Head of People and Culture

We are now at a pivotal transition with Katy Keim as our new CEO of LeanData. Katy is a seasoned C-Level people centric and strong strategic leader who is looking for a Head of People and Culture to help us take the company to the next level. This People leader would partner with Katy and the E-Team to build a strong focus on talent and culture in order to help the business accelerate growth, expand into the enterprise, and reinvent the business with AI.As a key part of leading the Talent strategy for LeanData, this role will partner closely with Katy to round out the seasoned executive team with a world class leader in Product and other key roles as the needs evolve. This individual will partner closely with the entire executive team to ensure the team continues to operate as a highly effective “One Team”.Mission for the RoleBuild and lead a high-performing, values-driven People function that scales with the company’s growth, fosters a healthy, inclusive culture, and empowers employees to do their best work and have fun while doing so.Who We Are Searching ForA business and strategically minded People leader who has previous experience as a CPO or VP of HR in a high tech company in Silicon Valley. Exudes confidence, strong communication, and conviction about the importance of people and culture to positively impact the bottom line for the business. Strong capacity to support change management in the areas of LeanData’s transition such as: AI reckoning Commercial to Enterprise go to market motion Engineering-led to Customer-led innovation Directed execution to empowered decision-makingThis person must have a passion for creating a culture of empowerment, and drive. One who can partner with the CEO and the leadership team as “One Team” to build the company of the future. This CPCO has a strong understanding and belief supporting the CEO’s team orientation and philosophy around building a team that is similar to that of a champion-level sports organization. Our corporate athletes are driven by shared goals, competitive edge, celebrating wins and learning from losses.We are looking for a Talent partner who is: A progressive thinker not constrained by the bounds of traditional HR systems, processes, tools, approaches and who understands various ‘generations’ of the workforce. Who uses AI to help amplify and enhance the speed of the incredible work of the small and mighty HR team. A business-oriented leader accountable for establishing the People Vision and Talent Strategy for the company, and able to translate that strategy into aligned action across all the business functions. Can support and evolve for company growth for scale from $50M to $100M. A culture champion, indexing high on empathy and compassion, who can build upon, protect, and grow LeanData’s unique hybrid culture and bring the voice of the employees to strategic decision making discussions.Outcomes (What Success Looks Like in 12–18 Months)Strategic People Roadmap Develop and execute a people strategy aligned with LeanData’s business goals. Build a 12–18 month roadmap covering talent acquisition, employee experience, performance, change management, and organizational design. Set the right tone and tenor for diversity and inclusion which maps to LeanData’s values and strengthens the culture through various perspectives, supporting and amplifying employee-led initiatives. Leadership Development & Culture Launch and embed a first ever leadership development program for first-line and mid-level managers. Establish and reinforce a culture of feedback, accountability, and trust across all teams through a scalable programmatic approach beyond the existing performance management program. Streamline and clarify decision-making frameworks agreed upon by E-Team to accelerate execution. Inspire a learning culture to leverage AI to maximize employee potential. Maintain and further cultivate a culture of belonging currently measured by the eNPS question, “I feel comfortable sharing opinions at work” (76% favorable, 19% neutral and 5% disagree).Hiring and Onboarding Equip all managers with a consistent framework and philosophy to elevate their perspective on top talent in order to build a championship-caliber team. Improve quality-of-hire metrics across key roles. Design a high-impact onboarding experience with a 90%+ employee satisfaction rating.Performance & Compensation Systems Lead the design, align with E-Team, and implement a transparent, competitive market and internally aligned compensation philosophy. Continue to enhance our recently launched performance management framework, that supports accountability, consistency, as well as rewards, at all levels throughout the company. Review our recent efforts on job leveling for the company to evaluate pay equity. Listen, gather, and align with E-Team, then implement a fair, consistent and transparent promotion philosophy within LeanData that is in line with market practice.Employee Engagement & Retention Achieve an employee engagement score of 80%+, building from baseline eNPS of 55, and efforts to engage high performers (rated 4 and 5) to reduce voluntary attrition. Introduce action-oriented goals to support the eNPS bi-annual surveys and track follow-through on results. Effectively foster connection and engagement among our smaller fully remote population, including a team in EMEA, ensuring they feel deeply integrated into LeanData’s culture and empowered to do their best work.CompetenciesStrategic ThinkingSees the big picture and anticipates future trends, including how AI and emerging technologies can become allies to talent strategy. Aligns the people initiatives tightly with business goals and growth phases. Respected by peers at the leadership table as a true voice of the employee and partner in shaping company direction.Exceptional CommunicationCommunicates clearly and compassionately across all levels — from Board members to new hires. Effectively facilitates difficult conversations and organizational messaging with empathy and confidence. Builds trust through transparency and consistency.Compassion & Emotional IntelligenceBalances business imperatives with genuine care for people. Creates a culture where people feel heard, respected, and supported. Trusted by employees across functions and levels as an accessible and fair partner.Execution & Bias for ActionMoves quickly and pragmatically, especially in resource-constrained environments. Applies the 80/20 rule to drive progress — aligning key stakeholders and iterating rather than waiting for perfect conditions. Tracks outcomes to learn and optimize as they go.Change LeadershipLeads through ambiguity with steadiness and vision. Builds alignment across the organization during periods of transformation, scale, or transition. Brings both clarity and compassion to change communication and execution.Data-Driven Insight & Analytical RigorAnchors decisions balanced in art & science (data) — grounded in feedback, recruiting funnel metrics, performance trends, engagement scores, attrition analyses, and external benchmarks. Uses data not just to measure what is happening, but to influence strategy, challenge assumptions, and elevate the People function as a business-critical driver. Comfortable presenting insights to the leadership team and Board in a compelling, actionable way.Experience & Requirements 10+ years in progressive HR or People leadership roles, including experience in a scaling tech company. Proven success leading People strategy at a company of 50–500 employees. Deep knowledge of HR Business Partnering, HR operations, Talent Acquisition, Total Rewards, and DEI best practices. Experience working closely with executive teams and advising at the strategic level. Comfortable using HRIS, people analytics tools, and other systems to drive decisions.Values Alignment Believes people are the core driver of company success. Prioritizes transparency, compassion, humility, and continuous learning. Is innovative in approach and builds programs for scale. Champions inclusion, equity, and belonging as essential to team performance. Sees the opportunity to move consistently with urgency to address key issues, while also having a clear strategic longer term roadmap to execute towards which in turn helps theCompensation Range: $250K - $350KLocationSanta ClaraEmployment TypeFull timeLocation TypeHybridDepartmentOperationsG&AHuman ResourcesCompensationOTE $250K – $350K