HR Business Partner

Astera Labs is seeking an HR Business Partner to join our People team in San Jose, CA. In this role, you will support Astera’s G&A functions and smaller engineering groups, serving as a trusted advisor, coach, and partner to leaders, managers, and employees. This is an excellent opportunity to build your business partnership skills across multiple client groups in a fast-growing semiconductor company. 

You will bring solid HRBP/Generalist experience, foundational employee relations skills, and working knowledge of US labor and employment law to help ensure our people practices are effective and compliant as we scale. This role is key to supporting the talent strategies, people leader development, and organizational health that enable Astera’s corporate functions and engineering teams to thrive. As you grow in the role, there will be opportunities to expand your client portfolio and take on larger, more complex business groups. 

Key Responsibilities 

1. Business Partnership & Coaching

Serve as a reliable partner to G&A and small engineering people leaders, providing day-to-day coaching on people management, team dynamics, and leadership fundamentals 

Build strong, trusting relationships with employees and managers, ensuring accessible and credible HR support across your client groups 

Coach managers on performance conversations, career development discussions, feedback delivery, and navigating common team challenges 

Develop an understanding of the unique demands of semiconductor product development and corporate functions to deliver practical people solutions 

Support the onboarding and integration of new managers within your client groups 

1. Employee Relations & Compliance

Serve as a point of contact for employee relations matters across your client groups, handling investigations, performance issues, interpersonal conflict, and conduct concerns with professionalism and care 

Apply working knowledge of US labor and employment law—including federal, state, and local regulations—to advise leaders and support compliant people decisions, escalating complex matters to senior HRBPs or Employment Counsel as appropriate 

Conduct fair, thorough, and well-documented workplace investigations, partnering with senior HR team members and Legal on higher-risk matters 

Help identify compliance risks and partner with HR Operations to ensure policies, practices, and manager actions align with legal requirements 

Stay current on evolving employment legislation and regulatory changes, surfacing relevant updates to the broader HR team 

Provide clear, empathetic, and sound guidance to managers navigating terminations, leaves of absence, accommodations, and other sensitive situations, with support from senior partners on complex cases 

1. Talent Strategy & Organizational Effectiveness

Support leaders in your client groups on organizational design, role clarity, and team structure to enable effective execution 

Contribute to talent reviews, retention planning, and succession planning for roles within your groups, partnering with senior HRBPs on cross-functional initiatives 

Assist with headcount planning and workforce decisions, helping leaders balance near-term needs with longer-term capability building 

Identify talent risks early and work proactively with leaders to address retention and engagement challenges within your client groups 

1. Performance Management

Support leaders and managers through performance cycles, calibration sessions, and compensation reviews, helping ensure fair and consistent outcomes 

Help ensure performance management practices are applied consistently and in compliance with company policy and legal standards across your client groups 

Partner with Compensation and HR Operations to support equitable pay decisions and address compensation-related questions 

1. Operational Excellence & Growth

Identify gaps in people processes or manager capability within your client groups and propose practical solutions 

Partner with HR Ops and Centers of Excellence to help simplify, standardize, and scale HR practices as the organization grows 

Actively seek opportunities to learn and develop, building expertise that prepares you to take on larger, more complex client groups over time 

Operate with an owner’s mindset—taking accountability for outcomes, not just recommendations 

Basic Qualifications 

Bachelor’s degree in Human Resources, Business Administration, Organizational Development, or related field 

4–6 years of HR Business Partner or HR Generalist experience, ideally with some exposure to engineering or technical organizations 

Working knowledge of US employment and labor law, including federal and California state regulations (wage and hour, leaves, accommodations, terminations, harassment/discrimination) 

Experience handling employee relations matters, workplace investigations, and sensitive personnel issues with sound judgment 

Demonstrated ability to build trusted relationships with managers and employees at all levels 

Comfort operating in a fast-paced, evolving environment with the ability to manage multiple priorities 

Clear and effective communicator who can advise and influence people leaders with credibility 

Preferred Qualifications 

PHR, SHRM-CP, or equivalent certification 

Experience supporting G&A functions (Finance, Legal, People Ops, IT) in addition to technical teams 

Exposure to organizations going through rapid scaling or hypergrowth phases 

Analytical mindset with experience using people data to inform decisions 

Interest in or experience with the semiconductor, AI, data center, or connectivity technology space 

A growth orientation—eagerness to take on new client groups, build new capabilities, and develop toward a senior HRBP role 

Salary range is $135,000 to $170,000 depending on experience, level, and business need. This role may be eligible for discretionary bonus, incentives and benefits.