HR Business Partner (AI)

TL;DR

HR Business Partner (AI): Designing and operationalizing people infrastructure for an AI and physical sciences company with an accent on technical team scaling and organizational design. Focus on partnering with engineering and research leaders to build high-performing teams and managing complex employee relations.

Location: Prefer Menlo Park or San Francisco, but can be flexible based on role

Salary: $200,000 - $300,000

Company

An AI and physical sciences company building state-of-the-art models to accelerate breakthroughs across materials, energy, and beyond.

What you will do

• Serve as the embedded HRBP for business, engineering, and lab teams, building trusted relationships across disciplines.
• Partner with managers on performance management, compensation calibration, and organizational design.
• Lead employee relations work, handling sensitive situations and investigations with discretion.
• Design and execute performance review cycles, promotion frameworks, and leveling guides for a technical workforce.
• Collaborate with recruiting to shape workforce planning and headcount prioritization.
• Build and operationalize people programs from scratch, including onboarding and manager training.

Requirements

• 10+ years of HR experience, with at least 3 years as an HRBP embedded in a technical organization.
• Experience supporting teams in physical products, semiconductors, manufacturing, or hardware-forward startups.
• Strong command of performance management, compensation calibration, and org design.
• Ability to navigate the intersection of research and engineering cultures.
• Data fluency to drive evidence-based decisions on team health and attrition.
• Bachelor's degree or equivalent combination of education and experience.

Nice to have

• Experience at an AI lab, deep tech company, or research institution.
• Familiarity with compensation design for rare technical roles (physicists, ML researchers).
• Experience partnering with recruiting on technical hiring strategies for niche disciplines.
• Background in operations, finance, or program management.
• Experience scaling an HR function in a startup from early stage through growth.

Culture & Benefits

• Visa sponsorship available with full legal support.
• Opportunity to be the first HRBP and define the talent systems of a rapidly growing company.
• Work in a high-stakes, frontier AI environment pushing the boundaries of science.
• Culture of genuine ownership and intellectual rigor.