About the role
Organizations everywhere struggle under the crushing costs and complexities of “solutions” that promise to simplify their lives. To create a better experience for their customers and employees. To help them grow. Software is a choice that can make or break a business. Create better or worse experiences. Propel or throttle growth. Business software has become a blocker instead of ways to get work done. There’s another option. Freshworks. With a fresh vision for how the world works. Freshworks Inc. builds uncomplicated service software that delivers exceptional employee and customer experiences. Our people-first approach to AI eliminates friction, helping businesses reduce complexity, lower cost-to-serve, and deliver faster, more human support through enterprise-grade yet easy-to-use CX and IT solutions. Nearly 75,000 companies, including Bridgestone, New Balance, Nucor, S&P Global, and Sony Music, trust Freshworks to power their Employee Experience (EX) and Customer Experience (CX) operations. Fresh vision. Real impact. Come build it with us. We are seeking a visionary Sr. Director, HR Business Partner to act as a trusted strategic advisor to the leaders of our global Product and Marketing organizations. This is a high-impact, global leadership role at the intersection of strategy, people, and transformation. You will be responsible for shaping our talent strategy, driving organizational effectiveness, and designing a future-ready organization that scales with our growth. As a key member of the People Leadership team of Freshworks and the HRBP Leads team, you will be instrumental in charting the overarching people and culture approach for the entire company. You will lead HR Business Partners who support Product and Marketing in other locations to ensure that our people strategies are aligned with business objectives and drive a high-performance, high-trust culture globally.
What You'll Do: Advanced Strategic Business Partnership: Partner directly with the C-suite and senior leadership of the Product and Marketing organizations to translate business strategy into a comprehensive people strategy that includes talent, culture, and organizational health. Organizational Design & Effectiveness: Lead organizational design and transformation initiatives to create an agile, scalable, and high-performing global organization. Drive clarity on roles, decision-making, and accountability to enhance organizational effectiveness. AI-Driven Talent Strategy & Succession Planning: Develop and execute a forward-thinking talent strategy for your functions that builds organizational resiliency. Design and manage key rhythms including quarterly talent reviews, the promotion process, and robust succession planning for critical roles. Data, AI, & Insights Capability: Harness workforce data, predictive analytics, and AI-powered HR tools to glean actionable insights. Proactively identify trends, measure organizational health, and address talent gaps or retention risks before they impact the business. Talent & Performance Coaching: Act as a coach to senior leaders, enhancing their leadership capabilities and fostering a culture of high performance and continuous feedback. Provide expert guidance on talent management, performance coaching, and employee relations. Cross-Cultural Integration & Leadership Enablement: Champion and reinforce a high-performance, high-trust culture that transcends borders. Actively foster collaboration and cultural alignment across our global footprint, specifically bridging our North America and India operations to ensure seamless teamwork. Embed Freshworks' values into organizational practices to guide behavior and decision-making worldwide. Team Leadership: Lead and mentor HR Business Partners, setting clear priorities and fostering their growth and development. Guide your team to execute strategic and organizational initiatives effectively. 15+ years of progressive HR leadership experience, with a proven track record in strategic HR, business transformation, and organizational design, preferably within a high-growth technology or SaaS environment Deep expertise in developing and implementing talent strategies, performance coaching programs, and organizational effectiveness initiatives Advanced Data & AI Acumen: Strong analytical skills with the ability to utilize AI, workforce analytics, and data-driven insights to inform predictive and strategic decisions about talent, culture, and organizational health Proven success as a trusted advisor to senior executives, with the ability to influence and shape organizational strategy Exceptional communication and synthesis skills, with the ability to distill complex issues and drive clarity at all levels of the organization Demonstrated experience in managing complex employee relations issues with a balanced and fair approach AI proven track record of building, leading, and inspiring high-performing teams, with a strong commitment to developing future leaders Global & Cross-Cultural Fluency: Extensive experience in a global role, with a deep understanding of the complexities of managing teams and stakeholders across different regions. A proven ability to successfully navigate and integrate working cultures specifically between North America and India is highly desired Please note this is a hybrid role with onsite expectations of 3x/week (Tues - Thurs) from our San Mateo, CA headquarters. The annual base salary range for this position is $246,000 - $304,500. This role is also eligible for a target