Strategic People Partner for Growth & Leadership

About TensorWave

Our mission is simple: deliver seamless, secure, reliable, and resilient AI compute at scale. We've built a versatile cloud platform that eliminates infrastructure barriers, empowering builders to focus on innovation instead of fighting their stack. Because breakthrough AI should move at the speed of ideas, not infrastructure.

About the Role

We're looking for a People Business Partner to serve as the strategic People Operations partner to leaders across TensorWave. This is a high-impact, hands-on role for someone who wants to understand how the business works and use that knowledge to shape how our teams are organized, led, and developed — not just process requests as they come in.

You'll be the go-to People Operations advisor for your client groups: coaching managers, guiding talent and performance decisions, translating business priorities into people plans, and making sure our programs land consistently across teams. You'll partner closely with Employee Relations, Recruiting, and People Experience to bring the full strength of People Operations to the leaders you support.

This role is ideal for someone who has operated in a scaling or start-up environment before, is comfortable wearing multiple hats, and wants real influence over how the Company grows its teams and its leaders.

What You’ll Do

Strategic Business Partnership

• Serve as a trusted People Operations advisor to leaders across your client groups, building a deep understanding of their goals, challenges, and team dynamics

• Translate business priorities into people plans covering headcount, team structure, capability gaps, and succession

• Partner with leaders on organizational design, team growth, restructurings, and change management as the company scales

• Use people data (headcount, attrition, engagement, performance trends) to surface insights and recommend action before issues escalate

Manager Coaching & Leadership Development

• Coach people managers on day-to-day leadership: setting expectations, giving feedback, handling difficult conversations, and building strong teams

• Equip new and first-time managers with the tools, guidance, and confidence to lead effectively

• Identify leadership capability gaps and partner with People Experience and learning resources on development solutions

• Act as a sounding board for leaders on sensitive people decisions, bringing judgment, discretion, and a People Operations perspective

Performance & Talent Management

• Guide leaders through performance cycles (goal-setting, reviews, calibration) to ensure decisions are fair, consistent, and well-documented

• Partner with managers to address performance, escalating to Employee Relations when matters require deeper expertise

• Lead talent reviews and succession conversations to identify high performers, flight risks, and growth opportunities

• Support career development and internal mobility so employees understand how to grow at the Company

Employee Relations & Engagement

• Serve as the first point of contact for employee concerns within your client groups, resolving Level 1 issues and partnering with the Employee Relations Partner on complex matters

• Monitor engagement and retention signals across your client groups and partner with leaders on targeted action plans

• Support onboarding and offboarding experiences, including exit and stay conversations, to capture insights and improve retention

• Ensure People Operations policies and practices are understood and consistently applied by managers

Cross-Functional Partnership

• Partner with Talent Acquisition on workforce planning, hiring priorities, and leveling decisions

• Partner with leadership on compensation planning, promotions, and offer decisions, ensuring equity and consistency across teams

• Collaborate with People Operations colleagues to roll out company-wide programs and make sure they land well with your client groups

• Bring the voice of the business back to People Operations, flagging where programs, policies, or processes need to evolve as the company scales

Who You Are

Required Qualifications

• 5+ years of progressive experience in People Operations, with at least 2 years in a business partner role supporting leaders and managers directly

• Have worked at a tech company, start-up, or a similarly fast-paced environment

• Experience partnering with technical organizations and understand the unique dynamics of product and engineering teams

• Proven track record as a trusted advisor to senior managers, with the credibility to influence decisions and push back when needed

• Experience guiding leaders through organizational design, change management, and team growth (start-up or high-growth environment strongly preferred)

• Strong coaching skills; you help managers become better leaders rather than solving every problem for them

• Working knowledge of employment law and best practices in North America, and the judgment to know when to resolve an issue and when to escalate to Employee Relations or Legal

• Comfortable supporting a distributed/remote workforce across multiple states or countries

• Experience with performance management, talent reviews, compensation cycles, and career development frameworks

• Comfort working with people data and using it to tell a clear story and drive decisions

• Excellent written and verbal communication skills; ability to explain People Operations programs simply to employees and managers at all levels

• High emotional intelligence, discretion, and integrity; you're someone people trust with hard conversations

• Experience with People Operations systems and people analytics tools (e.g., Rippling, HiBob, Lattice, or similar)

Preferred Qualifications

• PHR/SPHR, SHRM-CP/SCP, or similar certification

• Have experience in AI/ML companies or with technical teams building cutting-edge technology products

• Understand technical career ladders, engineering culture, and the unique challenges of scaling technical organizations

• Care deeply when it comes to helping and supporting a diverse set of people at all levels of an organization, excelling in supporting employees and managers to do their best work

What We Offer

• Stock Options

• 100% paid Medical, Dental, and Vision insurance for Employees

• Company Health Savings Account Contributions

• 100% paid Short Term and Long Term Disability Insurance for Employees

• Life and Voluntary Supplemental Insurance Options

• Other Insurance Options, such as Pet & Legal Insurance

• Various Supplementary Health Benefits, such as discounted Virtual Healthcare Appointments and Serious Illness Support

• Flexible Spending Account

• 401(k)

• Employee Assistance Program

• Flexible PTO

• Paid Holidays

• Parental Leave

• Other In-Office Perks

Equal Employment Opportunity

TensorWave is an Equal Opportunity Employer. We celebrate diversity and are committed to creating an inclusive environment for all employees. We do not discriminate on the basis of any protected status under applicable law.

Reasonable Accommodations

TensorWave provides reasonable accommodations in accordance with applicable laws. If you require accommodation during the hiring process, please contact View email address on click.appcast.io.

Employment Eligibility

All offers of employment are contingent upon verification of identity and authorization to work in the United States, as required by law.

Background Checks

Where permitted by law, employment may be contingent upon the successful completion of a job-related background check.

Data Privacy Notice

By submitting an application, you acknowledge that TensorWave may collect, use, and retain your personal information for recruiting and employment-related purposes in accordance with applicable data privacy laws.