Job description
Description
As the Director, People Business Partner for Research & Development (R&D) at Sprout Social, you will be a strategic leader responsible for developing and executing comprehensive people strategies that directly enable the success of our technology and innovation engine. Collaborating closely with the Chief Technology Officer (CTO), Chief Product Officer (CPO) and their senior leadership team, you will ensure that R&D talent strategies are tightly aligned with the overall business objectives and contribute directly to Sprout’s competitive advantage.
Why join Sprout’s People Business Partner team?
Joining Sprout’s People Business Partner team means you’ll have the opportunity to impact our business and talent strategy, solve hard problems, and help Sprout continue to be an employer of choice. When we say we have a seat at the table, we truly mean it! As a People Business Partner, you’ll impact the success of our business by enabling managers and employees alike to build careers that fulfill their passions and achieve their aspirations. We develop trust, commitment and buy-in with the leaders in our business units, and the relationships we hold with our stakeholders are truly special.
What you’ll do
- Strategic Partnership: Establish deep, strategic partnerships with our CTO, CPO, and their senior leadership team to understand their unique business goals, challenges, and talent needs. Develop and champion integrated people strategies directly supporting the R&D roadmap and overall company vision.
- Talent Strategy: Lead the development and execution of innovative and data-driven talent strategies for the R&D organization, encompassing workforce planning, strategic talent acquisition, targeted talent development programs, robust succession planning, and effective retention strategies aligned with business objectives.
- Data-Driven Decision Making: Leverage data analytics to identify talent trends, measure program effectiveness, and provide actionable insights to inform strategic decisions.
- Succession Planning: Identify and develop high-potential talent to ensure future leadership needs are met.
- Organizational Effectiveness: Collaborate with People teams to implement initiatives that enhance employee engagement, productivity, and retention.
- Organizational Design: Lead to organizational design and restructuring efforts to optimize talent and efficiency.
- Performance Experience: Collaborate with R&D leadership and the broader People team to implement and drive effective performance management practices that foster a culture of continuous improvement, high performance, and accountability within the R&D organization.
- Change Management: Lead organizational change initiatives, such as mergers, acquisitions, and restructuring, to minimize disruption and maximize employee impact.
What you’ll bring
The minimum qualifications for this role include:
- 10+ years of HR Business Partner experience
- A depth of experience in employee development, management coaching, organizational design, compensation, employee relations, training, and project management and program implementation
- Demonstrated success in utilizing influencing skills and working with senior members of the business
Preferred qualifications for this role include:
- Excellent verbal and written communication skills
- Strong business acumen and the ability to translate complex HR concepts into actionable business strategies
- Business insight and proven ability to diagnose problems and identify and drive appropriate solutions
How you’ll grow
Within 1 month, you’ll plant your roots, including:
- Experience Sprout’s in-depth onboarding, covering everything from our company mission and values and hearing directly from our company founders and senior leadership, to training on our products, business model and the value that Sprout delivers to our customers.
- Make a plan with your manager to set initial priorities, align on expectations for your role, plant goalposts for your career growth and development at Sprout, and learn about Sprout’s Global People organization
- Conduct initial 1:1s with employees, managers, and other key strategic partners throughout the company to identify what a successful People relationship looks like and how you will work together.
- Familiarize yourself with any existing HR data, reports, and dashboards related to the R&D organization (e.g., headcount, turnover, engagement survey results).
- Partner with our other People Business Partners to understand how they support their assigned teams and how your role will support their efforts.
- Begin to form initial observations and insights regarding the current state of talent within R&D.
Within 3 months, you’ll start hitting your stride by:
- We have learned our People team tools and processes and offer suggestions on improving them. We want you to dive in and help us find ways to optimize our processes, including ways to partner with our Recruitment, DEI, People Ops, Organizational Development, and Employee Experience teams to help us manage our global employee experience. Don’t be afraid to give us feedback. We welcome it.
- Continue building relationships with key stakeholders to deeply understand the unique challenges of managing and leading within a publicly traded SaaS organization within each function and department you support.
- Based on your assessment, identify 1-2 key areas where you can begin to contribute and add value to the R&D talent strategy.
- Begin to actively participate in relevant People team and R&D initiatives, offering your expertise and insights.
- Based on your understanding, start to formulate initial recommendations for potential improvements or new initiatives related to R&D talent.
Within 6 months, you’ll be making a clear impact through:
- Being a trusted advisor to key stakeholders and the departments you support through the alignment of people management initiatives to the overall business strategy.
- In partnership with our People Ops and People team practice leads, dive into our people data (engagement, retention, performance, attrition, etc.) to make data-driven recommendations on how to accelerate talent development, scale processes, further embed DEI initiatives, and improve the overall employee experience.
- Begin to collaborate with department heads to influence systemic change through the presentation of well-developed and structured proposals and hold stakeholders accountable through robust communication and effective change management strategies.
Within 12 months, you’ll make this role your own by:
- Establish yourself as a strategic leader within the People team and a critical partner to the R&D organization, driving sustainable impact on talent and business outcomes.
- Act as a champion for a high-performance culture within R&D, driving initiatives that foster engagement, innovation, and collaboration.
- Proactively seek opportunities to improve People programs and processes within R&D and across the organization.
- Embody and add to our People team culture by contributing to the engagement and growth of the broader People team.
- Surprise us! Use your unique ideas and abilities to change the People Team in beneficial ways that we haven’t even considered yet.
Of course what is outlined above is the ideal timeline, but things may shift based on business needs and other projects and tasks could be added at the discretion of your manager.
Our Benefits Program
We’re proud to regularly be recognized for our team, product and culture. Our benefits program includes:
- Insurance and benefit options that are built for both individuals and families
- Progressive policies to support work/life balance, like our flexible paid time off and parental leave program
- High-quality and well-maintained equipment—your computer will never prevent you from doing your best
- Wellness initiatives to ensure both health and mental well-being of our team
- Ongoing education and development opportunities via our Grow@Sprout program and employee-led diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives.
- Growing corporate social responsibility program that is driven by the involvement and passion of our team members
- Beautiful, convenient, and state-of-the-art offices in Chicago’s Loop and downtown Seattle, for those who prefer an office setting
Whenever possible, Sprout wants to provide our team with the flexibility to work in the location that makes the most sense for them. Sprout maintains a remote workforce in many places in the United States. However, we are not set up in all states, so please look at the drop-down box in our application to see whether your state is listed. Few roles require an office setting. If your position requires a physical presence in a Sprout office, it will be evident in the job listing and your offer letter.
Sprout Social is proud to be an Equal Opportunity Employer. We do not discriminate based on identity - race, color, religion, national origin or ancestry, sex (including sexual identity), age, physical or mental disability, pregnancy, veteran or military status, unfavorable discharge from military service, genetic information, sexual orientation, marital status, order of protection status, citizenship status, arrest record or expunged or sealed convictions, or any other legally recognized protected basis under federal, state, or local law. Because Sprout Social is a federal contractor, we affirmatively recruit individuals with a disability and protected veterans. Learn more about our commitment to diversity, equity and inclusion in our latest DEI Report.
If you require a reasonable accommodation for any part of the interview process or to submit your application, please email us at [email protected]. Include the nature of your request and your preferred contact information. We’ll do everything we can to support your success during our recruitment process while upholding your privacy. Please note that only inquiries regarding accommodations will receive a response from this email address; other inquiries will not be addressed (e.g., you send your resume but are not requesting an accommodation).
For more information about our commitment to equal employment opportunity, please click here (1) Equal Opportunity Employment Poster and (2) Sprout Social’s Affirmative Action Statement.
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