People Business Partner

Highwire • San Francisco, CA

1d • Hybrid

About The Position

At Highwire, we don’t just talk about culture—we build it. As the premier mid size B2B communications and marketing agency, we recognize that our people are our greatest asset. Our People Team is at the heart of everything we do, ensuring we attract, develop, and retain top talent while fostering an environment where employees feel valued, supported, and empowered to do their best work.
As we continue to evolve, we’re looking for a People Business Partner to help strengthen our employee experience, support leaders and teams, and drive thoughtful, scalable people practices across the agency. Reporting to the Head of People, this role will serve as a key People partner supporting our San Francisco office and remote employee population, while managing 1–2 direct reports.
This role will help shape how Highwire scales its people practices, develops leaders, and operationalizes a high-performing employee experience across a growing organization. The ideal candidate understands that strong People practices are critical drivers of employee engagement, retention, operational effectiveness, and business performance.
This is a role for someone who can assess situations thoughtfully, ask the right questions, identify root causes, and move work forward with a high level of ownership and accountability. The ideal candidate thrives in fast-paced environments, balances strategic thinking with hands-on execution, and knows how to navigate complex employee matters with professionalism, empathy, and sound judgment.

Requirements

• 6+ years of HR Business Partner, People Partner, or related HR experience, ideally in an agency, professional services, or fast-paced environment.
• Experience leading or mentoring team members, with strong coaching and people development skills.
• Strong expertise in employee relations, performance management, payroll, benefits, leave of absence administration, and HR compliance.
• Proven critical thinking, problem-solving, organizational, and follow-through skills.
• Ability to assess situations thoughtfully, navigate ambiguity, balance competing priorities, and make sound decisions in a fast-moving environment.
• Strong coaching and communication skills, with the ability to influence and build trust across all levels of the organization.
• Experience supporting both in-office and remote employee populations.
• Strong operational acumen with the ability to balance strategy and execution.

Nice To Haves

• Experience with HR and people systems such as Rippling, Greenhouse, and Trainual strongly preferred.
• Experience conducting interviews and supporting intern or early career programs preferred.
• Experience supporting DIBs, employee engagement, or culture initiatives preferred.
• M&A or integration experience is a plus.
• Private equity-backed company experience and a strong understanding of value creation initiatives is a plus.
• Agency experience is strongly preferred.

Responsibilities

• Serve as a trusted People partner to employees and leaders across the San Francisco office and remote workforce.
• Lead Highwire’s performance management strategy, ensuring it fosters growth, accountability, and clear career pathways.
• Partner with leadership to create a structured yet flexible feedback culture that drives engagement and performance.
• Manage employee relations matters with professionalism and sound judgment, offering proactive support to managers and employees.
• Champion manager enablement programs that help leaders coach, support, and retain top talent.
• Conduct exit interviews, identify trends, and help drive actionable improvements across the employee experience.
• Support strategic talent and employee engagement initiatives across the agency.
• Bring strong operational expertise across payroll, benefits, leave of absence administration, and HR compliance.
• Own compliance efforts across multiple states, ensuring policies and practices remain current, compliant, and consistently applied.
• Partner closely with the broader People Team to ensure employees and managers receive timely, accurate, and thoughtful support.
• Support policy interpretation, documentation, investigations, and employee communications as needed.
• Navigate sensitive employee matters with professionalism, discretion, and strong follow-through.
• Lead office attendance tracking and compliance efforts, ensuring alignment with Highwire’s hybrid work strategy and expectations.
• Collaborate with leadership to refine and operationalize hybrid workplace practices that support both employee experience and business priorities.
• Use workforce insights and data to identify trends, improve engagement, and support organizational decision-making.
• Partner cross-functionally to support DIBs programming, employee engagement initiatives, and culture-building efforts.
• Support the agency’s intern program through candidate interviews, manager partnership, program coordination, and performance support.
• Help strengthen talent programs and people processes that improve scalability, consistency, and employee development.
• Manage and support 1–2 direct reports, providing coaching, development, prioritization support, and ongoing feedback.
• Identify and implement People process improvements focused on efficiency, scalability, and employee experience.
• Partner with Finance, IT, and Operations to improve workflows, reporting, and workforce planning processes.
• Support change management efforts related to People programs, systems, policies, and operational initiatives.
• Bring a solutions-oriented mindset to operational and people-related challenges, proactively identifying opportunities for improvement.

Benefits

• Competitive salary with merit-based opportunities for growth
• Flexible hybrid work model tailored to your schedule and lifestyle
• Generous vacation policy, including extended summer and winter breaks
• Early log-off on Fridays through our Empower Hours program
• 401(k) plan with employer matching
• Comprehensive medical, dental, and vision coverage, plus FSA options
• Paid parental leave benefits
• Commuter benefits
• Annual Growth Mindset stipend for books, events, or learning experiences
• Monthly technology reimbursement
• Wellness benefit program for mental and physical health
• 501c3 donation matching program
• Mentorship and ongoing professional development opportunities
• Monthly recognition and team celebrations
• Employee referral and new business referral bonuses
• Quarterly Highwire events and team gatherings
• Dog-friendly office environment
• A supportive, inclusive, and collaborative workplace where you can grow and do your best work

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Mid Level
• Education Level: No Education Listed