Director, People Business Partner

Operates at the intersection of business strategy, human insight, and data-enabled decision-making. As a trusted advisor to senior leaders, the PBP leader translates business priorities into People strategies that drive performance, build capability, and shape culture. The role demands strategic credibility, the courage to challenge constructively, and the judgment to balance evidence with human context. The PBP leader is not a service provider; they are a co-architect of the organization’s future, including how human and AI workforces are designed, deployed, and governed.

Responsibilities

• Provide formal supervision to employees, including monitoring training and development, conducting performance evaluations, and coaching.
• Oversee recruiting, hiring, and daily team activities; establish work schedules, assign tasks, and cross-train staff.
• Set and track staff and department deadlines; mentor and coach as needed.
• Delegate with intent, developing others' capability and decision-making confidence.
• Lead by example, modeling behaviors consistent with CBRE RISE values.
• Persuade managers and colleagues to act while being guided by the organization’s functional business plans.
• Translate business strategy into a coherent People agenda, anticipating workforce and organizational impacts 12–36 months ahead.
• Advise and constructively challenge senior leaders on organization design, capability gaps, and talent risk.
• Lead organizational design, including role architecture in a hybrid human-AI workforce, to enable strategy execution.
• Envision and plan strategic projects affecting multiple functional areas.
• Focus on achieving departmental goals and contributing to functional goals.
• Implement HR initiatives and best practices in conjunction with management.
• Provide interpretation of company policies and procedures, including employee relations, performance management, and succession planning.
• Advise management on handling reductions in labor and other business scenarios.
• Identify training and development gaps and propose solutions.
• Align closely with business partners to provide insight into operational issues and goals.
• Uphold employment legislation, data privacy requirements, and internal policy frameworks, proactively surfacing risks.
• Communicate, negotiate, advise, and influence stakeholders with great latitude.
• Manage and represent internal stakeholder relationships; promote cross-functional collaboration.
• Speak to larger groups on complex subjects and negotiate with external partners to reach common goals.
• Apply knowledge of multiple disciplines and key business drivers impacting performance.
• Use intuition and experience to complement data in evaluating key business challenges.
• Direct the resolution of ambiguous and complex business problems.
• Identify and solve multi-dimensional operational and organizational problems by leveraging resources.
• Improve and change existing methods, processes, and standards within the discipline.
• Implement solutions requiring a short- to medium-term view.
• Leverage people analytics and AI-generated insights to identify workforce trends, risks, and opportunities.
• Critically evaluate AI outputs, interrogating assumptions, identifying bias, and applying human judgment.
• Translate complex data into clear, compelling recommendations for non-specialist audiences.
• Ensure responsible, ethical, and transparent use of people data and AI tools in decision-making.

Requirements

• 10+ years building people strategy, organizational culture, or operating model design—with evidence of personal execution, not just strategic ownership.
• Bachelor’s degree preferred; in lieu of a degree, a combination of experience and education will be considered.
• Demonstrated track record of driving major organizational change in large, complex organizations.
• Ability to influence without authority and motivate employees and client groups.
• Proven ability to lead communication of sensitive, complex, and challenging information.
• Experience articulating performance expectations and resolving issues effectively.
• Exposure to executive-level communication and internal comms strategy.
• Meaningful familiarity with AI tools and their practical application to people and operations work.
• Experience navigating a highly matrixed, global organization.

Benefits

• 401(K)
• Dental insurance
• Health insurance
• Life insurance
• Vision insurance

Pay

The minimum salary for this position is $160,000 annually, and the maximum salary is $200,000 annually. Compensation is based on skills, qualifications, experience, and location. Successful candidates will also be eligible for a discretionary bonus based on CBRE’s applicable benefit program.