Sr. Director, People Partners

Avalara is changing what it means to do tax and compliance. Software that once automated individual tasks is becoming AI agents that complete the work for customers, and that shift reaches into how every team is organized, which skills matter most, and where talent goes. Technology & Customer Operations (TCO) and Strategy & Product sit at the center of it: they build, run, and support the platform, and they set the strategy and product direction behind it. 

As Senior Director, HR Business Partnering, you will be the primary people strategist and day-to-day partner to two C-suite executives, turning business vision into org designs that adapt fast, workforce strategies that deliver, and leadership capability that lasts. 

You will lead a global team of HR Business Partners (HRBPs) embedded across both organizations and act as their bridge to our Centers of Excellence, connecting people programs, talent practices, and technology into one talent system that drives measurable business results. Along the way, you will help rebuild how our People & Culture Team works, using AI and data to advise more effectively. 

Success looks like stronger talent in critical roles, a higher bar for leadership and performance, and better business results from the organizations you support, with leaders who can point to what changed because of your work. 

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• Lead and grow a global team of HRBPs across TCO and Strategy & Product (North America, India, EMEA, Brazil), setting a high bar for the quality of their advice, and build the next generation of HR leaders from within. 

• Advise and challenge C-suite and senior executives on org, talent, and strategy. Share accountability for business results through the people decisions you shape, hold those decisions to a people scorecard tied to business outcomes, and give candid, evidence-based views, including what leaders may not want to hear. 

• Design an AI-native organization: define how work is split between people and AI agents and how teams are structured and run, including roles, spans, layers, and decision rights. Plan headcount, workforce investment, and location strategy with Finance. 

• Define the kind of leaders Avalara needs for what comes next and keep raising the performance bar. Run executive talent calibration and succession planning against a clear, evidence-based standard that includes effective use of AI, build a deep bench of future leaders, and shape leadership development with Learning & Development. 

• Set the standard for how Avalara handles its most sensitive people moments, such as restructurings, leadership transitions, and acquisition integrations, and for responsible use of AI in people decisions. 

• Partner with Centers of Excellence leaders in Total Rewards, Talent Acquisition, Learning & Development, and People Analytics to tailor enterprise frameworks for technical teams and help set enterprise people priorities and the HR operating model, including how HR itself works with AI and data. 

• Strengthen Avalara's culture and ensure it is an enabler of performance and change, building ownership, urgency, and customer obsession across teams in many time zones, and holding leaders to them