People & Culture Manager, NA

About Vantage

Vantage powers, cools, protects and connects the technology of the world’s well-known hyperscalers, cloud providers and large enterprises. Developing and operating across North America, EMEA and Asia Pacific, Vantage has evolved data center design in innovative ways to deliver dramatic gains in reliability, efficiency and sustainability in flexible environments that can scale as quickly as the market demands.

People & Culture Department

The People & Culture team partners with the business to build the organization, leadership capability and workforce needed to support Vantage’s continued growth. The team combines strategic partnership with practical execution, translating enterprise People & Culture programs, policies and standards into solutions that work in the business.

Every member of the People & Culture team is expected to understand the business, bring sound judgment to complex issues and connect people decisions to business outcomes. Trust, Accountability, Respect and Agility are Vantage’s core values and guide how we work with leaders, employees and one another.

Position Overview

This role can be based in Denver, CO, Santa Clara, CA, or Ashburn, VA.

The People & Culture Manager, NA is an experienced People & Culture professional who serves as a trusted advisor to leaders in a complex, fast-growing, 24x7 operating environment. The role partners with assigned leaders on workforce and organizational effectiveness, talent and performance, manager capability, employee relations, change and the execution of broader People & Culture priorities.

This is a senior individual-contributor role requiring substantial independence, judgment and professional expertise. The People & Culture Manager is expected to understand the business, diagnose complex people and organizational issues, distinguish symptoms from root causes, use workforce data and business context to evaluate options, and translate recommendations into practical action.

The role independently manages complex work across multiple stakeholders and priorities, constructively challenges leaders when appropriate and identifies emerging people, organizational and execution risks before they become larger business issues. The successful candidate will balance enterprise standards with operating realities and develop solutions that can scale beyond an individual employee, leader or location.

The role works closely with Employee Relations, Talent Acquisition, Learning & Development, Compensation, P&C Shared Services and other specialist teams, bringing together the right expertise while retaining accountability for effective People & Culture partnership with the assigned business.

Essential Job Functions

• Develop a deep understanding of the assigned business, including its strategy, operating model, workforce, leadership structure, critical roles, growth plans and organizational risks.
• Serve as a trusted People & Culture advisor to leaders, providing independent recommendations on workforce planning, organizational design, role clarity, team effectiveness and the people implications of business decisions.
• Diagnose complex or ambiguous organizational issues using business context, workforce data and stakeholder input; develop practical options, assess tradeoffs and recommend a path forward.
• Influence leader decisions through clear business reasoning, professional judgment and constructive challenge, particularly where proposed actions create people, execution, financial, compliance or organizational risk.
• Identify recurring or systemic issues across the client group and recommend scalable changes to leadership practices, organization design, processes or People & Culture programs.
• Balance enterprise standards with legitimate operating requirements while avoiding unnecessary exceptions or one-off solutions.
• Lead the execution of talent and performance practices across the assigned client group, including performance management, talent reviews, succession planning, development planning and related leadership decisions.
• Advise leaders on critical talent, succession depth, capability gaps, retention risks and workforce readiness, translating insights into specific actions.
• Coach leaders through complex performance, accountability, capability and team-effectiveness decisions.
• Help leaders differentiate performance, evaluate readiness and make timely, evidence-based talent decisions.
• Partner with Learning & Development on manager and organizational capability needs, supporting effective adoption and application within the business.
• Partner with Talent Acquisition, Compensation and other specialist teams to connect hiring, workforce planning, talent and reward decisions.
• Identify patterns in manager capability and establish practical interventions that improve decision quality and consistency.
• Independently manage employee relations matters within the role’s scope and partner with Employee Relations, Legal or other specialists on complex, high-risk or precedent-setting matters.
• Advise leaders on fair, consistent and well-supported decisions involving performance, conduct, attendance, workplace concerns and policy application.
• Apply sound judgment, factual discipline, discretion and appropriate urgency when handling sensitive or confidential matters.
• Recognize patterns across individual employee matters and recommend broader changes to management practices, policy application, communication or operating processes.
• Apply relevant federal, state and local employment requirements and company policy while recognizing when specialist or legal review is required.
• Identify and escalate material legal, employee-relations, reputational, financial or business risk early, with sufficient context and a recommended path.
• Maintain clear documentation and accountability for follow-through and closure.
• Use quantitative and qualitative workforce information to identify trends, test assumptions and support decisions related to growth, hiring, organizational health, retention, internal movement and workforce capability.
• Connect workforce data to business context and translate analysis into clear implications, risks and recommended actions for leaders.
• Prepare concise, decision-ready recommendations that distinguish facts, assumptions, options, tradeoffs and proposed actions.
• Monitor emerging workforce and organizational patterns across the assigned business and proactively bring material issues to leadership attention.
• Partner with the broader People & Culture team to improve the quality and consistency of workforce insights and decision support.
• Advise leaders on the workforce and organizational implications of business, leadership and operating-model changes.
• Translate enterprise People & Culture programs and standards into effective execution for the assigned client group while preserving program intent.
• Lead complex People & Culture initiatives and projects with clear scope, stakeholder alignment, milestones, ownership, risks and measurable outcomes.
• Develop practical change approaches that address stakeholder readiness, manager communication, employee impact and adoption.
• Surface barriers to adoption, recommend corrective actions and remain accountable for implementation through completion.
• Develop repeatable approaches, tools or practices where lessons from the client group can create broader value for the People & Culture organization.
• Operate as a senior individual contributor and trusted peer within the North America People & Culture team, contributing expertise, business context and constructive challenge to broader priorities.
• Lead work across functional and organizational boundaries when outcomes require coordination among multiple People & Culture specialties or business stakeholders.
• Partner effectively with Employee Relations, Compensation, Talent Acquisition, Learning & Development, HR Operations and other teams while maintaining clear accountability and decision ownership.
• Share lessons, risks and effective practices across the People & Culture organization and contribute to common standards and scalable solutions.
• Mentor and provide subject-matter guidance to less experienced People & Culture colleagues as appropriate, without formal people-management accountability.
• Identify opportunities to simplify work, clarify decision rights and improve the broader People & Culture operating model.
• Perform additional duties as assigned by management consistent with the scope and level of the position.

