Senior Director, People Partner

What You’ll Do:

The Senior Director, People Partner serves as a strategic advisor to senior leaders, enabling business success through talent, leadership, organizational effectiveness, culture, and employee relations strategies. Reporting to the VP, People & Culture, this role drives workforce planning, organizational design, leadership development, employee experience, and change initiatives that strengthen organizational performance and support long-term growth. This role contributes to enterprise-wide people strategies and organizational decisions that enable business growth and scalability.

Partnering closely with executive leaders, the Senior Director translates business priorities into practical people strategies that develop talent, build high-performing teams, and establish effective ways of working. The role fosters employee engagement through communications, initiatives, and experiences that reinforce Kailera's values and culture.

This role will primarily partner with the Medical and Commercial organizations, while also serving as a versatile People Partner with the capability to support a broad range of functions, initiatives, and cross-functional business needs as the organization continues to grow and evolve. The role is expected to influence leaders across the organization, contribute to enterprise-wide people priorities, and help build the people infrastructure required to scale the business.

Required location: Waltham, MA (hub-based, onsite 3-4 days per week)

Responsibilities:

• Partner with senior leaders to develop and activate people strategies aligned with business priorities and growth objectives
• Provide strategic guidance on organizational design, workforce planning, succession planning, and organizational effectiveness
• Identify and address organizational risks, capability gaps, and talent needs
• Lead talent reviews, succession planning, performance management, and high-potential development initiatives
• Coach and develop leaders to build organizational capability and strengthen leadership effectiveness
• Design and implement leadership development programs that strengthen management capability and build the future leadership pipeline
• Ensure talent decisions support an inclusive, high-performing culture
• Lead organizational design and workforce planning initiatives that build organizational capability and support business growth
• Guide leaders through growth, organizational change, and business transformation
• Design and implement scalable people practices, leadership frameworks, and organizational structures that support a high-growth organization
• Foster a culture of engagement, accountability, and collaboration by shaping cultural norms and effective ways of working
• Advise leaders on employee engagement, retention, team effectiveness, and employee relations matters
• Leverage employee feedback and organizational insights to continuously improve the employee experience
• Utilize workforce analytics and organizational metrics to inform decisions, measure effectiveness, and ensure compliance with people practices and employment regulations

Required Qualifications:

• 12+ years of progressive Human Resources experience, including significant HR Business Partner or People Partner leadership experience
• Experience supporting executive-level leaders in a fast-paced, high-growth, or complex environment
• Demonstrated ability to influence and challenge senior leaders while building trusted partnerships that drive business and organizational outcomes
• Experience in larger-company pharmaceutical organizations, paired with the agility to operate effectively in a growing biotech organization
• Experience partnering with Medical and Commercial leaders in a biopharmaceutical environment, translating business priorities into workforce planning, organizational design, talent strategies, leadership development initiatives, and organizational capabilities
• Demonstrated success leading organizational transformation, workforce planning, organizational design, and change management initiatives
• Proven ability to coach senior leaders, develop talent, build succession pipelines, and design and implement leadership development programs
• Experience navigating ambiguity and driving collaboration across functions and key stakeholders
• Strong employee relations, employee engagement, and communication skills, with the ability to build trusted partnerships and foster high-performing teams
• Strong presentation, facilitation, and Microsoft Office skills, including advanced PowerPoint and Excel capabilities, with the ability to develop executive-level presentations, analyze and synthesize workforce data, communicate complex concepts effectively, and influence decision-making

Education:

Bachelor’s degree required; advanced degree or relevant HR or talent certifications preferred