Director, People

Job Description

Job Description

About Pendulum

Pendulum® is leading a revolution that is occurring around the world to improve physical and mental health by first understanding, then restoring and enhancing the human microbiome. 

Studies have shown that our microbiome (the bacterial communities in and on our bodies) is linked to everything from metabolism and diabetes, to longevity, weight loss, healthy immune systems, cancer prevention, feelings of well-being, inflammatory bowel disease, and even healthy skin. We have just scratched the surface on understanding the impact that our microbiome has on our lives. During early life we develop a diverse and balanced microbiome that plays a critical role in shaping our long-term health. Over our lives, a combination of diet, lifestyle, antibiotics, and aging can decrease the effectiveness of our microbiome. 

Pendulum recognized the enormous impact they could have on people’s lives if they were able to address the imbalances in the microbiome. To accomplish this, Pendulum created proprietary probiotic pipelines and a unique discovery platform to identify key, novel bacterial strains and the prebiotics that feed them. The company has also built and developed the world’s first manufacturing technology to produce bacteria in an anaerobic (oxygen-free) environment at scale.

The medical probiotics that Pendulum has formulated have transformed the consumer probiotics market into a new category of therapeutic offerings that deliver the power and efficacy of a pharmaceutical with the safety and accessibility of a natural probiotic. Due to Pendulum’s explosive revenue and customer growth over the last two years, the company earned a spot on Forbes Magazine’s exclusive “The Next Billion Dollar Startups” list. 

If you’re interested in improving the lives of people globally and you love working in a cross-functional, collaborative, inspiring environment, please continue reading.

The Opportunity

We are looking for a senior People leader to own and elevate the day-to-day HR function while helping build a strong, high-performance, people-centered culture. This person will be both strategic and tactical: a trusted advisor to leadership, a resource for managers and employees, and a steady operator who ensures the company’s people practices scale thoughtfully.

This role is ideal for someone who loves people, communicates with clarity and empathy, and is energized by being in the office and deeply engaged with the team day to day. The right candidate will bring strength in organizational development, HR operations, employee relations and practical judgment around employment issues. They will also mentor and support other members of the People team.

You will be a broad-based, hands-on leader with a track record of driving best practices throughout the organization - driving accountability into every aspect of the People function and the business it supports.

What You'll Do

Talent Strategy & Leadership Support

• Partner closely with the Chief People Officer to align people strategy, organizational priorities, and leadership support.

• Serve as a trusted partner to leaders and managers on learning and development, team dynamics, coaching, performance issues, employee relations and organizational effectiveness. Serve as an effective listener, champion and problem solver.

• Design and lead manager training and development programs to improve leadership capability, feedback quality, performance management and team health.

• Provide regular feedback and perspective to the leadership team on people trends, organizational health, manager effectiveness, and cultural opportunities.

Employee Engagement & Culture

• Ensure Pendulum’s mission and values are upheld across all people programs and practices.

• Utilize data and metrics to understand the employee experience and develop programs and implement practices that demonstrate commitment to strengthening company culture and living our values.

• Oversee employee engagement activities with a view to encouraging onsite collaboration and inclusion of remote employees.

• Be a culture champion, including owning company events and recognition programs.

HR Operations

• Lead day-to-day HR operations across the company, ensuring a high-quality employee experience and strong execution of core people processes.

• Talent Acquisition: Develop a data-oriented approach to manage and scale hiring practices as the company grows, including onboarding processes that allow employees to acclimate quickly.

• Compensation & Benefits: Build on compensation and benefits offerings to attract and retain talent consistent with a performance-based culture.

• Employee Relations: Partner with company leadership and outside employment counsel on sensitive or complex legal and employment matters, using sound judgment and a proactive approach to conflict resolution.

• Compliance: Help ensure HR policies, practices and documentation are compliant, practical and aligned with company values.

• Systems: Oversee HR systems, including ADP Workforce Now, Ubiquity, Health Equity, Lever, Lattice and Google Drive.

Who We’re Looking For

Experience & Education

• 10+ years of progressive experience in People/HR, ideally in fast-growing startup or scale-up environments.

• At least 4+ years in a management or senior leadership capacity within People/HR.

• Bachelor’s degree required; HR certification (SPHR / SHRM-SCP) preferred.

• Hands-on experience leading HR operations: HRIS systems, onboarding/offboarding, compensation banding, benefits administration and employee relations.

• Broad knowledge and understanding of federal, state, and local employment laws.

Competencies & Attributes

• An inspiring leader and visionary who is passionate about the impact of people, yet business-minded and results oriented.

• High emotional intelligence with the ability to develop and maintain collaborative relationships, credibility and trust with stakeholders, peers and colleagues across the organization.

• Sound judgment and the ability to make clear grounded decisions and recommendations, including on complex, multi-disciplinary problems.

• Ability to turn people data into insights and actions that drive continuous improvement for employee programs and performance. 

• Strong prioritization, project planning and management (from conception to completion) and change management skills.

• Ability to work well autonomously and cross-functionally in a fast-paced, deadline-driven environment.

• Strong verbal and written communication skills, including the ability to effectively present to executive audiences. 

• Belief in transparent and open communication and the power of individuals to improve and enable those around them. 

What Success Looks Like

In the first year, success means that:

• The CPO has a reliable operational partner - someone who owns the day-to-day People function with minimal oversight, freeing the CPO to focus on strategy, leadership, and organizational development.

• Managers across the organization feel meaningfully better supported: clearer on expectations, better equipped to lead their teams, and confident they have a trusted HR partner to turn to.

• Employee engagement data shows positive trends, and the culture feels cohesive, inclusive, and aligned with Pendulum's mission.

• HR operations run with consistency and rigor: processes are documented, systems are clean, compliance is current, and the employee experience from offer letter to offboarding reflects the company's values.

Salary & Benefits

• $200,200-$225,000
• Medical, Dental, and Vision
• Commuter Benefits
• Life & STD Insurance
• Company match on 401 (k)
• Flexible Time Off (FTO)
• Equity

We may use artificial intelligence (AI) tools to support parts of the hiring process, such as reviewing applications, analyzing resumes, or assessing responses and identifying potential inconsistencies or verification signals in application materials based on available information. These tools assist our recruitment team but do not replace human judgment. Final hiring decisions are ultimately made by humans. If you would like more information about how your data is processed, please contact us.