Senior Director of People and Culture - Automotive SaaS/AI

Senior Director of People and Culture - Automotive SaaS/AI The Sr. Director of People and Culture will lead the company's people strategy, organizational development, compensation and total rewards programs, leadership coaching, talent management, and acquisition integration efforts. This is not a traditional HR role. The ideal candidate is a strategic business partner who can operate comfortably at the executive level while remaining hands-on in key areas of organizational development, change management, compensation strategy, and people operations. The successful candidate will inherit a strong HR team and established systems while bringing greater sophistication in analytics, total rewards, executive partnership, and scaling a private-equity-backed technology organization. Responsibilities: Executive Partnership & Organizational Leadership

• Serve as a trusted advisor to the CEO and executive leadership team
• Challenge and influence senior leaders through data, business insight, and thoughtful recommendations
• Support organizational design, workforce planning, and business growth initiatives
• Partner closely with Finance on headcount planning, compensation strategy, and organizational forecasting.

Compensation & Total Rewards

• Lead the company's compensation philosophy and total rewards strategy.
• Evaluate and optimize salary structures, incentive plans, bonus programs, and equity practices.
• Partner with executive leadership to ensure competitive and scalable compensation programs.
• Lead annual benefits review, vendor negotiations, open enrollment, and total rewards communications.

M&A Integration & Change Management

• Lead the people integration strategy for acquisitions.
• Drive organizational alignment, communication, and cultural integration across acquired businesses.
• Develop change management plans that ensure employee engagement and organizational cohesion.
• Support future acquisition activity and post-merger integration initiatives.

People Operations & Compliance

• Ensure compliance with federal, state, and international employment laws and regulations.
• Oversee HR policies, processes, and governance practices.
• Partner with Finance regarding payroll-related processes and controls.
• Maintain best practices across employee relations, performance management, and workforce administration.

Leadership Development & Culture

• Continue to strengthen the company's high-performance culture.
• Coach executives, managers, and emerging leaders.
• Support leadership development programs, employee engagement initiatives, and organizational effectiveness efforts.
• Partner with managers to improve performance management and talent development practices.

People Systems & Analytics

• Leverage HR technology to improve decision-making and operational efficiency.
• Utilize workforce data and analytics to support strategic recommendations.
• Develop dashboards and metrics related to retention, engagement, compensation, recruiting, and organizational health.
• Drive continuous improvement across HR systems and processes.

Team Leadership; will lead a growing People team (2), including:

• HR Business Partner / Culture & Employee Experience
• Talent Acquisition, Benefits & Compliance Specialist
• Additional support resources and future team growth

Required Qualifications:

• Bachelor’s Degree in Human Resources or related; Master’s preferred
• Min. 8+ years of progressive HR leadership experience.
• Experience reporting directly to a CEO, CFO, or executive leadership team.
• Demonstrated success leading People functions within high-growth SaaS, software, or technology organizations.
• Strong expertise in compensation, total rewards, and benefits strategy.
• Experience supporting private-equity-backed organizations.
• Experience leading organizational change and M&A integration initiatives.
• Knowledge of multi-state employment law, compliance, and HR best practices.
• Strong executive presence with the ability to influence senior leaders.
• Experience leading and developing HR team members.

Preferred Qualifications:

• Experience in organizations ranging from $20M to $100M+ in revenue.
• Experience supporting global or international workforces.
• Experience with Rippling HRIS.
• Experience utilizing Culture Amp or similar employee engagement platforms.
• Strong workforce analytics and people data experience.
• Familiarity with AI tools and technologies and their impact on workforce productivity.

What Success Looks Like Within the first 12 months, this leader will:

• Successfully continue integration efforts related to recent acquisitions.
• Elevate compensation and total rewards strategy across the organization.
• Strengthen leadership capability and management effectiveness.
• Improve utilization of people analytics to support business decisions.
• Continue developing and mentoring the existing HR team.
• Serve as a trusted strategic advisor to the CEO and executive leadership team.
• Maintain and strengthen the company's highly engaged, people-first culture.

Offering:

• Base Salary
• Bonus Potential
• Benefits Package; 401K & PTO/Paid Holidays
• Equity

Direct Sales Recruiting, LLC, (DSR) and DirectHR are National Recruitment organizations partnering with National, Regional and Local Clients to bring qualified candidates a career and a future. DSR offers over 50 years combined Recruitment, Sales and Management experience. We are, along with our clients, an Equal Opportunity Employer and are committed to hiring and supporting a diverse workforce. A M/F/V