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Salary: USD 275,000 - 350,000 / annual
Ocient seeks a Chief People Officer to serve as a C-suite executive and strategic architect of the company's people strategy during a critical growth phase. Reporting directly to the CEO, the CPO will build talent infrastructure, culture, and leadership capability to scale from a high-velocity startup into a durable, high-performance organization.
Key responsibilities include serving as a trusted strategic advisor to the CEO and executive team, translating business strategy into a forward-looking people roadmap with clear priorities and quarterly milestones. The role requires championing company culture while professionalizing the organization, leading workforce planning and org design in partnership with functional leaders, and serving as a visible advocate for Ocient's people brand in recruiting and investor conversations.
The CPO will design and implement leadership development, onboarding, and performance frameworks that build high-performance culture without bureaucracy. This includes building and mentoring a lean HR/People team, driving org design decisions that improve accountability and speed, and owning total rewards strategy including competitive compensation benchmarking, benefits, incentive programs, and pre-IPO equity structures (options/RSUs).
Operational responsibilities span the full employee lifecycle: onboarding, development, performance, retention, and offboarding. The role requires implementing and optimizing HRIS and people analytics tools, managing employee relations and conflict resolution, and ensuring compliance with federal, state, and local employment laws across multiple jurisdictions.
Ideal candidates bring 12–18+ years of progressive HR/People experience, with at least 5–7 years at VP, SVP, or CPO level. Required experience includes being a senior people leader at a high-growth technology company through 2x–5x+ headcount scaling, restructuring, or M&A. The role demands a player-coach profile: operating at C-suite level while still executing hands-on work (writing job descriptions, running interviews, managing ER cases, pulling compensation analyses). Strong data-driven mindset, total rewards expertise, multi-state/global HR experience, and executive-level credibility with CEOs, Boards, and investors are essential. Business and financial acumen with headcount planning and budgeting experience required.
Preferred qualifications include background in data infrastructure, enterprise software, or deep tech; experience at companies navigating significant inflection points (Series C+ fundraise, pre-IPO readiness, acquisition, rapid geographic expansion); and familiarity with government, defense, or intelligence sector hiring and clearance considerations. Bachelor's degree in HR, Business Administration, or related field preferred; Master's or MBA a plus. Executive HR certification (SHRM-SCP or SPHR) valued.
