Director, People Advisory Partners

The Trade Desk • Seattle, WA

4d • $137,300 - $251,800 • Onsite

About The Position

The Trade Desk is seeking a Director, People Advisory Partners to support its Product and Technology organizations. This role involves partnering closely with senior leaders to build effective teams, enhance manager capabilities, and align people decisions with business priorities. It is a hands-on position with direct responsibility for business partnership and managing one direct report. The Director will advise leaders on talent, performance, organizational structure, and capacity, while also coaching and developing a People Advisory Partner. Key aspects of the role include bringing clarity to competing priorities, challenging assumptions, and helping leaders translate decisions into action. Collaboration with the Senior Director and other People Team partners is essential to ensure leaders and employees receive practical, consistent support tailored to their teams' needs.

Requirements

• 10+ years of progressive HR experience, including substantial partnership with Product, Engineering, or other technical organizations.
• Experience managing and developing HR talent, alongside direct partnership with senior business leaders.
• Strong judgment in organizational design, talent planning, performance management, and employee relations.
• The ability to earn credibility with technical leaders, ask thoughtful questions, and offer a clear point of view.
• Experience supporting teams through organizational change and competing priorities.
• Working knowledge of U.S. employment practices across multiple jurisdictions and experience partnering effectively with Employment Legal.
• Experience collaborating across regions in a global organization.
• Strong communication, coaching, and influencing skills, with the ability to make complex issues clear and actionable.
• The ability to combine data, business context, and employee insight to inform decisions.
• A practical approach to solving problems, prioritizing work, and following through in a changing environment.
• Bachelor’s degree or equivalent relevant experience.

Responsibilities

• Own the people agenda for supported business groups, aligning priorities with business leaders and the Senior Director.
• Establish clear responsibilities across portfolios and coordinate support where needs overlap.
• Balance strategic priorities with day-to-day employee and leader needs, making thoughtful choices about capacity and escalation.
• Share insights and practices with the broader PAP team to strengthen consistency and collaboration.
• Serve as a trusted advisor to senior Product and Technology leaders on talent, team effectiveness, and organizational decisions.
• Develop a strong understanding of the business, technical roles, and capabilities needed to deliver its priorities.
• Help leaders assess organizational structure, role clarity, leadership capacity, and succession needs.
• Partner with leaders to align staffing and team capacity with business priorities, including identifying work that should be reprioritized or stopped.
• Support organizational change through thoughtful planning, clear communication, and effective implementation.
• Identify retention risks and help leaders address the underlying issues.
• Coach managers to set clear expectations, provide timely feedback, address performance concerns, and support career development.
• Facilitate talent and promotion calibration, grounding recommendations in business need, demonstrated readiness, and sustained impact.
• Partner with Talent and Total Rewards on development, succession, compensation planning, and promotion decisions.
• Help leaders distinguish between expanded workload and meaningful changes in role scope or accountability.
• Support internal mobility and development opportunities that connect employee growth with business needs.
• Partner with People Solutions, Talent, Total Rewards, People Analytics, People Systems, Talent Acquisition, and Employment Legal to deliver coordinated support.
• Translate enterprise programs into practical guidance that managers can use, and bring business feedback into program planning.
• Collaborate with regional PAPs to support global teams with consistent principles and appropriate local guidance.
• Use data and business insight to identify trends, recommend actions, and assess outcomes.
• Improve processes and tools to reduce unnecessary work and clarify ownership, decisions, and handoffs.
• Advise leaders and direct report on sensitive employee matters with discretion, empathy, and sound judgment.
• Partner with Employment Legal and relevant People colleagues on complex employee relations matters and employment decisions.
• Coach leaders through difficult conversations and conflict resolution.
• Maintain clear documentation, timely escalation, and appropriate follow-through.

Benefits

• Comprehensive healthcare (medical, dental, and vision) with premiums paid in full for employees and dependents
• Retirement benefits such as a 401k plan and company match
• Short and long-term disability coverage
• Basic life insurance
• Well-being benefits
• Reimbursement for certain tuition expenses
• Parental leave
• Sick time of 1 hour per 30 hours worked
• Vacation time for full-time employees up to 120 hours thru the first year and 160 hours thereafter
• Around 13 paid holidays per year
• Employees can also purchase The Trade Desk stock at a discount through The Trade Desk’s Employee Stock Purchase Plan
• Stock-based compensation grants
• Variable compensation-based incentives
• Commissions

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Director