People Director

Location: San Jose, California (Hybrid)
Annual Salary: USD 160,000– USD 195,000
Type: Full-Time
Reports to: Chief of Staff

About the Role

At Nex, we believe that how we grow is just as important as how fast we grow. As People Director, you’ll be the architect behind that growth — helping us nurture great leaders, empower our teams, and scale our culture with intention.

You’ll partner closely with our U.S. leadership team (and later Canada and the U.K.), strengthening how we lead, develop, and connect. This role calls for someone who thrives at the intersection of strategy, empathy, and action — a person who sees the unseen in teams, brings out potential in others, and knows that culture isn’t a buzzword but a daily practice.

This isn’t a systems‑builder role — it’s a capability‑builder role. You’ll spend your days helping people make better decisions, shaping thoughtful leadership habits, and keeping the human heartbeat of Nex strong as we scale across time zones and stages of growth.

What You’ll Do

• Be a trusted strategic partner. You’ll work shoulder‑to‑shoulder with executives and managers to design teams, make brave talent decisions, and navigate the gray areas—performance conversations, restructures, or organizational pivots—with empathy, fairness, and confidence.
• Coach and develop leaders. You’ll create experiences that grow people—manager training, feedback frameworks, leadership workshops, and one‑on‑one coaching that helps our teams stretch, learn, and step into bigger versions of themselves.
• Design how growth happens. You’ll own Nex’s global approach to Learning & Development. From building clear career pathways to shaping how performance conversations feel, you’ll ensure every employee knows where they stand and where they can go next.
• Shape and protect our culture. As we scale, you’ll help weave connection, inclusion, and belonging into every corner of Nex. You’ll look out for the subtle shifts that hint at culture drift and help us realign—keeping Nex a place where people feel seen, supported, and proud to contribute.
• Build what’s next. You’ll start as a high‑impact individual contributor, hands‑on and strategic. As we grow, you’ll hire and lead a small team of exceptional People professionals focused on learning, leadership, and employee experience.

What You Won’t Own (But Will Partner On)

Clarity is kind to everyone, so here’s what lives elsewhere:

• People Ops Manager owns systems, data, benefits, compliance, documentation, and the mechanics of cyclical programs like reviews and surveys.
• You’ll partner with People Ops on performance philosophy, onboarding content, and employee experience initiatives—you bring the why and what, they ensure the how runs smoothly.
• Talent Acquisition owns recruiting and hiring operations.
• You’ll partner with TA on senior hiring, interview training for managers, and workforce planning to align great talent with business growth.

You Might Be a Great Fit If You

• Are the kind of business partner leaders seek out—not just for answers, but for perspective.
• Love helping people grow and have a track record of creating real, behavioral change through your coaching or programs.
• Are energized by ambiguity and can read the room—balancing empathy, honesty, and strategic clarity.
• Lead with both heart and backbone. You build trust quickly because you listen deeply and communicate with respect and candor.
• Understand how to build community and momentum across distributed, remote‑first teams.
• Align to Nex's values. You resonate with the culture we're building—read "The Language We Use," "The Promises We Made," and "The Differences We Leverage" to understand what we stand for.

Your Background

• 10–12 years of progressive experience in People/HR, with meaningful depth in HR Business Partnering and Learning & Development.
• Proven experience advising senior leaders and shaping leadership strategy, not just supporting execution.
• Comfort working in fast‑growing environments (from ~100 to 200+ employees) and seeing around corners as the company evolves.
• Global or multi‑country experience is a plus—you know how to scale people practices across cultures.

Bonus Points For

• Experience in an IPO or late‑stage growth environment.
• Background in tech, gaming, or consumer product organizations.
• Formal training or certification in coaching, facilitation, or organizational development.
• Lessons learned from a startup that didn’t go as planned—and what that taught you about resilience and leadership.

#LI-Hybrid