Principal Manager, People Operations Business Partner

Nava PBC

8d•$132,000 - $148,500•Remote

About The Position

The Principal Manager, People Operations Business Partner is a strategic people leader responsible for the direction, effectiveness, and growth of Nava’s People Operations Business Partner (POBP) function. The role directly manages and develops the POBP, establishes team expectations and standards, and translates enterprise priorities into workforce frameworks, organizational design principles, and talent strategies used across business areas. The position serves as a strategic advisor to senior executives on organizational structure, workforce planning, performance, and labor and employee relations, and co-owns enterprise frameworks for workforce planning, career pathing, and organizational design. As Nava develops an AI-native operating model, the role sets the strategic point of view on how AI and automation may affect roles, skills, team structures, and management practices, equipping the POBP team to guide responsible adoption while considering efficiency, employee trust, equity, compliance, and human judgment. The position works closely with People Operations leadership, Finance, Legal, Talent Acquisition, and business operations leaders to keep people strategy financially responsible, legally compliant, operationally practical, and aligned with Nava’s values. The role leads enterprise organizational and workforce initiatives, advises on significant business changes, and oversees change-management standards, workforce data practices, employee-relations escalation, and cross-functional improvements to the employee and manager experience. The position is remote-first and requires work from the contiguous United States; fully remote options are available only to residents of the listed states. Compensation is $132,000–$148,500 USD.

Requirements

At least 10 years of People Operations and/or Human Resources experience.
Demonstrated experience translating business strategy into enterprise-level organizational design, workforce planning, and talent strategy.
Thorough knowledge of People Operations and Human Resources principles and applicable federal and state regulations, including FMLA, ADA, FLSA, and NLRA.
Strong competency with HCM systems.
Demonstrated ability to influence senior executives and stakeholders without relying on formal authority.
Experience coaching and developing talent.
Ability to build and maintain collaborative working relationships with executives, managers, employees, and union representatives.
Strong analytical skills and experience using workforce data to identify trends, evaluate risk, and support decisions.
Strong judgment and ability to make clear recommendations in complex, sensitive, or ambiguous situations.
Ability to work independently with little supervision.
Discretion, confidentiality, flexibility, and willingness to work closely with a cross-functional team.
Proficiency in GSuite, Slack, Zoom, Excel, Apple computers, and other tools used to support a remote-work environment.
Attention to detail and ability to work independently and in a team environment.
Ability to work effectively in a distributed, remote-first environment.
Legal authorization to work in the United States, without visa sponsorship now or in the future.
Ability to meet any other requirements for government contracts for which the candidate is hired; the role may be subject to a government background check or security clearance.
Ability to work from the contiguous United States.

Nice To Haves

Experience supporting a government contractor, professional-services organization, consulting organization, technology company, or project-based workforce.
Experience working in a unionized environment or supporting labor-relations matters.
Experience with Workday HCM.
Experience supporting organizational redesign, workforce restructuring, mergers, acquisitions, or other significant organizational changes.
Experience with job architecture, compensation administration, talent reviews, succession planning, or workforce analytics.
Experience supporting leaders in a rapidly evolving and scaling organization.

Responsibilities

Directly manage, coach, and develop the People Operations Business Partner, including goal setting, feedback, and career development.
Build and scale the POBP function across the employee lifecycle, manage workload distribution, and establish performance expectations, competencies, and quality standards.
Foster accountability, trust, and continuous improvement within the POBP team.
Advise senior executives on organizational design, workforce planning, performance management, and employee relations; translate business priorities into aligned people strategy.
Set strategic guidance for the effects of AI and automation on roles, skills, team structures, and management practices, and equip HRBPs to support responsible adoption.
Partner with Talent Acquisition, Total Rewards, and Learning & Organization Enablement leadership to provide a cohesive enterprise-wide employee experience.
Represent the POBP function in enterprise people-strategy and planning discussions.
Develop and maintain enterprise workforce-planning frameworks and career-pathing structures for POBPs to apply across business areas.
Align workforce plans with delivery commitments, organizational capacity, and financial plans in partnership with Finance, Operations, and Delivery leaders.
Guide organizational design decisions, including restructures, leadership transitions, position eliminations, and other significant workforce actions; assess spans of control, reporting structures, and organizational capability.
Set standards for evaluating technology-enabled efficiency proposals, including realistic change-management plans and workforce data.
Coach the POBP team on developing leaders and managers in organizational leadership, team effectiveness, accountability, and performance; direct scalable tools, guidance, and learning interventions for recurring manager challenges.
Champion inclusive, accountable, and psychologically safe teams, and guide the POBP team through complex or sensitive leadership situations with sound judgment, consistency, and fairness.
Own people and organizational strategy for significant business changes; direct stakeholder-impact, organizational-readiness, and employee-relations-risk assessments; set change-management standards and oversee implementation plans, communications, and manager resources.
Monitor enterprise impacts of organizational changes and adjust strategy based on workforce data and outcomes.
Serve as an escalation point for complex, high-risk, or sensitive labor and employee-relations matters; partner with Legal and People Operations leadership on high-impact investigations and risk assessments.
Maintain enterprise-level knowledge of applicable employment requirements and ensure HRBP practices reflect current law.
Set strategy for employee- and labor-relations practices related to AI-enabled workplace changes, including monitoring, workload, and role requirements; support employee relations in Nava’s unionized environment and compliance with collective bargaining obligations.
Identify systemic patterns in employee concerns, direct organization-wide solutions, and appropriately escalate significant organizational, legal, cultural, or employee-experience risks.
Sponsor and oversee complex cross-functional people initiatives from problem definition through implementation and evaluation; coordinate stakeholders and provide executive-level updates on progress, risks, and outcomes.
Ensure initiatives are meaningfully adopted and sustained across the organization.
Set workforce-data strategy to identify trends, organizational health indicators, and emerging risks; improve workforce reporting and decision-making with People Workforce Insights, Staffing, and Finance.
Translate workforce data into executive insights and recommendations and ensure appropriate data integrity, confidentiality, and documentation standards within the POBP function.
Lead cross-functional initiatives to improve employee and manager experience; address policies, processes, systems, or practices that create unnecessary complexity, inconsistency, risk, or administrative burden.
Direct improvements that increase clarity, scalability, compliance, and organizational effectiveness; ensure People Operations programs and processes are practical for managers and aligned with people strategy.
Champion self-service tools and standardized practices while preserving appropriate judgment for complex situations.

Benefits

Comprehensive medical, dental, and vision plans.
Disability, life, and accidental death insurance provided at no cost.
Vacation, holidays including Juneteenth, and floating holidays.
12 paid federal holidays each year in addition to regular PTO.
Eligible employees may receive a performance-based annual bonus when Nava meets its goals.
Paid parental leave and weekly meals delivered to the home for new parents.
Wellness program with physical, mental, and emotional health resources and support tools.
Virtual doctor visits with no copay, depending on available providers.
Sabbatical leave: extended unpaid leave may be earned after continuous service.
401(k) match of 4% of salary.
Remote-first flexible work built around schedule and responsibilities.
Company laptop and home-office setup assistance through Staples.
Monthly reimbursement for eligible home-office utility expenses.
Internal training programs and professional learning resources.
LinkedIn Learning access and an annual allowance for courses, tuition, and certifications.
Referral bonus for referring successful hires.
Pre-tax commuter benefits for in-office travel when applicable.
Collaborative, remote-friendly team environment.