5-7 years of experience as a People Partner, HRBP, or similar role in tech or hardware sectors.
Background in both early-stage startups and larger organizations.
Proven ability to create practical People tools and deliver program components.
Experience in coaching managers on feedback, performance, and development.
Strong judgment in handling employee relations and sensitive situations.
Ability to leverage employee feedback and data for actionable insights.
Excellent communication skills with a track record of building trust and influencing leaders across difficult decisions.
Experience supporting diverse teams across multiple countries.
Responsibilities
Partner strategically with leaders to align talent needs with business priorities.
Coach and develop managers on setting expectations and providing feedback.
Guide performance reviews and help managers create actionable development plans.
Analyze team health through employee feedback and data to identify risks early.
Advise on employee relations and manage sensitive performance issues with care.
Benefits
Opportunity to shape the People Partner function from the ground up.
Collaborative work environment across diverse teams.
Access to leadership development resources and training.
Engagement with innovative projects in tech and hardware sectors.
Full Job Description
We9re looking for a founding People Partner to help Normal achieve its business goals by building effective teams and developing the talent we need as we grow. You9ll partner with leaders and employees across research, engineering, hardware and business teams to strengthen performance, development and how teams work together.
You9ll establish the People Partner function at Normal, balancing opportunities to strengthen performance and development with the need to address people challenges and risks early. You9ll bring clear recommendations to inform our priorities and use insights from your work with leaders and employees to shape our broader People programs, with ownership of specific initiatives. What you will own
Partner strategically with leaders. Understand business priorities, anticipate people needs, and advise leaders on talent, organizational change and the capabilities their teams need as we grow.
Coach and develop managers. Help managers set clear expectations, give useful feedback, delegate effectively and handle difficult conversations. Deliver coaching, team training and resources as we build out our leadership development work, drawing on the challenges you see across teams.
Guide performance and development. Support managers through performance reviews, helping them assess performance and turn feedback into development plans they follow through on. Bring recommendations as we continue to build our approach.
Understand and improve team health. Use employee conversations, pulse survey results, exit themes and people data to identify concerns and retention risks early. Facilitate discussions on role clarity and working relationships, and work with leaders to agree on actions and assess whether they help.
Advise on employee relations and change. Work with managers on performance concerns, employee issues and conflict, handling sensitive situations fairly and with care. Advise leaders on communicating and managing team changes, and involve People leadership and counsel in complex or high-risk matters.
What we are looking for
Experience advising leaders as a People Partner, HRBP or in a comparable role within a tech or hardware company.
Experience across early-stage startups and larger companies
Experience building practical People tools or delivering program components
Experience coaching managers through feedback, performance and development
Sound judgment in employee relations, including fact-finding, confidentiality and knowing when to involve People leadership or counsel
Experience using employee feedback and people data to recommend a change and assess whether it helped.
Clear, candid communication, with examples of building trust and influencing leaders through difficult decisions or disagreement.
Experience supporting employees and managers across multiple countries; you know when to draw on local expertise.
Bonus Points
Experience using Rippling, Ashby, Lattice, Deel, Notion, Slack.
Experience supporting research or hardware teams, with an understanding of how their work shapes team structure, performance and development.
An HR or project management certification such as SHRM-CP, SHRM-SCP, PHR, SPHR or PMP.
Experience supporting reductions in force, setting up or international entity arrangements, and PEO setups.
