how R&D has evolved through AI transformation - the structures, the capabilities, the culture. - People Leaders and experts across R&D report a measurably better partnership experience as we evolve our people strategy. ## What You Bring ### Non-Negotiables: - 15-20+ years of HRBP or related HR experience, with meaningful time supporting R&D, Engineering, or Product organizations in high-growth tech. - 5+ years leading and developing HR teams - you know what great coaching looks like, and you practice it. - A proven track record partnering with senior leaders, including the C-suite, on high-stakes decisions with wide and long-ranging impact. ### Nice to Have: - Experience with AI transformation and its impact on people strategy. - Strong data analytics and people analytics experience. - Experience in building and scaling HR teams in high-growth environments. - Strong communication and interpersonal skills, with the ability to influence at the executive level. ## Benefits - Opportunity to shape the future of HR strategy in a high-growth AI-first company. - Collaborative and innovative work environment. - Competitive compensation and benefits package. - Flexible work arrangements.