People & Talent Partner

Zen Educate•Chicago, IL

1d•Hybrid

About The Position

We are seeking a dynamic and commercially minded People & Talent Partner to join our growing People team. This is a high-impact, broad scope role with a strong focus on people partnering, culture building, and employee experience, alongside some talent acquisition responsibilities. You will act as a trusted advisor to leaders and teams, helping shape how we support, develop, and engage our people as we scale. This role offers significant scope to grow into broader international HR expertise across the US, Canada, and South Africa as we expand.

Requirements

Experience in a People Partner, HR Business Partner, or hybrid HR/Talent role where you've been responsible for a wide range of HR-related tasks including onboardings, exit interviews, benefits, employee complaints, flexible working requests etc.
Experience coordinating and running performance review cycles end-to-end, and are now looking to take a more influential role in how managers interpret, calibrate, and act on performance outcomes.
Motivated by improving consistency in how performance is managed across teams, and by helping managers build confidence in giving feedback, driving development conversations, and improving overall employee engagement and growth.
Involved in launching and running employee engagement surveys, and are now looking to go beyond delivery into real impact, turning feedback into meaningful change.
Care about what the data is saying, and more importantly, how it translates into action that improves the employee experience.
Excited by growth environments, comfortable being a key go-to person for managers and employees, and energised by helping build and shape people processes rather than just running them.

Nice To Haves

Broad scope role with a strong focus on people partnering, culture building, and employee experience, alongside some talent acquisition responsibilities.
Act as a trusted advisor to leaders and teams, helping shape how we support, develop, and engage our people as we scale.
Significant scope to grow into broader international HR expertise across the US, Canada, and South Africa as we expand.
High growth tech startup on the ground floor.
Collaborative company with endless career growth opportunities for those willing to dive in, be entrepreneurial, and do whatever is needed to get the job done.
Passionate about learning and development, and will invest in both your personal and professional growth.
Recently raised Series B funding of $37mil, the largest round in European EdTech last year.
Opportunity to make a difference and be part of a high growth start-up that is expanding rapidly in the UK and US markets!
Step into a broad, high-ownership role with real influence on culture and people strategy, where you’ll help shape the employee experience in a rapidly scaling organisation.
Gain exposure to international HR practices and markets, while also having significant scope for career growth into senior People leadership roles.

Responsibilities

Act as a trusted partner to managers and teams across the business on all people-related matters.
Support and guide managers through performance management cycles, including goal setting, reviews, and performance improvement processes.
Provide coaching and advice on team effectiveness, leadership capability, and employee development.
Manage and evolve the company’s people drumbeat (e.g. performance review cycles, check ins, calibration processes).
Lead on employee relations matters, ensuring fair, consistent, and legally compliant outcomes.
Own and drive our employee engagement surveys, including design, delivery, analysis, and action planning.
Report engagement findings to leadership and ensure meaningful follow-through on actions.
Lead initiatives to strengthen company culture, belonging, and connection across teams.
Own and deliver internal social, cultural, and team engagement initiatives (e.g. events, rituals, recognition programmes).
Continuously improve the overall employee experience across the lifecycle.
Build and evolve our Learning & Development offering.
Identify capability gaps and design learning interventions aligned to business needs.
Source, design, or facilitate training programmes for managers and employees.
Support leadership development and ongoing skills growth across Zen.
Support hiring for key or strategic roles as needed.
Partner with leaders to ensure strong hiring decisions and alignment on talent needs.
Contribute to improving hiring quality, onboarding experience, and early employee success.
Handle day-to-day People queries and employee relations cases with professionalism and care.
Ensure HR policies and processes are applied consistently and fairly.
Contribute to improving HR systems, processes, and documentation.