Job Requirements

• Bachelor’s degree in Human Resources, Business or a related field, or equivalent relevant experience.
• Typically eight or more years of progressive People & Culture/HR experience, including meaningful experience in HR business partnership, employee relations, organizational effectiveness or a comparable advisory role.
• Demonstrated depth across several areas including organizational effectiveness, talent and performance, manager coaching, workforce planning, employee relations and change.
• Experience supporting leaders in a high-growth, operational, technical, manufacturing, construction, data center or other complex 24x7 environment strongly preferred.
• Demonstrated ability to independently diagnose complex business and organizational issues, evaluate alternatives, make recommendations and drive work through implementation.
• Demonstrated ability to influence leaders and decisions without relying on formal authority.
• Strong business acumen and the ability to connect organizational and workforce recommendations to operating priorities, risk and business outcomes.
• Ability to interpret quantitative and qualitative workforce information and translate it into decision-oriented insights.
• Working knowledge of U.S. employment practices, with the judgment to recognize when Employee Relations, Legal, Compensation or another specialist should be engaged.
• Demonstrated experience leading complex, cross-functional projects or initiatives with limited oversight.
• Strong written and verbal communication skills, including the ability to simplify complex issues and deliver direct or difficult messages with clarity and respect.
• Strong organizational and project-management capability with the ability to manage multiple high-priority matters in a fast-paced environment.
• Proficiency in Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook and HRIS platforms; Workday experience preferred.
• High degree of confidentiality, discretion and factual discipline.
• Ability to support a 24x7x365 organization, including flexibility for time-sensitive or occasional off-hours business needs.
• HR certification such as SHRM-SCP, SHRM-CP, SPHR or PHR preferred, but not required.
• Willingness to travel up to 15%, which may increase as the business evolves.

Physical Demands and Special Requirements

The physical demands described here are representative of those that must be met by an employee to successfully perform the essential functions of this job. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.

While performing the duties of this job, the employee is occasionally required to stand; walk; sit; use hands to handle, or feel objects; reach with hands and arms; climb stairs; balance; stoop or kneel; talk and hear. The employee must occasionally lift and/or move up to 25 pounds.

Additional Details

• Salary Range: $140,000-160,000 Base + Bonus (this range is based on Colorado market data and may vary in other locations)

• This position is eligible for company benefits including but not limited to medical, dental, and vision coverage, life and AD&D, short and long-term disability coverage, paid time off, employee assistance, participation in a 401k program that includes company match, and many other additional voluntary benefits.
• Compensation for the role will depend on a number of factors, including your qualifications, skills, competencies, and experience and may fall outside of the range shown.

We operate with No Ego and No Arrogance. We work to build each other up and support one another, appreciating each other’s strengths and respecting each other’s weaknesses. We find joy in our work and each other, actively seeking opportunities to inject fun into what we do. Our hard and efficient work is rewarded with an above market total compensation package. We offer a comprehensive suite of health and welfare, retirement, and paid leave benefits exceeding local expectations.

Throughout the year, the advantage of being part of the Vantage team is evident with an array of benefits, recognition, training and development, and the knowledge that your contribution adds value to the company and our community.

Don't meet all the requirements? Please still apply if you think you are the right person for the position. We are always keen to speak to people who connect with our mission and values.

Vantage is an Equal Opportunity Employer.

Vantage does not accept unsolicited resumes from search firm agencies. Fees will not be paid in the event a candidate submitted by a recruiter without an agreement in place is hired; such resumes will be deemed the sole property of Vantage.

We’ll be accepting applications for at least one week from the date this role is posted. If you're interested, we encourage you to apply soon—we’re excited to find the right person and will keep the role open until we do!