Principal People Team Business Partner - R&D

About Us

At Cloudflare, we are on a mission to help build a better Internet. Today the company runs one of the world’s largest networks that powers millions of websites and other Internet properties for customers ranging from individual bloggers to SMBs to Fortune 500 companies. Cloudflare protects and accelerates any Internet application online without adding hardware, installing software, or changing a line of code. Internet properties powered by Cloudflare all have web traffic routed through its intelligent global network, which gets smarter with every request. As a result, they see significant improvement in performance and a decrease in spam and other attacks. Cloudflare was named to Entrepreneur Magazine’s Top Company Cultures list and ranked among the World’s Most Innovative Companies by Fast Company. At Cloudflare, we’re not looking for people who wait for a polished roadmap; we’re looking for the builders who see the cracks in the Internet that everyone else has simply learned to live with. We value candidates who have the instinct to spot a "normalized" problem and the AI-native curiosity to create a solution using the latest tools.

Responsibilities

• Act as a trusted advisor to R&D executive leadership, translating business objectives into long-term workforce strategies, organizational designs, and succession plans.
• Synthesize complex qualitative and quantitative data—leveraging AI-driven insights and engagement analytics—to proactively identify trends, mitigate risks, and design predictive people solutions.
• Guide leadership and teams through structural evolutions, hyper-growth scaling, and shifting business priorities with minimal disruption to engagement and output.
• Partner with business leaders and People team Centers of Excellence (COEs) to design high-impact initiatives around talent development, performance elevation, and total rewards.

Requirements

Motivated by cultivating high-performance culture, building great businesses, and helping people do their best work, you are a seasoned, consultative People leader. You don't just adapt to the future of work—you actively leverage modern tools and a relentless curiosity to shape it.

• Experienced & Proven: You have 12+ years of progressive experience on a People/HR team, with at least 3+ years operating as a principal business partner backing complex, fast-paced corporate functions.
• Business-First Strategist: You possess keen business acumen and effortlessly link HR strategy to commercial and operational outcomes. You think like a business leader who happens to specialize in people, always looking for ways to enable teams to hit their goals.
• Relentlessly Curious: You possess an innate curiosity about what we build, how our teams operate, and what makes our people tick. You dive deep into the data and the dynamics of your organizations to diagnose root causes rather than just treating symptoms.
• AI & Tech Savvy: You embrace modern innovation, utilizing AI and advanced digital tooling as strategic force multipliers. You leverage AI to enhance your personal productivity, streamline operational efficiency, and uncover data-driven insights that solve complex organizational challenges. (And yes, you still secretly love a sophisticated spreadsheet!)
• Architect of Change: You have a proven track record of leading large-scale change initiatives through highly ambiguous environments. You know what organizational complexity looks like and possess the resilience and resourcefulness to drive ideation into concrete action.
• Program Builder: You have built scalable, enterprise-grade programs from the ground up and have a demonstrated history of establishing immediate credibility and trust across all levels of a distributed, virtual organization.
• Empathic Influencer & Communicator: You lead with empathy but do not shy away from radical candor. You are a masterful communicator—whether presenting to executives, writing strategic proposals, or delivering difficult feedback face-to-face.
• High Integrity: Uncompromising when it comes to your ethics, you speak truth to power, act with deep respect, and lead with dignity.

Qualifications

• 12+ years of progressive experience on a People/HR team, with at least 3+ years operating as a principal business partner backing complex, fast-paced corporate functions.
• Keen business acumen and the ability to link HR strategy to commercial and operational outcomes.
• An innate curiosity about what we build, how our teams operate, and what makes our people tick.
• Able to leverage modern tools and AI to enhance productivity and solve complex organizational challenges.
• A proven track record of leading large-scale change initiatives through ambiguous environments.
• Able to build scalable, enterprise-grade programs from the ground up and establish credibility and trust across all levels of a distributed, virtual organization.
• Able to lead with empathy and deliver difficult feedback effectively.
• A high integrity, uncompromising approach to ethics and respect.

Skills

• Consultative People Leadership
• Strategic Advisory
• Insight-Driven Problem Solving
• Change Leadership
• Talent & Capability Building

Benefits

• Health & Welfare Benefits: Medical/Rx Insurance, Dental Insurance, Vision Insurance, Flexible Spending Accounts, Commuter Spending Accounts, Fertility & Family Forming Benefits, On-demand mental health support and Employee Assistance Program, Global Travel Medical Insurance
• Financial Benefits: Short and Long Term Disability Insurance, Life & Accident Insurance, 401(k) Retirement Savings Plan, Employee Stock Participation Plan
• Time Off: Flexible paid time off covering vacation and sick leave, Leave programs, including parental, pregnancy health, medical, and bereavement leave

Pay

• Estimated annual salary of $187,000 - $257,000 for San Francisco Bay Area based hires.
• Estimated annual salary of $178,000 - $245,000 for New York City and Washington based hires.
• This role is eligible to earn incentive compensation under Cloudflare’s Sales Compensation Plan.
• The estimated annual salary range includes the on-target incentive compensation that may be attained in this role under the Sales Compensation Plan.
• Equity: This role is eligible to participate in Cloudflare’s equity plan.

Schedule

• Available Locations: Austin, US, New York, US, San Francisco, US