VP, People Business Partner

Title: VP, People Business Partner Location: NY, US, CA, US, IL, US - Remote

WHY DEPT®?

We are a Growth Invention company built to help the world’s most ambitious brands grow faster. Operating at the intersection of technology and marketing, we create what is next by pioneering ideas, acting fast, and moving further because standing still just is not in our DNA.

We are drawn to people who stay curious, move with intent, and never stop inventing. Our culture runs on three values: better together, relentlessly curious, and get sh*t done. It is how we work, how we grow, and how we make things that matter.

At DEPT®, you will find the freedom to explore, the space to collaborate, and the trust to make a real impact for our clients, for each other, and for the world we are helping to build.

The Role

We are looking for a VP, People Business Partner, Americas to serve as a senior strategic partner to DEPT®’s craft leadership across Creative, Media, Technology, Delivery, and Strategy.

This is a high-impact leadership role that combines senior-level People Business Partnership with ownership of strategic, region-wide people initiatives. The successful candidate will partner closely with craft leaders to strengthen organizational effectiveness, talent development, performance management, succession, and workforce planning while also leading a team of People Business Partners.

A significant component of the role will be translating people data into actionable insights. The VP will develop and implement scalable craft dashboards and people frameworks that give leaders greater visibility into team shape, staffing mix, hiring and exits, employee sentiment, performance, and talent movement.

This role is ideal for a seasoned People leader who is equally comfortable advising senior executives, coaching leaders through complex people decisions, building scalable frameworks, and personally driving strategic projects from concept through implementation.

What You'll Do

Strategic People Business Partnership

• Serve as a trusted senior People advisor to craft leaders across Creative, Technology, Delivery, and Strategy.
• Partner with senior leaders on organizational design, workforce planning, talent strategy, talent management, employee relations, and leadership effectiveness.
• Coach leaders through complex employee relations matters and other sensitive people issues, balancing employee experience with business needs.
• Provide guidance and challenge to leaders on performance management, talent assessment, succession, and organizational effectiveness.
• Build strong relationships with senior stakeholders and become a credible, commercially minded thought partner to the business.
• Partner closely with Finance and other functional leaders to connect people strategy, organizational decisions, and financial planning.

Performance, Talent & Career Frameworks

• Lead the design and rollout of scalable people frameworks across the Americas.
• Own and evolve performance management and calibration processes, ensuring consistent and effective application across teams.
• Coach craft leaders through calibration and performance processes, particularly where leaders have limited experience with these disciplines.
• Help establish consistent standards for talent assessment, promotion, development, and succession across disciplines.
• Identify opportunities to improve the employee experience and create greater clarity around career growth and development.

People Analytics & Organizational Insights

• Implement scalable people dashboards across the Americas.
• Own reporting around team shape, staffing mix, hiring, attrition/exits, employee satisfaction, talent movement, and other key people metrics.
• Turn people data into actionable insights and recommendations for craft leadership.
• Help leaders understand and effectively use people information to inform organizational and talent decisions.

Strategic Projects

• Own a portfolio of high-priority strategic People initiatives across the Americas.
• Balance long-term program development with hands-on execution and delivery.
• Build frameworks, processes, and tools that can scale across multiple crafts and markets.
• Lead cross-functional initiatives from strategy and design through implementation and adoption.
• Identify opportunities to simplify, standardize, and improve People processes across the organization.
• Ensure strategic initiatives are aligned with broader DEPT® People priorities and business objectives.

Team Leadership

• Lead and develop a team of approximately 3 - 4 direct reports and 2-3 indirect reports
• Establish clear priorities, operating rhythms, and expectations for the team.
• Coach team members to operate as proactive, strategic business partners rather than purely reactive HR advisors.
• Build capabilities within the team around performance management, talent, organizational effectiveness, employee relations, and data-driven decision-making.
• Partner with the broader People leadership team to ensure consistency and collaboration across the Americas.

What You Bring

Required Experience & Capabilities

• Significant experience as a Senior People Business Partner, or HR/People generalist, with demonstrated progression into senior leadership.
• Strong expertise in performance management and talent processes, including hands-on experience leading or managing calibration cycles.
• Demonstrated ability to coach and influence senior leaders through complex people and organizational decisions.
• Proven experience designing and implementing people frameworks, programs, or processes at scale.
• Experience translating people data and analytics into clear business insights and recommendations.
• Prior experience managing and developing a People team.
• Experience working in an agency, creative, marketing, media, technology, or similarly dynamic professional-services environment, ideally within an organization of 500+ employees.
• Strong commercial orientation and the ability to connect People strategy to business performance.
• Excellent communication, influencing, facilitation, and stakeholder-management skills.
• Comfortable operating with both strategic altitude and a high level of hands-on ownership.
• Demonstrated ability to operate effectively in a complex, matrixed, multi-disciplinary organization.

WHAT DO WE OFFER?

We are a collaborative, open-door, best-idea-wins environment that fosters personal and company growth and has fun doing it. Here is a snapshot of our  benefits package:

• Healthcare, Dental, and Vision coverage
• 401k plan, plus matching
• PTO
• Paid Company Holidays
• Parental Leave

WE SUPPORT YOU BEING YOU: 

DEPT® is an equal opportunity employer (EOE). We believe our work is its best when our people feel safe and free to be themselves. We’re committed to an inclusive and barrier-free recruitment and selection process and workplace, regardless of anyone’s identity, background, beliefs, lifestyle or disabilities. So tell us about any accommodations you need. It’s totally confidential and only used to make sure you feel fully supported at every step.

DEPT® participates in E-Verify, meaning your Form I-9 information will be sent to the federal government to confirm you are authorized to work in the U.S.

We are a B Corp-certified company passionate about purpose-driven work.  Our hope is that you can feel good about the contributions DEPT® is making to the world and we always have an open door for your ideas in making the world a better place.

DEPT® is a Growth Invention company built to help the world’s most ambitious brands grow faster. Operating at the intersection of technology and marketing, our 4,000+ specialists deliver growth invention across Brand & Media, Experience, Commerce, CRM, and Technology & Data. We’re 50|50 tech and marketing, partner-led, and first to move. Clients include Google, Lufthansa, Coach, eBay, and OpenAI.

Learn more about DEPT®

DIVERSITY, EQUITY, & INCLUSION

At DEPT®, we take pride in creating an inclusive workplace where everyone has an equal opportunity to thrive. We actively seek to recruit, develop, nurture, and retain talented individuals from diverse backgrounds, with varying skills and perspectives.

Not sure you meet all qualifications? Apply, and let us decide! Research shows that women and members of underrepresented groups tend not to apply for jobs when they think they may not meet every requirement, when in fact they do. We believe in giving everyone a fair chance to shine. 

We also encourage you  to reach out to us and discuss any reasonable adjustments we can make to support you throughout the recruitment process and your time with us.

Want to know more about our dedication to diversity, equity, and inclusion? Check out our efforts here.

#LI-Remote