Sr Manager, HR People Partner

Senior Manager, HR People Partner

Candescent is a forward-thinking technology company transforming how financial institutions deliver Intelligent Banking experiences. We unite digital banking, account opening, and branch solutions that power and connect digital banking, account opening, and branch solutionscreating seamless engagement across digital, remote, and in-person channels.

Our Experience-Led, Intelligence-Driven approach combines human-centered design with data, automation, and cloud-based innovation. Built on an API-first architecture, our extensible ecosystem enables institutions to adapt quickly, integrate easily, and unlock new opportunities for growthturning every customer interaction into a moment of clarity, confidence, and connection.

Candescent is seeking a dynamic and experienced Senior Manager, HR People Partner to serve as a trusted advisor to our North America organization. This role will lead the North America HR Business Partner team in a player-coach model while directly supporting Product and Technology teams, including Product, Engineering, and key North America business functions. This role combines people strategy, organizational effectiveness, and employee experience to help leaders build and sustain high-performing teams in a fast-paced, technology-driven FinTech environment. The Senior Manager will partner closely with business leaders to support talent initiatives, organizational programs, workforce planning, leadership effectiveness, employee engagement, and scalable people practices that drive business results.

As Candescent continues to grow and evolve, strong people leadership is critical to ensuring our teams remain engaged, agile, and equipped for success. The Senior Manager, HR Business Partner will play a key role in strengthening leadership capability, supporting organizational effectiveness, and enhancing both employee experience and business performance.

Key Responsibilities and Deliverables

HR Business Partnership:

• Serve as a strategic HR partner and trusted advisor to leaders across Product, Engineering, and other North America business functions.
• Lead, coach, and support the North America HR Business Partner team through a player-coach model, balancing hands-on partnership with team leadership.
• Align people strategies with business objectives, operational priorities, and evolving organizational needs.
• Provide guidance on talent management, workforce planning, employee development, team effectiveness, and organizational design.
• Support business planning discussions by providing workforce insights, talent recommendations, and practical people solutions.
• Partner with leaders to address team performance, engagement, retention, and capability needs.
• Collaborate with People Team Centers of Excellence to implement enterprise talent, rewards, learning, engagement, and employee experience initiatives.

Organizational Effectiveness and Change Support:

• Support organizational design, restructuring, and transformation initiatives within assigned client groups.
• Partner with leaders to assess team effectiveness, identify opportunities for improvement, and implement solutions that support business priorities.
• Help leaders navigate change through thoughtful planning, communication, stakeholder engagement, and leadership alignment.
• Facilitate team discussions, workshops, and leadership planning sessions as needed.
• Translate people strategy into practical, scalable solutions that support high-performing teams in a fast-paced FinTech environment.
• Support organizational effectiveness initiatives that improve clarity, accountability, collaboration, and execution.

Employee Experience and Engagement:

• Support employee engagement efforts, including surveys, focus groups, listening sessions, and feedback programs.
• Partner with leaders to interpret engagement and retention insights and develop meaningful action plans.
• Collaborate with Talent Acquisition, Total Rewards, Learning and Development, and other People Team partners to enhance the end-to-end employee experience.
• Identify opportunities to streamline processes, remove employee pain points, and improve consistency across North America teams.
• Monitor and report on key employee experience metrics, using insights to inform recommendations and continuous improvement efforts.
• Advocate for practices that foster an inclusive, engaging, and values-led work environment.

Talent Management and Workforce Planning:

• Lead and support workforce planning activities, talent reviews, succession discussions, and organizational capability planning.
• Partner with leaders to identify skills gaps, development opportunities, and talent risks.
• Collaborate with Talent Acquisition on hiring strategies for critical roles, particularly within Product, Engineering, and technology-focused teams.
• Support internal mobility, career development, and leadership development initiatives.
• Promote talent practices that strengthen retention, increase leadership capability, and support business continuity.
• Use people analytics and HR systems to provide data-informed insights and recommendations.

Culture and Inclusion:

• Champion Candescent's culture, values, and leadership expectations across the North America organization.
• Support initiatives that foster inclusion, engagement, collaboration, and team connection.
• Partner with business leaders to create positive team environments and strengthen employee morale.
• Facilitate team-building, leadership development, and culture-building sessions as needed.
• Help leaders model behaviors that reinforce trust, accountability, agility, and performance.

Employee Relations and Compliance:

• Provide coaching and guidance to leaders on employee relations matters, performance management, policy interpretation, and workplace concerns.
• Partner with HR leadership, Legal, and Compliance on investigations and sensitive employee matters.
• Ensure consistent application of HR policies, employment practices, and company expectations.
• Maintain knowledge of federal, state, and local employment laws and HR best practices.
• Support HR operational excellence, data accuracy, documentation, and compliance requirements.
• Collaborate with the India HR team to support global alignment, cross-regional partnership, and consistent employee experiences where applicable.

Core Competencies

• Business Partnership: Aligns people initiatives with business objectives and operational priorities.
• People Leadership: Leads and coaches HR Business Partners while modeling strong partnership, judgment, and accountability.
• Change Agility: Supports organizational change and helps leaders navigate transformation effectively.
• Influencing and Relationship Building: Builds trust and credibility with leaders, employees, and cross-functional partners.
• Data-Informed Decision Making: Uses workforce data, people analytics, and HR insights to inform recommendations.
• Employee Experience Focus: Advocates for a positive, inclusive, and engaging employee experience.
• Execution and Accountability: Drives initiatives forward with attention to detail, urgency, and measurable outcomes.
• Organizational Effectiveness: Helps leaders improve structure, clarity, collaboration, and team performance.
• Communication: Communicates clearly and effectively across audiences, including senior leaders and distributed teams.

Qualifications and Experience

Required

• 7+ years of progressive Human Resources experience, including 3+ years as an HR Business Partner, People Partner, or equivalent role.
• Experience leading, coaching, or mentoring HR professionals, preferably in a player-coach capacity.
• Bachelor's degree in Human Resources, Business, Psychology, or related field, or equivalent experience.
• Experience supporting leaders within a technology, FinTech, SaaS, or other fast-paced business environment.
• Experience partnering with Product, Engineering, or technical teams.
• Working knowledge of organizational design, talent management, employee relations, workforce planning, and change management principles.
• Strong understanding of U.S. employment laws and HR best practices.
• Experience leveraging people analytics and HR systems to support decision-making.
• Experience collaborating across geographies, including partnership with India HR teams or globally distributed HR partners.
• Strong communication, influencing, coaching, and relationship-building skills.
• Ability to work independently while collaborating effectively across teams, functions, and regions.
• Demonstrated ability to translate business needs into practical people strategies and executable plans.
• Hybrid Atlanta office

Preferred Distinctions

• SHRM-CP, SHRM-SCP, PHR, SPHR, or equivalent HR certification.
• Experience supporting hybrid and geographically distributed teams.
• Exposure to organizational change initiatives, business transformation, and workforce planning efforts.
• Experience with HR technology platforms such as Workday, UKG, Glint, Culture Amp, or similar systems.
• FinTech, software, SaaS, digital banking,