Principal People Team Business Partner - M&A / Strategy

ABOUT THE ROLE We are seeking a high-velocity, strategic People M&A Leader to own the human side of our mergers and acquisitions end-to-end. As a Principal People Team Business Partner - M&A / Strategy, you will be the single designated point person and strategic counterpart to our Corporate Development team. You will own the People lifecycle for all deals—from early-stage confirmatory due diligence through post-close integration. WHAT YOU'LL DO As a Principal People Team Business Partner - M&A / Strategy, you will: - Serve as the primary People team representative alongside Corporate Development and Legal from deal kickoff through close. - Lead rapid-fire HR due diligence to assess target company culture, compensation structures, and compliance risks. - Evaluate technical talent density and provide critical input into deal structures, focus areas for retention pools, and offer letters. - Partner with finance and legal to analyze equity structures, ensuring seamless alignment on equity rollover mechanics and cash/stock retention incentives. - Mobilize and quarterback cross-functional People teams (Recruiting, Comp, People Ops, Immigration, Payroll) to ensure workstreams are perfectly sequenced. - Build the infrastructure, checklists, and automated workflows that don't exist yet to scale our M&A engine. - Identify recurring failure modes across deals and implement upstream fixes to continuously optimize our playbooks. - Provide a "white-glove" experience to incoming talent, serving as their primary advocate, guide, and escalation point as they navigate our culture and systems. - Partner with leadership and Internal Comms to execute empathetic change management, addressing workforce anxiety through transparent communications, FAQs, and town halls. - Design and execute organizational mapping and day-1 onboarding schedules to ensure acquired technical teams maintain momentum and feel integrated from day one. WHAT YOU'LL NEED - 6-10+ years of experience across People Operations, HRBP roles, or Program Management, with at least 3+ years directly owning People/HR workstreams for M&A transactions in high-growth tech environments. - Proven track record of building 0-to-1 processes in fast-moving, unstructured environments. - Outstanding project management skills; calm under pressure and capable of handling highly confidential data and compressed, unpredictable deal timelines. - Solid foundational understanding of employment legal basics, high-growth compensation structures, and visa/immigration complexities. - Exceptional communication and relationship-building skills, with the ability to earn the trust of elite technical founders and seamlessly align cross-functional internal executives. WHY REMOTE As a remote employee, you will have the flexibility to work from anywhere and be part of a global team that values collaboration and innovation. BENEFITS - Estimated annual salary of $187,000 - $257,000 for San Francisco Bay Area based hires. - Estimated annual salary of $178,000 - $245,000 for New York City and Washington based hires. - Estimated annual salary of $178,000 - $245,000 for Colorado based hires. - Comprehensive health plan - Parental leave - Education stipend - Life insurance - Equipment stipend - Flexible schedule