Vice President, People eXperience, West Coast

Job description

**About Sony Music Entertainment** At Sony Music Entertainment, we fuel the creative journey. We’ve played a pioneering role in music history, from the first-ever music label to the invention of the flat disc record. We’ve nurtured some of music’s most iconic artists and produced some of the most influential recordings of all time. Today, we work in more than 70 countries, supporting a diverse roster of international superstars, developing and independent artists, and visionary creators. From our position at the intersection of music, entertainment, and technology, we bring imagination and expertise to the newest products and platforms, embrace new business models, employ breakthrough tools, and provide powerful insights that help our artists push creative boundaries and reach new audiences. In everything we do, we’re committed to artistic integrity, transparency, and entrepreneurship. Sony Music Entertainment is a member of the Sony family of global companies. The Vice President, People Experience (PX) Business Partner, West Coast owns the strategy, leadership and delivery of the PX agenda for our West Coast business units, approx. 350+ employees across the labels and corporate teams anchored in our Los Angeles office. You are the senior PX voice in the market: trusted partner to the CEO, COO and label/BU Presidents, and the leader who turns their business plans into a coherent, best-in-class employee experiences across the full employee journey. This is a strategy and a delivery role. You set direction in partnership with the Americas and Global PX leadership, and you lead a team of two to three PX Business Partners to execute it. You join the PX Americas leadership team, and help drive our vision: to be recognized as a people-centric company that transforms the music industry and beyond. ## **What you'll do:** **Strategic Business Partnership** •Serve as day-to-day PX partner and trusted advisor to the CEO, COO, and Presidents across your businesses, with oversight of the wider employee experience delivered through your team. •Set market priorities with each leader, anchored in the business plan and the annual culture survey, and translate them into a clear PX plan across the employee journey. •Build durable, strong and candid relationships with local leadership and employees; balancing strategic counsel with hands-on support. •Drive operational improvement in how the business runs: systems, processes, new technology and ways of working, workflow integration, workforce planning, and staffing models, in partnership with the wider Americas PX team and Business Leaders. •Provide oversight and judgment on employee relations matters with the People Relations team, owning the leadership-facing dimension of sensitive issues. •Lead with data, analytics and financials to build the business case for change, including quarterly people-data and insight reviews with each leadership team. •Contribute to M&A activity through PX due diligence and cultural and systems integration, with the VP PX M&A Lead, PX Operations, and Total Rewards. **Operational Leadership & Delivery** •Lead the annual compensation planning and review cycle for each business unit you support, working with COO & finance lead, local PX partners and the compensation team. •Partner on the annual Business Planning process with the CEO, COO and Finance Lead, setting the people priorities that enable the strategic plan for the year ahead. •Drive weekly people planning and executive updates on headcount, open roles, employee contracts and people shifts. •Partner with the PX COEs and local PX partners across the full employee lifecycle, from hiring to exit, including the intern and early career experience for the LA offices. •Oversee the onboarding experience of all new hires and ensure PXBPs lead it in partnership with PXOps and the People Leader •Own the annual employee engagement survey process, for your business units, from planning and communications through analysis and action planning with senior leaders. **Culture, Change & Continuous Improvement** •Lead and role-model a strong, label- and business-specific culture through our Global People Promise and Values, one that fuels inclusion, creativity, innovation, and collaboration. •Drive organizational change and transformation, guiding leaders and employees through the change curve and building teams that are resilient and steady under pressure. •Think like a business leader. Build deep commercial and industry acumen and adapt PX practices to enable our creator-first approach. •Advance diversity, accessibility and inclusion at every level with the D&I team and business unit leadership •Champion The Learning Collective and continuous growth for leaders, LA-based employees, your team and yourself. •Deliver for the LA office. Work with Finance, Operations, Comms, D&I, Philanthropy, Social Impact & Environment, Facilities, and Business & Legal Affairs to deliver a strong experience for everyone based there, whether or not they sit in your business