Staff HR Business Partner, Fellow Program

About This Role

The Fellow Program is a critical new initiative at Snorkel AI, designed to build and scale the expert workforce powering our ability to deliver exceptional outcomes for customers. We are building the people foundation for a program that will grow through rolling cohorts, new geographies, and a potential workforce expected to scale into the thousands.

We are looking for a strategic, entrepreneurial Staff HRBP to help shape what this program becomes. This is not a traditional support role. You will own the people strategy and operating model for one of Snorkel’s most important growth initiatives, partnering directly with senior leaders to design how Fellows are hired, onboarded, developed, deployed, recognized, and supported throughout their employment lifecycle.

This is a rare 0-to-1 opportunity for a thoughtful builder who enjoys turning ambiguity into momentum. You will create the programs, practices, and manager capabilities that enable a new workforce model to scale with quality, speed, and a standout employee experience. The work you do will have a visible impact on our Fellows, our customers, and Snorkel’s ability to scale. This role is hybrid (3 days/week in office) in San Francisco, CA.

What You'll Do

This role reports to the Senior Director, People Programs & Partnerships, and will focus on:

• Own the people strategy and operating model for the Fellow Program, translating ambitious program goals and workforce needs into a clear, scalable people plan.
• Partner with Fellow program leadership to operationalize the strategic direction for the program’s people architecture, including performance philosophy, talent segmentation, growth pathways, manager model, bench and redeployment approach, and key lifecycle decision points.
• Partner cross-functionally to build the core people programs that make the Fellow experience exceptional, from onboarding and early-tenure support through progression, transition, and exit.
• Design a tailored performance management framework that creates clarity, accountability, and growth, including measures of performance, evaluation criteria, review cadence, feedback expectations, and manager tools.
• Create and operationalize bespoke milestone programs, including early-tenure check-ins and reviews, to assess ramp, performance, engagement, and readiness for continued placement.
• Partner with Program Leadership, Supply, and project leaders to determine how performance data, quality signals, project outcomes, and manager feedback inform talent and workforce decisions.
• Define a compelling approach to Fellow growth and mobility, including development conversations, career pathways, and identification of Fellows who may be ready for broader opportunities at Snorkel.
• Lead cross-functional decisions on workforce design, manager capacity, organizational structure, scaling approach, and global employment strategy as the program expands.
• Serve as a strategic coach to program leaders and managers, helping them navigate talent tradeoffs, performance decisions, team design, employee relations, and sensitive people matters.
• Partner closely with Recruiting, People Operations, Total Rewards, Legal, Finance, and external employment partners to deliver a cohesive, compliant, and high-quality Fellow experience.
• Build scalable processes with the right balance of rigor and speed, creating a durable foundation for the program’s long-term growth.

What We’re Looking For

• 8+ years of progressive HR Business Partner or People Partner experience, including experience leading people strategy for a complex business unit, workforce segment, or major organizational initiative.
• Deep performance management experience, including designing review processes, creating clear performance expectations, and coaching leaders through difficult performance decisions.
• Experience partnering on workforce planning, organizational design, team growth, manager effectiveness, and employee relations.
• Demonstrated ability to influence senior leaders and drive cross-functional decisions without direct authority.
• Strong judgment and comfort operating in ambiguity, with the ability to identify the right problem, develop a point of view, and move work forward.
• Experience designing workforce and talent strategies for a high-growth, operationally complex, distributed, or global employee population.
• Strong business acumen and an ability to connect people decisions to operating goals, quality outcomes, workforce capacity, and program economics.
• Excellent project management skills, with the ability to lead multiple interdependent workstreams in a fast-paced environment.
• A collaborative, low-ego approach and the ability to build trust with leaders, managers, and employees across functions.
• Strong written and verbal communication skills, with the ability to translate complex people topics into simple, practical guidance.

Nice to Have

• Experience supporting a global, distributed, or employer-of-record workforce.
• Experience supporting an hourly, operational, services, contractor-to-employee, or other high-volume workforce model.
• Experience building talent programs for technical or AI-adjacent employee populations.
• Familiarity with using performance, quality, productivity, or project data to inform workforce and talent decisions.