Vice President, People

The Vice President, People is a strategic HR leader responsible for building and leading a high-performing team that enables business success through exceptional partnership, talent management, and organizational effectiveness. Reporting to the Chief People Officer, this role leads the People Business Partner organization, Employee Relations function, and enterprise talent programs, including workforce planning, performance management, talent reviews, promotion process, and succession planning.

As a key member of the People Leadership Team, the incumbent serves as a trusted advisor to senior executives, translating business strategy into people strategies that strengthen leadership capability, foster a high-performance culture, and build the organizational capacity needed to achieve the company’s ambitions. This role partners closely with leaders across Talent Acquisition, Total Rewards, Learning & Development, and Legal to deliver an integrated and scalable people strategy.

This role is based in Sunnyvale, California. It offers a flexible work arrangement, with the ability to work from GRAIL's office or from home. Our current flexible work arrangement policy requires that a minimum of 60%, or 24 hours, of your total work week be on-site. Your specific schedule, determined in collaboration with your manager, will align with team and business needs and could exceed the 60% requirement for the site. At our Sunnyvale campus, Tuesdays and Thursdays are the key days where we encourage on-site presence to engage in events and on-site activities.

Responsibilities:

Lead the People Partner Function
• Build, lead, and develop a high-performing team of People Business Partners and Employee Relations professionals, creating an environment of accountability, collaboration, continuous learning, and exceptional client service.
• Set the vision, priorities, and operating model for the PBP organization, ensuring consistent, strategic partnership across the business.
• Coach and develop HR leaders to strengthen organizational capability.
Strategic Business Partnership
• Partner with executive leaders on organizational design, leadership effectiveness, change management, and organizational health.
• Provide strategic counsel on business transformation, workforce planning, talent risks, and organizational capability
• Leverage people analytics and insights to inform business decisions and measure organizational effectiveness.
• Serve as a trusted advisor to the CPO and other C-suite leaders on organizational design and culture transformation.
Employee Relations
• Provide executive leadership for Employee Relations, ensuring fair, consistent, and legally compliant practices across the organization.
• Oversee complex employee relations matters, organizational changes, and workplace investigations while partnering with Legal to effectively manage risk.
• Foster a culture of trust, accountability, inclusion, and respect.
Talent Management Programs & Organizational Effectiveness
• Lead the company's talent management programs, including workforce planning, performance management, promotion processes, talent reviews, and succession planning.
• Ensure enterprise talent processes are consistent, data-driven, and aligned to business strategy while building strong leadership pipelines and supporting employee growth.
• Partner across the People function to continuously evolve talent practices that enhance performance, engagement, and organizational capability.
Enterprise Leadership
• Serve as a key member of the People Leadership Team, helping shape enterprise people strategy and culture.
• Serve as the HR Site Leader for our Sunnyvale HQ location.
• Collaborate with HR Centers of Excellence (COEs) to shape enterprise HR policies, programs, and practices, ensuring alignment to business strategy and global consistency.
• Champion organizational culture, values, high-performance culture, and employee experience across all levels of the company.
• Partner with the executive leadership team to define and execute enterprise-wide people strategies that support business performance and organizational health.
 
Adaptability and Growth Expectation
As our organization continues to evolve and grow, this role may require flexibility in responsibilities and duties. Roles will expand, shift, or be modified to meet changing business needs, strategic priorities, and organizational objectives. 
 
This may include:
• Taking on additional responsibilities.
• Participating in cross-functional projects and initiatives.
• Adapting to new technologies, processes, or methodologies.
• Supporting other departments or teams during periods of high demand.
• Contributing to special projects or temporary assignments as needed.
These job duties summarize the position's primary responsibilities. It is not intended to be a comprehensive or all-inclusive listing of duties and responsibilities. Contents are subject to change at the company’s discretion. 

Required Qualifications:

• Bachelor’s degree in Human Resources, Business Administration, Organizational Psychology, or related field; Master’s or advanced degree strongly preferred.
• 20+ years of progressive HR experience, including 10+ years in senior executive HR leadership roles.
• Demonstrated expertise in talent management, organizational effectiveness and transformation, workforce planning, leadership development, performance management, succession planning, and employee relations.
• Proven success in coaching senior executives, leading organizational change, and developing high-performing HR teams.
• Strong knowledge of employment law, HR compliance, and risk management.

Preferred Qualifications:

• Ability to influence and build trust at the highest levels of the organization.
• Extensive HR leadership with strong business acumen and the ability to align workforce strategy with corporate objectives.
• Proven track record in leading HR teams, driving transformation, and managing complex workforce challenges.
• Exceptional communication, facilitation, and negotiation skills.
• Strong analytical and strategic problem-solving skills, with the ability to integrate workforce data and business insights for executive decision-making.
• Demonstrated ability to foster innovation, inclusion, and employee engagement.
• Unwavering commitment to ethics, integrity, and organizational values.

Physical Demands & Working Environment:

• Executive-level role with in-office presence required at least three days per week
• Extended hours and flexible availability required to support global business operations and executive priorities.
• Domestic travel required to engage with leadership teams and enterprise stakeholders.