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.

Qualifications

• Motivated by cultivating high-performance culture, building great businesses, and helping people do their best work.
• Experienced & Proven: 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: Keen business acumen and effortless linking HR strategy to commercial and operational outcomes.
• Relentlessly Curious: Innate curiosity about what we build, how our teams operate, and what makes our people tick.
• AI & Tech Savvy: Embrace modern innovation, utilize AI and advanced digital tooling as strategic force multipliers.
• Architect of Change: Proven track record of leading large-scale change initiatives through highly ambiguous environments.
• Program Builder: 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: Lead with empathy but do not shy away from radical candor. Masterful communicator.
• High Integrity: Uncompromising when it comes to ethics, speak truth to power, act with deep respect, and lead with dignity.

Pay

Compensation may be adjusted depending on work location. For San Francisco Bay Area based hires: Estimated annual salary of $187,000 - $257,000. For New York City and Washington based hires: Estimated annual salary of $178,000 - $245,000. 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.

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.