ARS Pharma is searching for a Head of Human Resources, reporting to the President and Chief Executive Officer. The Senior Vice President of Human Resources acts as an Executive Peer and thought leader to the C-Suite. This role is responsible for architecting and executing the enterprise People Strategy for scaling a publicly traded, commercial biopharma. In addition, this Senior Executive leads and develops the HR function in areas of talent acquisition, total rewards, learning and development, employee relations, organizational development, performance management, HR Operations, and compliance. Key focus areas include board governance, commercial field scaling, total rewards / equity design, and driving a high-performance accountable culture across the organization. This position develops and executes workforce strategies, enterprise-wide initiatives that elevate a high-performance culture and strengthens organizational agility and delivery. ARS works on a hybrid work schedule requiring a weekly onsite presence at our Corporate office in the Carmel Valley area of San Diego.
ESSENTIAL DUTIES & RESPONSIBILITIES:Board Governance & Total Rewards:- Lead Compensation Committee deliverables alongside the CEO, CFO, CLO, and external compensation consultants (peer group selection, executive pay, proxy CD&A disclosures).
- Design and model broad-based equity (options, RSUs/PSUs, ESPP) and targeted retention pools across corporate and field tiers.
- Partner with the CCO and Commercial Operations on field sales incentive compensation plans (ICPs) tied directly to net revenue goals.
Commercial Scaling & Talent Acquisition:- Translate product commercialization trajectories and clinical pipeline milestones into dynamic headcount models and hiring roadmaps.
- Build talent pipelines to recruit top-tier talent across commercial field sales, market access, regulatory, medical affairs, and technical operations.
- Establish structured onboarding programs that cut ramp-to-productivity time for both HQ staff and distributed field teams.
Culture Evolution & Organizational Development:- Drive company-wide culture and organizational health initiatives to foster agility, cross-functional accountability, and high-performance norms.
- Implement formal talent reviews, succession plans, and leadership development frameworks (especially for first-time people managers).
- Run performance management frameworks, goal setting (OKRs/KPIs), calibration sessions, and annual merit cycles.
HR Operations & People Analytics:- Modernize and scale the HR tech stack (HRIS, ATS, payroll) to ensure clean reporting, headcount tracking, and self-service.
- Track and report actionable people metrics to the CEO and Board (equity burn rates, turnover cohorts, ramp speed, time-to-fill).
- Manage competitive, fiscally responsible health, welfare, financial, and executive benefits packages.
Compliance & Employee Relations:- Ensure full compliance across multi-state remote field operations and California HQ labor laws (FLSA, pay transparency, leave laws).
- Serve as lead escalation point for complex employee relations, internal investigations, and severance negotiations in tandem with Legal.
- Maintain SOX-compliant HR workflows, corporate governance, and code of conduct enforcement
EDUCATION AND EXPERIENCE:- Bachelor's degree in business, HR, organizational development or related fields. MBA or advanced degree strongly preferred. Equivalent combination of education and relevant job experience may be considered.
- 15 or more years of progressive HR experience, with at least 5+ years of demonstrated success heading the HR/People function in a publicly traded, commercial, biotech/pharma company.
- Track record of Commercial Launch including experience building, deploying and supporting remote commercial field forces (sales, access, medical affairs).
- Executive presence and solid experience working with and presenting to Board Members and the Compensation Committee, and experience with structuring executive compensation, proxy disclosures, and equity plans.
KNOWLEDGE, SKILLS, AND ABILITIES:- Acts as a strategic C-suite thought partner who remains hands-on, decisive, and agile in a high tempo, lean environment.
- Identifies and analyzes workforce data and engagement metrics to identity trends and drive continuous improvement metrics.
- Ability to harness and collect data, develop metrics, draw conclusions, design and implement strategies that align with Corporate and Board business plannings.
- Develops a deep understanding of ARS's business strategy, growth priorities, and operating environment, translating these insights into workforce, organizational, leadership, talent, and systems integration strategies that enable sustainable growth and operational excellence.
- Serves as an innovative and forward-looking leader who leverages technology and integrated systems to enhance decision-making, scalability, and organizational effectiveness.
- Commitment to compliance and a high ethical standard.
- Experience in HR policy development, implementation, and governance
- Familiar with HR SOX Compliance.
- Strong foundation of Federal, State, local payroll, tax, wage and hour, benefits, ACA, Cobra, HIPPAA, GMLA and other applicable employment related regulations.
- Excellent analytical, communication, problem-solving, change management, and executive presentation skills
- Must be available and able to travel up to 25% of the time.
At ARS, we are proud to offer a highly competitive compensation & benefits package.
The full-time salary range for this posted positionis $360,000 to $400,000 and may be eligible for a discretionary annual performance bonus. Actual pay rates are determined by considering multiple factors including qualifications, relevance of experience, education & credentials, subject matter expertise, and other job-related factors permitted by law.
This position is also eligible for Equity, 401k matching, and our excellent benefits package including 100% employer paid Medical, Dental & Vision for employees. View the full package here: ARS Careers Page
