Senior HR Advisor, Americas

Job Description

Job Description

Cognite operates at the forefront of industrial digitalization, building AI , and data solutions that solve the world's hardest, highest-impact problems. With unmatched industrial heritage and a comprehensive suite of AI capabilities, including low-code AI agents, Cognite accelerates the digital transformation to drive operational improvements.

We thrive in challenges. We challenge assumptions. We execute with speed and ownership. If you view obstacles as signals to step forward - not backwards - you'll feel right at home here. 

Our Moonshot is bold: Unlock $100B in customer value by 2035, and redefine how global industry works. Join us in this venture where AI and data meet ingenuity, and together, we will forge the path to a smarter, more connected industrial future.

How you'll demonstrate Ownership As Senior HR Advisor, Americas, you serve as the regional center of excellence for employment compliance, independent investigations, and policy architecture. While People Business Partners (PBPs) partner with business units on talent strategy and team design, you act as the senior technical authority across our Americas footprint. Reporting to the VP, P&O Operations & Rewards, you partner with local People Operations (who manage day-to-day HR workflows) and collaborate closely with PBPs and global colleagues. The timing is exceptional. Cognite is being acquired by Schneider Electric, our Americas region is growing, and the policies and benefits are being aligned. At the same time, we are building an AI-first P&O with HiBob as our system of record and AI tools, such as Claude. This position is based out of our HQ in Tempe, AZ; hybrid work model with 3 days a week in office.

The Impact you bring to Cognite

What You'll Own and Shape

1. Policy ownership, redesign and implementation
   • Own the US policy set: Review, assess and modernize the US Employee Handbook and regional policies, with a firm bias toward simplicity, clarity and practical usability over complexity.
   • Turn cases into better policy: When real cases show a policy no longer holds up, bring tested recommendations and drive their implementation.
   • Keep policy current and audit-ready: Maintain policies across every state where we employ people, ready for internal and external audit and governance reviews, including SOX-style controls.
   • Translate the law into guidance: Keep us up to date on laws and regulations that affect us and turn it  into clear, accessible guidance for managers and employees across our multi-state footprint (AZ, TX, and growing remote workforce).
   • Harmonize through the acquisition: Partner with the VP, P&O Operations & Rewards and the M&A working group to evaluate, align, and draft harmonized policy frameworks as Cognite integrates with Schneider Electric.
2. Complex cases, compliance and employee relations
   • Resolve the hard cases, end to end: Partner on challenging employee relations matters, from conflict and complaints to conduct and performance.
   • Bring in Legal at the right moment: Work with internal and external counsel on specialized employment matters, litigation prevention and regulatory updates.
   • Experience implementing or administering an ethics hotline, speak-up program, or formal reporting channel, and familiarity with audit readiness (SOX or similar)
3. Leaves, accommodations and immigration
   • Complex leaves and accommodations: Serve as the Tier-3 compliance and escalation partner for complex or disputed leaves (FMLA, Medical, Parental) and lead high-risk ADA interactive accommodation processes, partnering with People Operations who handle daily leave administration and vendor routing.
   • Immigration compliance oversight: Act as the regional compliance bridge alongside Global Mobility and external immigration counsel on specialized US immigration cases and Department of Homeland Security compliance requirements
4. Manager coaching and early signals
   • Upskill and advise managers: In collaboration with PBPs, coach people managers on objective disciplinary documentation, fair employment practices, workplace conduct standards, and navigating difficult policy conversations.
   • Turn cases into early signals: Identify regional workplace themes and systemic trends, proactively equipping PBPs and P&O leadership with data to address root causes before they escalate.
5. AI-first ways of working and global collaboration
   • Lead the AI shift in advisory: With accountability and responsibility for decisions, use AI tools in your everyday work.
   • Build on HiBob and automation: Use HiBob and automation to simplify policy lookup, speed up delivery and improve HR insights.
   • Work as one global team: Partner with colleagues across Norway, India and the US, and join the weekly case review with People Operations and PBPs. Act as a bridge between global subject matter experts and local execution, adapting global frameworks to US standards.
   • Thrive in ambiguity: Navigate fast-moving, ambiguous situations with agility, resilience and a hands-on builder mindset.

What You Bring

• 8+ years of progressive HR advisory, employee relations, generalist or HRBP experience, with hands-on US case and leave experience across multiple states
• Command of FMLA, ADA, Title VII, state paid leave and wage-and-hour rules, and the judgment to know when to bring in Legal or outside counsel
• A track record of leading sensitive investigations independently and landing clear, defensible outcomes
• Demonstrated success reviewing, drafting and implementing handbooks and policies, with an emphasis on clarity, accessibility and multi-state compliance
• Experience in a scaling technology, SaaS or software company, ideally through an acquisition or integration, including policy and benefits harmonization
• The confidence to work as a senior individual contributor: you drive initiatives from strategy through delivery, own outcomes, and influence managers and PBPs
• A confident, articulate and proactive communicator with executive presence and excellent written communication
• Calm, discreet and fair under pressure
• Experience collaborating across a global matrix and with local People Operations teams, with ease working across time zones with colleagues in Norway and India
• Curiosity and a point of view on AI: you already use, or are eager to use, tools like Claude and automation to scale advisory work, you know where human judgment must stay in the loop, and you want to help set the standard.

Preferred Experience

• SHRM-SCP, SPHR or an equivalent certification, or a law degree
• Experience with HiBob or a comparable HRIS, and a ticketing tool such as Jira Service Management
• Experience building or running AI-assisted HR workflows, such as knowledge bases, case summaries or first-line answers
• Experience with an ethics hotline or speak-up program and with audit readiness (SOX or similar)
• Experience with benefits vendors, brokers or a PEO, and with immigration vendors
• Direct experience supporting HR due diligence, integration or post-merger organizational transitions
• Experience with multi-state employment

* Competitive compensation

* 401(k) with employer matching

* Competitive health, dental, vision & disability coverages for employees and all dependents

* Unlimited PTO

* Paid Parental Leave Program

* Employee Referral Program

Learn more about us

• Impact 2025
• Cognite's Industrial AI: Moonshot
• We're globally recognized domain experts with an international presence that spans Phoenix, Houston, Oslo Tokyo, Bengaluru, and Abu Dhabi.

Equal Opportunity

Cognite is committed to creating a diverse and inclusive environment at work and is proud to be an equal opportunity employer. All qualified applicants will receive the same level of consideration for employment.