Director of People Operations at Planful

Job description

About the Role Planful is at an exciting inflection point. We have a new CEO, ambitious goals, and a meaningful opportunity to continue evolving how we operate, lead, and build a high-performing culture across our global team. Reporting to the Chief People Officer, the Director of People will partner closely with the CPO and company leaders to translate business priorities into practical people programs that make a measurable difference. This is a true player-coach role. You will lead and develop a small team, while remaining deeply hands-on in the work. On any given day, you may coach a leader through a team challenge, handle a sensitive employee matter, review people data, improve a process, or personally build and launch a new program. We are looking for someone who can think strategically, make sound decisions, and then roll up their sleeves to deliver. What You’ll Do Partner with the Chief People Officer and company leaders to set people priorities and turn them into clear, practical plans. Lead, coach, and develop a small People team. Set clear priorities, remove roadblocks, and step directly into the work when needed. Act as a trusted advisor to leaders and managers on organizational effectiveness, performance, talent decisions, workforce planning, and team health. Own complex and sensitive employee relations matters from start to finish, balancing sound judgment, consistency, employee experience, and compliance. Design and personally drive programs across performance management, talent development, succession planning, manager enablement, employee engagement, and culture. Use people data and employee feedback to identify trends, recommend action, and provide clear monthly reporting to the People team and business leaders. Oversee compensation and benefits programs and partner with Finance and executive leadership on planning, budgets, and equitable pay practices. Ensure the day-to-day People function runs reliably, including HRIS management, data integrity, reporting, policies, and core employee lifecycle processes. Maintain practical, compliant people policies and processes across the locations in which Planful operates, staying current on relevant employment laws and regulations. Simplify how work gets done. Identify gaps, break problems into manageable pieces, and follow through until the solution is in place. Adapt quickly as business needs change and take on new priorities without losing visibility or momentum across existing work. What You Will Bring Must have HR leadership experience within a fast growing SaaS company. Broad, hands-on expertise across employee relations, performance management, talent, engagement, compensation, and people operations. Experience succeeding as a player-coach, leading a small team while personally owning important work and delivering high-quality outcomes. Strong business judgment and the confidence to advise senior leaders, challenge constructively, and navigate sensitive or complex situations. Deep knowledge of HR practices and U.S. employment law. Experience supporting international teams is a plus. The ability to connect people priorities to business goals and design programs that are practical, scalable, and easy for leaders and employees to use. Strong analytical and problem-solving skills, with the ability to turn data and feedback into clear recommendations and action. A track record of operating effectively in a fast-paced environment with changing priorities and some ambiguity. Clear, thoughtful communication and a leadership style that builds trust, accountability, and strong partnerships across the business. Experience with Rippling, Notion, Greenhouse, Google Suite and AI tools preferred. Ideal candidate location is Scottsdale, Arizona as we're building a Planful AZ hub. Why Planful To foster the best in class work we’re so proud of, we’ve created a best in class culture, including: 2 Volunteer days per year, Birthday PTO, and quarterly company Wellness Days 3 months supply of diapers and meal deliveries for the first month of your Maternity/Paternity leave and generous parental leave Talkspace access and mental health support Annual company-wide gatherings held in cities like San Diego, Denver, Palm Springs, and Vegas! Office hubs in San Francisco, Toronto, and London. We also offer benefits such as home office setup, and monthly wifi and cell phone reimbursements for all employees, in-office or remote. Employee Resource Groups such as Women of Planful, Parents of Planful, and many more. We encourage our teammates to bring their authentic selves to the team, and have full support in creating new ERGs & communities along the way Pay Transparency Statement At Planful our top priority is to support our employees and ensure each individual has access to equal growth opportunities. Pay decisions take into consideration the individual's skillset, experience, knowledge, qualifications for the role, and specific work location. Our salary band for this role is $150,000 - $185,000 USD OTE per year, depending on working location and experience. More details about our company benefits can be found here: planful.com

Requirements

Must-haves

What You’ll Do
Partner with the Chief People Officer and company leaders to set people priorities and turn them into clear, practical plans.
Lead, coach, and develop a small People team. Set clear priorities, remove roadblocks, and step directly into the work when needed.
Act as a trusted advisor to leaders and managers on organizational effectiveness, performance, talent decisions, workforce planning, and team health.
Own complex and sensitive employee relations matters from start to finish, balancing sound judgment, consistency, employee experience, and compliance.
Design and personally drive programs across performance management, talent development, succession planning, manager enablement, employee engagement, and culture.
Use people data and employee feedback to identify trends, recommend action, and provide clear monthly reporting to the People team and business leaders.
Oversee compensation and benefits programs and partner with Finance and executive leadership on planning, budgets, and equitable pay practices.
Ensure the day-to-day People function runs reliably, including HRIS management, data integrity, reporting, policies, and core employee lifecycle processes.
Maintain practical, compliant people policies and processes across the locations in which Planful operates, staying current on relevant employment laws and regulations.
Simplify how work gets done. Identify gaps, break problems into manageable pieces, and follow through until the solution is in place.
Adapt quickly as business needs change and take on new priorities without losing visibility or momentum across existing work.
What You Will Bring
Must have HR leadership experience within a fast growing SaaS company.
Broad, hands-on expertise across employee relations, performance management, talent, engagement, compensation, and people operations.
Experience succeeding as a player-coach, leading a small team while personally owning important work and delivering high-quality outcomes.
Strong business judgment and the confidence to advise senior leaders, challenge constructively, and navigate sensitive or complex situations.
The ability to connect people priorities to business goals and design programs that are practical, scalable, and easy for leaders and employees to use.
Strong analytical and problem-solving skills, with the ability to turn data and feedback into clear recommendations and action.
A track record of operating effectively in a fast-paced environment with changing priorities and some ambiguity.
Clear, thoughtful communication and a leadership style that builds trust, accountability, and strong partnerships across the business.
Ideal candidate location is Scottsdale, Arizona as we're building a Planful AZ hub.

Nice-to-haves

Deep knowledge of HR practices and U.S. employment law. Experience supporting international teams is a plus.
Experience with Rippling, Notion, Greenhouse, Google Suite and AI tools preferred.

Application prep

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Keywords to mirror

Platform: greenhouse
Effort: quick

Benefits

Benefits detected in the listing.

Pto

Parental Leave

Wellness