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Salary: USD 180,000 - 200,000 / annual
Empathy is a venture-backed healthtech company transforming how families navigate life's most difficult transitions—from bereavement to major life events—by combining technology with compassionate human care. The company partners with leading employers, insurers, and financial institutions to deliver human-centric support at scale, currently serving over 50 million people across the US, Canada, and the UK. Backed by top-tier investors including General Catalyst and Index Ventures, Empathy has raised over $160 million.
As Head of People, US, you will serve as the senior HR strategic partner for the US and Canada workforce, reporting to executive leadership. This is a high-impact role blending strategic vision with hands-on operational execution.
Key responsibilities include: serving as the US employment law subject matter expert and compliance partner; driving organizational design and workforce planning to support business growth; leading compensation philosophy reviews, market benchmarking, and salary banding; owning culture initiatives and in-office presence strategy; developing manager enablement and leadership capability programs; partnering with Talent on hiring strategy, offer approvals, and headcount decisions; leading performance management strategy and difficult conversations; and managing the US/Canada People Operations, People Experience, and Payroll teams (with dotted-line oversight of Talent Acquisition).
Operational responsibilities span end-to-end administration of incentive plans, performance review cycle design and execution, employee engagement surveys, employee relations and investigations, benefits administration, accommodation requests, offboarding, and ongoing management coaching. You will prepare materials for global and local People team meetings and ensure all processes reflect legal compliance and organizational values.
The ideal candidate brings 8+ years of progressive HR experience in tech or high-growth startups, with 4+ years of people leadership. You have navigated both startup and mid-to-large-scale organizations, ideally experiencing a company through a meaningful inflection point. You understand multi-state US employment law, excel at translating complex people topics into clear guidance, and combine a builder's mindset with willingness to execute hands-on. Experience supporting front-line teams, coaching executives at all levels, and managing large-scale organizational change (growth, restructuring, reductions) is essential. Nice-to-haves include HR certifications (SHRM-SCP, SPHR), familiarity with HRIS platforms (HiBob, JustWorks), and experience with high-growth go-to-market teams.
