Description
Forward is looking for a HR Business Partner (HRBP) to serve as a strategic partner to its Sales organization.
This role sits at the intersection of business strategy and people strategy, working directly with senior sales leaders to build high-performing revenue teams, shape organizational design, and drive talent, culture, and change initiatives that scale with an evolving go-to-market motion.
Responsibilities
- Serve as a trusted strategic advisor to Sales senior leadership, providing coaching and counsel on organizational design, territory/quota structure, workforce planning, and leadership effectiveness.
- Partner with sales leaders to translate revenue targets and go-to-market strategy into people strategies, including org design, span of control, and role architecture as the sales org scales or restructures.
- Lead full-cycle talent management for the client group: performance management, calibration, succession planning, promotion processes, and career pathing tailored to sales career ladders.
- Use data and analytics to diagnose organizational health and recommend proactive interventions.
- Partner closely with Talent Acquisition on sales-specific hiring strategy, headcount planning, and workforce composition.
- Lead or co-lead org design and change management efforts tied to territory realignments, reorganizations, M&A integration, or new market/segment launches.
- Coach sales managers and directors on leadership skills, performance conversations, managing underperformance in a quota-driven environment, and team motivation.
- Partner with Compensation on commission plan design, quota setting implications, and annual compensation planning cycles.
- Own employee relations matters within the client group, including performance improvement plans and terminations tied to quota non-attainment.
- Champion diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives specific to the challenges of building diverse sales teams.
- Partner cross-functionally to design and deliver programs that meet the unique needs of a revenue organization.
- Act as a culture carrier, helping sales leaders build and reinforce an environment of high performance, accountability, and inclusion.
Requirements
- 7–10+ years of progressive HR Business Partner experience, with a significant portion spent directly supporting Sales, Revenue, or other quota-carrying/commission-based client groups.
- Proven experience operating at a senior level, partnering directly with CRO, VP, and Director-level sales leaders.
- Deep understanding of sales organizational structures, compensation plan design, quota methodology, and the specific talent dynamics of hiring and retaining sales talent.
- Strong track record leading org design, workforce planning, and change management in a fast-paced, target-driven, high-growth environment.
- Excellent coaching skills with the credibility and presence to influence senior commercial leaders.
- Data-driven approach to HR , comfortable building and interpreting people analytics dashboards.
- Sound judgment and experience navigating complex employee relations issues.
- Exceptional communication, influencing, and relationship-building skills across all levels of the organization.
- Bachelor's degree required; advanced degree or SHRM-SCP/SPHR certification a plus.
The base pay range for this role is between $210,000 and $265,000.