Director, HRBP – Engineering

This is a fully remote position, open to applicants in California, +1 more state.

📋 Description

• Act as a strategic ally to the Head of R&D and the senior leadership team, developing and integrating our people strategy to expedite Chainalysis's evolution into an intelligence firm.

• Spearhead organizational design and change management within R&D as teams adapt to new operating models. Comprehend the unique workflows and varying operating rhythms of platform engineering, data science, research, product, design, and support. Collaborate with leadership to create structures that enhance velocity, ownership, autonomy, and cross-functional teamwork.

• Lead the human aspect of AI transformation; assist leaders in grasping how AI-enhanced productivity is transforming engineering roles, team sizes, and career paths. Update technical career frameworks and leveling to align with the shift towards AI-native development and greater individual accountability.

• Oversee workforce planning and talent strategy for R&D, including succession planning, critical-role identification, and retention strategies for highly specialized technical talent in a competitive landscape (blockchain, cryptography, data science, security) across our key technology hubs (NYC, Aarhus, and Tel Aviv). Collaborate with R&D leadership and Finance to ensure that organizational design and headcount choices balance growth investment with operational efficiency and fiscal responsibility.

• Mentor and challenge senior technical leaders on organizational health, performance management, team efficiency, and employee relations, bringing both data-driven insights and empathy to challenging discussions. Ensure leaders uphold Chainalysis's cultural standards as the organization scales.

• Assist in redefining R&D's operating rhythm and cultural benchmarks; partner with the Head of R&D to promote an execution-centric culture rooted in pride in craftsmanship, operational discipline, urgency, and transparency. Support the people aspects of OKR-driven planning, quarterly business reviews, and structured accountability in a global, hybrid environment.

• Utilize data to anticipate challenges; employ people analytics to assess organizational health, recognize attrition risks, and identify trends before they escalate into systemic issues. Apply the same analytical rigor to people decisions as R&D applies to technical ones.

⛳️ Requirements

• Over 10 years of progressive HR/People experience, with a minimum of 5 years as a strategic HRBP supporting engineering, R&D, or other deeply technical global organizations at rapidly growing technology companies with robust engineering cultures.

• Proven experience in scaling an R&D organization during a phase of rapid growth; you've been involved as a technical organization of 200+ expanded significantly in size and complexity, meeting ambitious revenue goals; you understand the challenges at each scaling stage, how roles and structures must adapt in real-time, and how to build the people infrastructure necessary for a fast-growing business.

• A builder's mindset - you can collaborate and design frameworks, programs, and strategies from the ground up rather than waiting for an established playbook. You approach people systems with the same iterative, build-and-enhance mentality as the engineers you support.

• A comprehensive understanding of how technical organizations function and how AI is transforming work; you can discuss engineering workflows, product development cycles, platform versus product team dynamics, and the unique cultures of engineering, data science, and research. You have insights on how AI is altering the tech landscape, impacting the nature of engineering work and team composition, and how it can be harnessed to streamline people operations.

• Executive presence, analytical capabilities, and influence; you exhibit high-trust coaching and executive presence, advocating for what’s best for the organization while constructively challenging leaders. You combine this with strong analytical skills, using people data and organizational diagnostics to drive initiatives. As a senior individual contributor, you lead through influence, credibility, and the quality of your insights rather than positional authority—equally skilled at presenting to the executive team and collaborating with a first-time engineering manager to navigate complex, high-stakes situations.

🏝️ Benefits

• Offers Equity

• Offers Bonus