Our client is a premier professional services firm with more than three decades of history and a reputation as a top-tier design partner, known for delivering complex, high-stakes projects where technical excellence and trusted relationships matter most. This is a rare opportunity to join the senior leadership team as the firm’s first Chief People Officer, reporting to the CEO and partnering closely with the COO and CFO. First, you will design and build a scalable People & Culture organization from a strong foundation, shaping shared services and Centers of Excellence across Talent Acquisition, Learning & Development, and Policy & Compliance. Second, you will play a central role in the firm’s growth strategy, leading the people side of acquisitions from due diligence through integration and guiding the organization through meaningful change, including how AI reshapes the way work gets done. Third, you will hold a true seat at the table with Board-level visibility and significant runway to grow alongside a business entering its most ambitious chapter.
Position Responsibilities
- Design and lead the People & Culture function, building a high-performing team and a shared services and Centers of Excellence model with clear ownership, goals, and a metrics-driven operating rhythm.
- Serve as the people lead on all acquisitions, assessing workforce, compensation, compliance, and cultural alignment ahead of close, and building a repeatable integration playbook that drives retention and time-to-productivity.
- Stand up an in-house Talent Acquisition function, moving from third-party recruiting to proactive pipelines and a data-driven campus strategy for a hiring mix that is heavily early-career.
- Establish the Learning & Development Center of Excellence and evolve the existing leadership and career curriculum so employees in every office have consistent opportunities to grow.
- Build management capability across the firm, partnering with regional operations leaders on talent assessment, succession planning, coaching, and disciplined hiring practices.
- Modernize performance management and rewards, completing career pathing and leveling, streamlining the review cycle, and partnering with the CFO on compensation and incentives tied to performance.
- Scale a growing international team, navigating global compliance, time zones, and culture to support expansion of both engineering and shared services talent.
- Partner with technology leadership on AI upskilling and automation, defining how work is shared between people and technology and leading the related change across the firm.
- Establish people data governance, dashboards, and Board-ready reporting on recruiting, engagement, and retention, using pulse surveys, eNPS, and exit analysis to address retention risk.
- Partner with Marketing to define and activate the Employee Value Proposition and lead change communication so key initiatives are clearly understood and adopted.
Position Qualifications
Required:
- Proven track record of building and scaling people functions that measurably improved hiring, development, and retention in a growing organization.
- 12 to 15+ years of progressive People or HR leadership experience.
- Current or recent Chief People Officer, or a senior HR leader ready for the top seat, such as a number two or head of HR for a major business unit.
- Hands-on experience leading the people side of M&A, from due diligence through integration.
- Experience building and leading distributed, international teams, ideally including offshore engineering or shared services centers.
- Experience scaling talent acquisition, learning and development, and performance management.
- Based in or able to relocate to San Francisco or Seattle, with the ability to travel approximately 25%, including annual international travel.
Preferred:
- Experience in a private equity-backed or investor-backed environment.
- Exposure to professional services, ideally paired with high-growth experience.
- A strategist, builder, and doer who brings entrepreneurial energy, executive presence with technical leaders, and a passion for developing people.
If you’re ready to make an impact and take your career to the next level, we’d love to hear from you. Apply now and a member of Talentfoot’s recruitment team will be in touch should your track record of success, experience, skills and qualifications match our client’s requirements.