Senior People Business Partner I - R&D

We’re not just building better tech. We’re rewriting how data moves and what the world can do with it. With Confluent, data doesn’t sit still. Our platform puts information in motion, streaming in near real-time so companies can react faster, build smarter, and deliver experiences as dynamic as the world around them.

It takes a certain kind of person to join this team. Those who ask hard questions, give honest feedback, and show up for each other. No egos, no solo acts. Just smart, curious humans pushing toward something bigger, together.

One Confluent. One Team. One Data Streaming Platform.

As a People Business Partner (PBP) supporting the R&D organizations, you have the opportunity to align business objectives with people strategies, in partnership with leaders and managers. These initiatives will enable the company's overall business strategy, culture, and values, and will directly contribute to the scaling of an inclusive, results-oriented, and high-performance work environment. With past experience working in fast-paced tech companies, the ideal candidate will recall a history of success leveraging deep HR subject matter expertise and growing business acumen to deploy the relevant manager coaching, manager/team enablement, and organizational development initiatives to assist in enabling the business to meet mission-critical deliverables.

This role will require an agile People Professional who adapts quickly to fluid environments, thrives in ambiguity, builds strong relationships, and has the business acumen to guide the organization through scale, growth, and transformation. Experience supporting Engineering and Product teams is preferred.

This position reports directly to the Sr. Director, People Business Partner (based in the US) and will be based in the US. An in person meeting is required at a Confluent office during your first week of employment.

• Partner with managers and leaders across Product and Engineering organizations to assess business goals and deploy talent strategies that advance priorities and drive scale

• Analyze data to ascertain key insights that anchor and inform talent strategies to advance business objectives, and deliver high-impact relevant solutions

• Support full-scale People programs and processes, including performance management, compensation program administration, talent management, workforce planning, talent & leadership development, employee engagement & retention, org culture, and diversity & inclusion

• Collaborate with team members across the people team, including compensation, recruiting, learning & development, benefits, and mobility, to help design and implement people programs and initiatives, which attract, develop retain, engage industry-leading talent

• Design and lead efforts to evolve and strengthen our culture, including openness and inclusion

• Develop trusting, value-add, credible relationships with business leaders, HR, and stakeholders

• Act as a cultural steward to scale the Confluent culture as we grow our teams and locations

Main competences:

• As a thought partner to leaders at all levels, you have a consultative mindset and have demonstrated your ability to think critically

• You also have a good grasp of different coaching and influencing practices to help your leaders think through challenges and associated solutions

• You have excellent written and verbal communication which help you build your executive presence

• You have a strong balance of IQ and EQ with exceptional interpersonal and communication skills

• You approach challenges strategically with flexibility and innovation and have a strong bias towards curiosity and creativity

In practice, this may translate into you having the following prior experiences and knowledge:

• BA/BS degree or equivalent working experience

• 5+ years of Business Partner experience supporting large enterprise SaaS workforces with accountabilities that include direct support of VPs and senior leaders

• Experience partnering with product and/or engineering groups is preferable

• First-hand experience working within an international, fast-growing organization with progressive HR practices

• Demonstrable experience engaging managers on thoughtful deployment of compensation and performance programs to help retain, recognize, reward top talent

• Strong partnership and collaboration perspective when working across G&A teams including Finance, Legal, Operations, Employee Relations, and Talent Teams

• Demonstrated competence in the various HR functional areas, especially career development, performance management, manager enablement, and change management

Belonging isn’t a perk here. It’s the baseline. We work across time zones and backgrounds, knowing the best ideas come from different perspectives. And we make space for everyone to lead, grow, and challenge what’s possible.

We’re proud to be an equal opportunity workplace. Employment decisions are based on job-related criteria, without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, disability, veteran status, or any other classification protected by law.