Principal People Business Partner

Harness•San Francisco, CA

3d•Hybrid

About The Position

Harness is seeking a Principal People Business Partner to serve as the senior People advisor to Customer Success, Marketing, Finance, and Legal leadership in a high-growth global technology environment. The role shapes how these organizations are structured, developed, and led as the company scales. It represents the People function in leadership team meetings and advises C-level executives on talent strategy, workforce planning, succession, and organizational effectiveness. The position drives People programs from start to finish, leads complex and high-stakes employee relations matters and investigations in partnership with Legal, and supports talent and performance management. It also sets direction for using AI and automation to scale People programs, partners with teams across the People function and the business, and coaches and mentors colleagues. The role is based in San Francisco with a hybrid work arrangement.

Requirements

10+ years of People Business Partner or HRBP experience, including advising C-suite executives.
Experience in technology, SaaS, or other high-growth environments.
Proven record of advising executive leaders on talent strategy, workforce planning, succession, and organizational design.
Deep expertise in organizational design, change management, performance management, leadership development, and employee relations, including leading complex, high-stakes matters with Legal.
Strong knowledge of federal and local employment law, with sound independent judgment.
Data-driven approach and ability to turn people metrics into compelling stories and recommendations.
Ability to lead through ambiguity, work independently with urgency, and drive work to completion across teams.
Excellent communication skills at all levels and a record of building bridges across silos.
Experience building, deploying, or leading adoption of AI-assisted workflows for HR tasks, and ability to make the business case for People technology.
Valid authorization to work in the U.S.

Nice To Haves

Experience in a global organization.

Responsibilities

Advise C-level executives across Customer Success, Marketing, Finance, and Legal on talent strategy, workforce planning, succession, and organizational effectiveness.
Lead organizational design conversations with senior leaders and shape the supported teams for growth and scale.
Represent the People function in Customer Success, Marketing, Finance, and Legal leadership meetings and align people decisions with the broader People strategy.
Use data and business context to surface systemic risks, tell compelling stories, and recommend high-impact solutions.
Lead complex, high-stakes employee relations matters and investigations in partnership with Legal, managing risk with discretion and appropriate independence.
Advise senior leaders on difficult performance, conduct, and organizational design decisions.
Review underperformance trends and inform senior leadership of systemic risks.
Drive People programs, including performance cycles, talent reviews, and compensation planning, and improve them using data and feedback.
Partner with Total Rewards, Talent Acquisition, L&D, and People Operations to ensure global programs are applied consistently and with local and functional relevance.
Lead talent planning and succession for client groups and keep senior leaders informed of performance and retention trends.
Develop and drive automation strategy for the PBP function, evaluating and deploying AI tools with People Operations to scale People programs.
Lead innovation in People programs and help the team navigate ambiguity during company-wide change.
Collaborate with Legal, Finance, IT, and other teams to drive alignment and trust across departments.
Partner with People Operations, Talent Acquisition, Total Rewards, Workplace, and L&D to drive talent strategy.
Coach and mentor People team members and establish knowledge-sharing practices that elevate the PBP practice.