units. •Raise engagement. Own employee engagement initiatives that lift performance and satisfaction, and act on what the culture survey and listening data tell you. •Advance inclusion. In partnership with the D&I team and business-unit leadership, develop and deliver strategies for diversity, accessibility, and inclusion at every level. **Team Leadership & Cross-Functional Partnership** •Lead, coach, and develop your team of 2-3 PX Business Partners (PXBP), with potential matrixed PXBP reports in other markets. Set clear goals, create access and hold a high bar. •Partner and collaborate with local PXBP leads in different markets across the US and globally. Ensure cultural connections and trusted partnership, in service of the business and employee experience •Partner with the COEs across Talent Acquisition, People Operations, People Relations, Total Rewards, The Learning Collective, Organization Success, D&I, PX Branding & Projects and Communications. •Connect the enterprise. Contribute to a highly collaborative US PXBP, Americas, and Global PX team on cross-functional and global projects and initiatives. •Ensure compliance with local employment law, data-privacy standards, and relevant policies, with particular attention to California requirements. ## **Who you are:** **Required Experience:** •10+ years in HR / People function, including 5+ years as a senior HR business partner to C-suite or equivalent executives, leading and developing a team of HR/PX professionals, including a global distributed or matrixed team. •You have demonstrated success coaching senior executives as a trusted partner, with the ability to shape, challenge, anticipate needs, speak in business outcomes and influence at the top table. •You have a track record driving transformative change across culture, organization and business. •You are proven in creative, global, matrixed organizations, moving fluidly between creative communities and corporate cultures. •You can pivot between strategic solutions and executional delivery as the environment and priorities shift. •You are experienced in handling of complex, high-stakes people matters and difficult messages, handled with integrity, confidentiality and empathy. •You are able to hold the whole organization in view while adapting to local needs and nuance. **Preferred** •Experience in music, entertainment, or another creator- or talent-driven industry. •Experience supporting artist-centric or creative teams across different cultures and time zones. •Experience leading global distributed teams •Bilingual in Spanish •Exposure to M&A due diligence and integration. **How You Show Up** •Self-motivated, curious, and compassionate, with strong business and HR acumen and a genuine interest in the music industry. •An influential thought partner who builds trust and confidence at every level and instills solidarity across teams. •Excellent communication, presentation, and influencing skills; drives pragmatic, collaborative decision-making at pace. •Effective at flexing your approach in ambiguous, changing environments, moving between corporate process and creative fluidity as the moment requires. •A calm and fearless voice in the room in moments of conflict or uncertainty •Role modelling and living our values & behaviors ## **What we give you:** - You join an inclusive, collaborative and global community where you will have the opportunity to channel your passion and fuel excellence every day. - A comprehensive benefits package including medical, dental, vision, life and disability coverage, and 401K with employer matching. Voluntary benefits spanning industry-leading fertility coverage, fully paid leave for childbirth, bonding and caregiving, subsidized back-up child and elder care, mental health resources, and reimbursement for adoption, surrogacy, tuition and student loans. - Flexible Time Off and time off for a winter recess. Access to Sony Group discounts. Investment in your professional growth and development and the space to accelerate progress, positively disrupt, and create what happens next. *Sony Music is committed to providing equal employment opportunity for all persons regardless of age, disability, national origin, race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender, gender identity or expression, pregnancy, veteran or military status, marital and civil partnership/union status, alienage or citizenship status, creed, genetic information or any other status protected by applicable federal, state, or local law.* The anticipated annual base salary does not include any other compensation components or other benefits that an individual may be eligible for. The actual base salary offered depends on a variety of factors, which may include as applicable, the qualifications of the individual applicant for the position, years of relevant experience, specific and unique skills, level of education attained, certifications or other professional licenses held, and the location in which the applicant lives and/or from which they will be performing the job. California Pay Range $235,000—$285,000 USD