Assistant Director, Performance Management

HarbourVest Partners•Boston, MA

9h•Hybrid

About The Position

HarbourVest Partners is seeking an Assistant Director, Performance Management to join their Human Resources team. This role will support the build, administration, and enhancement of global performance management and pay-for-performance processes. The position focuses on annual performance cycles, feedback, calibration, promotions, manager enablement, data rigor, analytics, and close partnership with Compensation, HR Business Partners, and business leaders. The ideal candidate will bring structure and clarity to complex people processes, demonstrate adaptability, and be passionate about building clear, scalable, and employee-centered performance management processes. They should be adept at managing multiple priorities in a fast-paced environment and committed to maintaining high standards of data integrity, confidentiality, and follow-through. This is a hybrid role with 18 remote workdays per quarter.

Requirements

Experience with performance management and talent processes, calibrations, promotions, job leveling, and pay for performance related processes.
Strong project management, organizational, and follow-through skills, with experience managing recurring processes involving multiple collaborators, deadlines, dependencies, and sensitive information.
Strong analytical, critical thinking, and problem-solving skills.
Workday, Power BI, survey tools, or performance management platform experience ideal.
Interest in scalable reporting solutions, refining processes, and practical implementation of HR technology.
High degree of discretion, trustworthiness, and integrity, with outstanding attention to detail and a zero-defect approach to sensitive employee and performance data.
Established interpersonal, verbal, and written communication talents, featuring the skill to prepare clear documents aimed at both employees and managers.
6+ years of experience in performance / talent management, or a similar Human Resources position preferred.
Management experience and a passion for developing HR talent.

Nice To Haves

Bachelor of Arts (B.A.) or Bachelor of Science (B.S.) degree or equivalent experience.

Responsibilities

Lead and support performance management routines, including goal setting and development plan frameworks, as well as in-year and year-end performance review processes.
Manage feedback collection efforts, covering twice-yearly feedback sessions, training, reporting, and follow-up with HR partners and business leaders.
Support calibration and promotion processes, including process planning, meeting preparation, data validation, analytics, documentation, follow-up actions, and alignment with pay-for-performance governance and job leveling.
Collaborate with Learning and HR Business Partners to assist in manager optimization, performance and development training.
Find opportunities to improve performance processes for clarity, scalability, efficiency, and user experience, including the use of HR technology, automation, improved analytics, and AI-enabled tools where appropriate.
Partner with Compensation to support year-end pay for performance related activities, including performance and promotion data preparation, manager/HRBP support, validation, reporting, and process coordination.
Help translate performance outcomes into clear, well-governed inputs for pay decisions, ensuring consistency, accuracy, and defensibility across processes.
Support special projects including engagement survey routines and change initiatives related to performance management, skills building and talent strategies.