Associate Director, Human Resources Business Partner

About the role

Agios is seeking an Associate Director, Human Resources Business Partner to provide end-to-end HR partnership to our R&D organization and contribute to enterprise people and culture priorities.

Responsibilities

• Serve as the primary HR Business Partner for the R&D organization, building trusted relationships across all levels.
• Flex your style and support to meet the needs of executives, experienced and emerging people leaders, and individual contributors.
• Understand business priorities, anticipate people and organizational needs, and translate them into practical actions that support strong performance and the employee experience.
• Partner with leaders to shape organization design, workforce plans, team structures, and ways of working that advance business priorities.
• Lead the people side of change with clear plans, thoughtful communication, and practical support that help teams adapt and remain effective.
• Partner with leaders and HR colleagues to assess talent, strengthen succession and development plans, build leadership capability, and support thoughtful career growth.
• Facilitate management effectiveness and other HR- and Culture-sponsored learning and development sessions, adapting content and delivery as our philosophies and organizational needs evolve.
• In partnership with Talent Acquisition, shape proactive workforce and hiring strategies that bring the capabilities needed today and in the future.
• Coach leaders at every stage of their people-management experience, helping them set clear expectations, give meaningful feedback, make sound decisions, and address performance or team challenges early.
• Advise on complex and sensitive employee matters with empathy, consistency, confidentiality, and good judgment.
• Partner with HR colleagues and business leaders to deliver effective talent, performance, compensation, recognition, engagement, and workforce planning processes.
• Bring business context and employee insight to enterprise programs and help ensure they are applied clearly, consistently, and thoughtfully.
• Use data, organizational insight, and close partnership with the business to identify trends, surface risks and opportunities, and recommend practical solutions.
• Follow through from strategy to implementation, measuring impact and adjusting as needs evolve.
• Contribute to company-wide people and culture priorities, bringing forward perspectives from across the organization and helping turn those priorities into a consistent, meaningful employee experience.

Requirements

• 8+ years of progressive HR experience, including substantive HR Business Partner responsibility in a complex, fast-moving organization.
• A track record of building trust and influencing effectively across all organizational levels, from individual contributors and first-time managers to senior executives.
• Strong business acumen and the ability to translate business priorities into practical people and organizational solutions.
• Experience advising on organization design, workforce planning, talent development, performance management, change, and complex employee relations matters.
• Sound judgment, discretion, and comfort operating independently while collaborating closely with HR colleagues and cross-functional partners.
• Clear, adaptable communication, strong facilitation and presentation skills, and a coaching approach that engages varied audiences and meets leaders and employees where they are.
• The ability to move between strategy and execution, manage competing priorities, and follow through in a dynamic environment.
• Experience in biotechnology, pharmaceuticals, or another science-driven industry is strongly preferred; experience supporting R&D or technical organizations is a plus.
• Experience in both larger and smaller organizations is helpful.

Qualifications

• Master's degree in HR, Business Administration, Psychology, or related field.
• SHRM-CP/SCP certification preferred.

Skills

• Strategic thinking and problem-solving skills.
• Excellent interpersonal and communication skills.
• Ability to work independently and collaboratively.
• Strong analytical and organizational skills.
• Experience with HRIS systems and tools.

Benefits

Deliberate Development. Your professional growth as one of our top priorities.

Flexibility. We’re all about individual needs. We embrace different perspectives, work styles, health and wellness approaches, care of families and productivity.

Premium benefits package. We invest in the health, wellbeing, and security of our people with a premium benefits package that is well-rounded and flexible to help meet the varied personal and professional needs of every member of our team.

Competitive and equitable performance-based compensation. This includes base salary and both short- and long-term incentives that are connected to our business strategy and vary based on individual and company performance.

Psychological safety. We support an environment of fearlessness. We want you to share your ideas, speak candidly and take data-informed risks to help push the boundaries.

Commitment to diversity. We strive to foster a welcoming workplace where everyone can thrive. We’re continuously looking to improve the inclusivity of our workforce.

Commitment to community. We’re an active participant in the communities that surround us – the communities where we live, and the community of people and their loved ones in need of better treatment options for conditions that are often overlooked.