Senior People Partner, Manufacturing

Panthalassa • Portland, OR

3d • $150,000 - $195,000 • Onsite

About The Position

Panthalassa is seeking its first People Partner to support a rapidly growing manufacturing organization across three Portland-area worksites. This senior individual contributor will work closely with the Vice President of Manufacturing and leaders across Manufacturing Engineering, Production, and Supply Chain, supporting hourly employees, salaried employees, and contractors. The role will help establish the company’s approach to people partnership in collaboration with the Vice President of Talent and People Operations.

The People Partner will advise leaders on workforce planning, organizational design, leadership capacity, and sensitive employee matters. The role requires learning how manufacturing operates, spending meaningful time on production floors, and connecting worksites with headquarters and the broader company. The successful candidate will earn influence through trust, credibility, sound judgment, and practical advice; coach managers while leaving team ownership with them; and build straightforward processes that address real organizational needs.

This full-time position is expected to work regularly onsite in the Greater Portland, Oregon area and travel between worksites weekly. Travel to vendors and test sites may also be needed. The role may intermittently require longer hours and weekends for critical needs, while offering flexible working hours and flexible PTO.

Requirements

• At least 8 years of progressive experience in HR or People Partner roles, including substantial independent partnership with senior leaders.
• Experience supporting hourly employees, salaried employees, and contractors across multiple worksites, with credibility on production floors and in offices.
• Experience helping a fast-growing or changing organization make decisions about structure, workforce needs, and leadership capacity.
• Strong manager-coaching skills, with examples of improving how managers lead rather than taking over their responsibilities.
• Sound judgment on complex employee matters and employment law, including knowing when to involve legal counsel.
• Demonstrated ability to earn trust and influence decisions without reporting authority, including challenging senior leaders while remaining a credible partner.
• Clear communication, discretion, and steady judgment under pressure, with comfort working through ambiguity without a fully built process.
• Strong interpersonal skills and ability to thrive in a creative, scrappy, collaborative environment.
• Ability to work regularly onsite in the Greater Portland, Oregon area and travel between worksites weekly.
• Ability to work longer hours and weekends intermittently to support critical needs.

Nice To Haves

• Experience supporting manufacturing or another technically complex, shift-based organization, ideally including opening or expanding a worksite.
• Experience in a high-growth startup, building the organization and adapting approaches as it grew.

Responsibilities

• Spend time on the production floor at all three sites, learn how Manufacturing Engineering, Production, and Supply Chain work, and keep information moving between sites and headquarters.
• Partner with the Vice President of Manufacturing and manufacturing leaders on team structure, leadership capacity, and role clarity, considering effects on other teams and sites.
• Help leaders plan workforce needs, including whether to hire, move employees, use contractors, or reorganize; partner with Talent Acquisition on hiring and lead the people side of site expansions.
• Build manufacturing job families, levels, and career paths, and coach managers on using them in hiring, development, and promotion.
• Coach managers to set clear expectations, give useful feedback, address performance early, and develop their employees, guiding them through difficult situations without taking over.
• Handle complex employee matters, including conflict, accommodations, investigations, and exits, with care and proportion.
• Give direct advice, explain reasoning, listen to other perspectives, and help people reach workable decisions, including when challenging leaders.
• Bring organizational patterns and risks to the Vice President of Talent and People Operations with a clear recommendation.
• Build processes only when they solve a real problem and retire them when they no longer serve the organization.
• Travel to vendors and test sites as needed.

Benefits

• Flexible paid time off.
• Health insurance, with the company paying 100% of the gold-level PPO plan for full-time employees, their partners, and dependents.
• Dental insurance, with the company paying 100% for full-time employees, their partners, and dependents.
• Vision insurance, with the company paying 100% for full-time employees, their partners, and dependents.
• Disability insurance, with the company paying 100% for a policy providing long-term financial support if the employee becomes disabled.
• Ability to contribute to tax-advantaged accounts, including a 401(k), health FSA, and dependent care FSA.
• Relocation assistance to facilitate a move to Portland, if needed.
• Equity in the company.
• Flexible working hours and a high degree of autonomy and work-life balance.

What This Job Offers

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