Position Summary
The Director, Human Resources Business Partner (HRBP) serves as a strategic advisor and trusted partner to leaders across Research, Clinical Development, and General & Administrative (G&A) functions, partnering to build organizational capability, strengthen leadership effectiveness, and enable Relay Therapeutics’ continued growth.
Reporting to the Senior Director, People Partner, this role provides strategic HR leadership across assigned client groups while partnering closely with HR leadership to evolve Relay’s people strategy and operating model. The Director will independently lead complex organizational initiatives, coach leaders through growth and change, and drive scalable talent and organizational effectiveness solutions that support business priorities.
This role is ideal for an experienced HRBP who thrives in a dynamic, science-driven environment and can seamlessly navigate between senior-level partnership, strategic problem-solving, and hands-on execution.
Key Responsibilities
Strategic HR Business Partnership
- Serve as the primary HRBP for Research and G&A functions, while partnering with the Senior Director, HRBP to support strategic initiatives and provide HR partnership across the Clinical Development organization.
- Translate business strategy into people strategies that strengthen organizational effectiveness, talent capabilities, and team performance.
- Coach leaders at all levels on leadership effectiveness, organizational health, performance management, employee relations, and change leadership.
- Partner with leaders on organizational design, workforce planning, talent strategy, succession planning, and team effectiveness.
- Provide thoughtful, data-driven insights and recommendations to help leaders make informed people decisions.
- Identify organizational opportunities and proactively develop solutions that improve employee experience and business outcomes.
Organizational Effectiveness & Talent Strategy
- Lead and influence organizational effectiveness initiatives that enable Relay’s continued growth and evolution.
- Partner with leaders to assess organizational needs, optimize team structures, and strengthen capabilities required for future business priorities.
- Drive talent management processes, including talent reviews, succession planning, and development planning.
- Partner with leaders and Talent Acquisition to develop workforce strategies, anticipate talent needs, and support critical hiring priorities.
- Leverage employee engagement data, people analytics, and organizational insights to identify trends and recommend actions.
Enterprise People Programs & HR Strategy
- Partner with HR leadership to design, implement, and continuously improve scalable people programs aligned with Relay’s culture and business needs.
- Own execution and evolution of key talent initiatives, including: Performance Management, Talent Reviews & Succession Planning, Employee Engagement & Pulse Surveys and Leadership Development
- Identify opportunities to improve HR processes, enhance employee experience, and increase organizational effectiveness.
- Collaborate cross-functionally with HR Operations, Talent Acquisition, Total Rewards, and other HR partners to deliver integrated people solutions.
Change Management & Culture
- Develop change strategies that support leader alignment, employee engagement, and successful adoption
- Coach leaders through moments of change and complexity with empathy, clarity, and sound judgment
- Serve as a culture ambassador, helping reinforce Relay’s values and build an inclusive, high-performing environment
Qualifications
- Bachelor’s degree required; advanced degree or HR certification preferred.
- 10+ years of progressive Human Resources experience, including significant HR Business Partner experience.
- Demonstrated experience serving as a strategic advisor to senior leaders and influencing organizational decisions.
- Experience supporting fast-paced, high-growth organizations; biotechnology, pharmaceutical, healthcare, or other science-driven environments preferred.
- Strong expertise in organizational design, talent management, workforce planning, leadership coaching, performance management, and change management.
- Proven ability to lead enterprise-wide HR initiatives and drive measurable improvements.
- Excellent executive presence with the ability to influence across all levels of an organization.
- Strong business acumen and ability to connect people strategies to business outcomes.
- Ability to balance strategic thinking with hands-on execution in an evolving environment.
Estimated Salary Range: [$156,000 - $223,000].
The range provided above is based on what we believe to be a reasonable estimate for this job at the time of posting. Actual base salary will depend on a number of factors, including but not limited to, a candidate’s education, experience, skills and location.
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About Relay Therapeutics
Relay Therapeutics is a clinical-stage precision medicines company transforming the drug discovery process with the goal of bringing life-changing therapies to patients. Built on unparalleled insights into protein motion and how this dynamic behavior relates to protein function, we aim to effectively drug protein targets that have previously been intractable, with an initial focus on enhancing small molecule therapeutic discovery in targeted oncology. Our Dynamo platform integrates an array of leading-edge experimental and computational approaches to provide a differentiated understanding of protein structure and motion to drug these targets. We have built a world-class team of leading experts from each of these disciplines, and they are driven by a deep collaboration at every step of our drug discovery process.
Our team is equal parts fearless and relentless, with a shared passion for working collaboratively in intellectually stimulating environments. If you’re excited by the challenge of putting protein motion at the heart of drug discovery and passionate about making a difference in the lives of patients, join us!
Skills Required
- Bachelor's degree
- Advanced degree or HR certification
- 8+ years of progressive Human Resources experience, including significant HR Business Partner experience supporting scientific or clinical-stage organizations
- Experience partnering with leaders in biotech, pharmaceutical, healthcare, or other highly regulated environments
- Demonstrated success coaching leaders and influencing across all organizational levels
- Strong knowledge of talent management, organizational design, employee development, performance management, and change management
- Experience leading enterprise-wide HR programs and driving process improvements
- Ability to balance strategic thinking with hands-on execution in a fast-paced, evolving environment
- Excellent communication, relationship-building, and project management skills
- Strong analytical mindset with the ability to leverage data to inform recommendations
What We Do
Relay Therapeutics is a clinical-stage precision medicines company transforming the drug discovery process. Built on unparalleled insights into protein motion and how this dynamic behavior relates to protein function, our approach combines unprecedented computational power with leading-edge experimental approaches across the fields of structural biology, biophysics, chemistry and biology. By applying these insights, we believe we have a differentiated approach to drug protein targets based on their motion, enabling us to select and advance unique product candidates that can be developed into novel therapies for patients. Located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, our world-class team is equal parts bright and bold, with a shared passion for working in intellectually stimulating environments. If you're creative, collaborative and passionate about making a difference in the lives of patients, join us!
