Director, Strategic People Partnership

Position Overview

Candescent is seeking a dynamic and experienced Director, Strategic People Partnership to serve as a senior HR business partner and transformation leader for our North America organization.

Core Competencies

• Strategic Thinking & Vision – Connects people strategy to business outcomes; anticipates future organizational needs.

• Change Leadership – Designs and leads transformations that endure; builds resilience and adaptability.

• Stakeholder Influence – Builds trusted partnerships; navigates complexity with confidence and diplomacy.

• Data-Driven Decision Making – Leverages people analytics to inform strategy and measure impact.

• Employee Experience Design – Applies human-centered design to elevate the end-to-end employee journey.

• Execution Excellence – Translates strategy into action; delivers results in fast-paced environments.

Key Responsibilities

• Serve as the primary strategic People partner to North America senior leadership, aligning people strategy to business objectives and growth plans.

• Build trusted advisor relationships with leaders across Product, Engineering, Finance, Sales, and Operations.

• Translate business strategy into actionable people initiatives spanning talent, structure, culture, and capability.

• Participate in business planning cycles, providing workforce insights and strategic recommendations.

• Act as a thought partner on complex business decisions with people implications, including M&A, restructuring, and market expansion.

• Lead and co-design organizational transformation initiatives, particularly across Product and Engineering.

• Partner with leaders to assess organizational effectiveness and recommend structural improvements that enhance agility and speed.

• Drive enterprise-wide organizational design projects, including future-state modeling, facilitation, and transition planning.

• Develop and execute change management and communication strategies for major organizational shifts.

• Build internal organizational design capability and establish repeatable transformation methodologies.

• Champion a best-in-class employee experience strategy across North America, from onboarding through offboarding.

• Lead listening strategies (engagement surveys, focus groups, stay interviews) and translate insights into action.

• Partner with Total Rewards, Talent Acquisition, and Learning & Development to deliver a cohesive employee journey.

• Identify and eliminate friction points across the employee lifecycle using data, technology, and process improvement.

• Define and track employee experience KPIs aligned to engagement, retention, and productivity.

• Lead the evolution of People practices from transactional to proactive and value-driven.

• Evaluate and implement best-in-class approaches to performance management, succession planning, talent calibration, and career development.

• Champion people analytics and dashboarding to enable evidence-based decision-making.

• Introduce HR technologies, automation, and self-service capabilities to improve efficiency and experience.

• Partner with the broader People team to ensure policies are modern, compliant, and experience-centered.

• Partner with Learning & Development to build early-career and leadership development programs.

• Champion Candescent’s culture and values across the North America organization.

• Design and execute engagement strategies that foster belonging, psychological safety, and high performance.

• Partner with DEI leaders to embed inclusive practices into talent systems and leadership behaviors.

• Facilitate leadership team effectiveness sessions, team launches, and cultural alignment workshops.

• Provide coaching and guidance to leaders on complex employee relations and performance issues.

• Ensure consistent application of HR policies and compliance with federal, state, and local employment laws.

• Partner with Legal and Compliance on investigations, accommodations, and sensitive employee matters.

• Maintain strong working knowledge of employment regulations across key North America jurisdictions, including Georgia.

• Oversee HR operational excellence, including data integrity, process compliance, and audit readiness.

Required Qualifications & Experience

• 10+ years of progressive HR experience, including 5+ years in a senior HRBP or People Partner role.

• Bachelor’s degree or equivalent work experience; Master’s degree or MBA preferred.

• Experience in a technology, FinTech, SaaS, or similarly complex, fast-paced environment.

• Proven success leading large-scale organizational transformation and change initiatives.

• Strong experience partnering with Product and Engineering teams (Agile, DevOps, product-led growth).

• Deep knowledge of U.S. employment law across multiple jurisdictions.

• Demonstrated use of people analytics and HR technology to drive outcomes.

• Exceptional executive presence with the ability to influence at the C-suite level.

• Preferred SHRM-SCP, SPHR, or equivalent certification.

• Change management or organizational design certifications (e.g., Prosci, ACMP).

• Experience in a high-growth FinTech or financial technology organization.

• Familiarity with HRIS and engagement platforms (e.g., Workday, UKG, Glint, Culture Amp).

• Experience supporting a distributed, hybrid North America workforce.