Principal People Business Partner

About the role

Harness is the AI Software Delivery Platform company, led by technologist and entrepreneur Jyoti Bansal (founder of AppDynamics, acquired by Cisco for $3.7B). Harness has raised approximately $570M in funding and is valued at $5.5B, backed by leading investors including Goldman Sachs, Menlo Ventures, IVP, Unusual Ventures, Citi Ventures, and more. As AI accelerates code creation, the real bottleneck has shifted to everything after the code – testing, deployments, application security, reliability, compliance, and cost optimization. Harness brings AI and automation to this “outer loop,” helping teams ship software faster while maintaining security and governance throughout the entire software delivery lifecycle.

Powered by Harness AI and the Software Delivery Knowledge Graph, the Harness Platform applies deep context and intelligent automation across the software delivery lifecycle with governance and policy-driven controls embedded throughout the platform.

Over the past year, Harness powered over 185M deployments, 82M builds, 18T flag evaluations, 8M security scans, 9.1B optimized tests, 3T protected API calls, and helped manage $2.8B in cloud spend — enabling customers like United Airlines, Morningstar, and Choice Hotels to accelerate releases by up to 75%, reduce cloud costs by up to 60%, and achieve 10x DevOps efficiency.

With a global team across 26 offices and 27 countries, Harness is shaping the future of AI software delivery — and we’re looking for exceptional talent to help us move even faster.

Position Summary

We are seeking a Principal People Business Partner (PBP) to serve as the senior People advisor to our Customer Success, Marketing, Finance and Legal leadership, shaping how our teams are structured, developed and led as we scale in a high-growth global tech environment.

This role drives People programs from start to finish, leads the most complex and high-stakes employee relations matters, and shapes how Customer Success, Marketing, Finance and Legal teams are organized for growth. You will represent the People function in Customer Success, Marketing, Finance and Legal leadership team meetings, share your expertise and best practices with fellow PBPs, and set the direction for how AI and automation scale our People programs. You will work alongside the Global PBP team, sharing methodology, tools and project work.

Key Responsibilities

Strategic Business Partnership

Serve as a trusted advisor to C-Level Executives across Customer Success, Marketing, Finance and Legal on talent strategy, workforce planning, succession and org effectiveness

Lead org design conversations with senior leaders and shape how Customer Success, Marketing, Finance and Legal teams are organized for scale

Represent the People function in Customer Success, Marketing, Finance and Legal leadership team meetings and shape people decisions aligned with the broader People strategy

Pair data with deep business understanding to tell stories, surface systemic risks and recommend high-impact solutions

Employee Relations

Lead complex, high-stakes ER matters and investigations in partnership with Legal to proactively manage risk with discretion and appropriate independence

Advise senior leaders on difficult performance, conduct and org design decisions

Hold a high bar for performance across your client groups by reviewing underperformance trends and keeping senior leadership informed of systemic risks

Talent & Performance

Drive People programs from start to finish, including mid-year and year-end performance cycles, talent reviews and compensation planning, and continuously improve them based on data and feedback

Partner across the function (Total Rewards, Talent Acquisition, L&D and People Operations) to ensure global programs are applied consistently and with local and functional relevance

Lead talent planning and succession across your client groups and keep senior leadership informed of performance and retention trends

Innovation & Scale

Drive automation strategy for the PBP function by evaluating and deploying AI tools that scale People programs in partnership with People Operations

Lead innovation in People programs and help the team navigate ambiguity through company-wide change

Collaboration & Growth

Lead cross-functional collaboration with Legal, Finance, IT and other teams as needed, driving alignment and trust across departments

Partner with People Operations, Talent Acquisition, Total Rewards, Workplace and L&D to drive talent strategy

Coach and mentor teammates across the People team, and establish knowledge-sharing practices that elevate the PBP practice

What we're looking for

10+ years of People Business Partner or HRBP experience, including advising C-Suite level executives, ideally in a global organization

Experience in tech, SaaS or other high-growth environments

Proven track record as a trusted advisor to executive leaders on talent strategy, workforce planning, succession and org design

Deep expertise across org design, change management, performance management, leadership development and employee relations, including leading complex, high-stakes matters with Legal

Strong knowledge of federal and local employment law, with sound independent judgment

Data-driven approach, with the ability to turn people metrics into compelling stories and recommendations

Ability to lead through ambiguity, work independently with urgency, and drive work to completion across teams

Excellent communication at all levels, with a record of building bridges across silos

Has built, deployed or led adoption of AI-assisted workflows for HR tasks, and can make the business case for People technology

Work Location

San Francisco (hybrid)

What you'll have at Harness

Competitive salary

Comprehensive healthcare benefits

Flexible Spending Account (FSA)

Employee Assistance Program (EAP)

Flexible Time Off and Parental Leave

Quarterly Harness TGIF-Off / 4 days

Monthly, quarterly, and annual social and team-building events

Recharge & Reset Program

Monthly internet reimbursement

Commuter benefits

Salary is determined by a combination of factors including location, level, relevant experience, and skills. The range displayed on each job posting reflects the minimum and maximum target for new hire salaries for the position. The compensation package for this position also includes a commission/variable component, which is based on performance, plus equity, and benefits. More details about our company benefits can be found at the following link: https://www.harness.io/company/careers

A valid authorization to work in the U.S. is required

Pay transparency $181,000—$226,000 USD

Harness in the news:

Accelerating Our Mission to Bring AI to Everything After Code

Goldman Sachs leads investment in software delivery startup Harness at $5.5 billion valuation

How Harness runs 16 “startups within a startup” at scale | Jyoti Bansal

Harness Research Shows AI Visibility Crisis Fueling Security Nightmare

Harness has been named to the Inc. Power Partner list for software delivery success

All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex or national origin.

At Harness, we care about your privacy and are committed to protecting your personal data. For additional information on this topic, you can visit our privacy Portal: https://harness-privacy.relyance.ai/

Note on Fraudulent Recruiting/Offers

We have become aware that there may be fraudulent recruiting attempts being made by people posing as representatives of Harness. These scams may involve fake job postings, unsolicited emails, or messages claiming to be from our recruiters or hiring managers.

Please note, we do not ask for sensitive or financial information via chat, text, or social media, and any email communications will come from the domain @harness.io. Additionally, Harness will never ask for any payment, fee to be paid, or purchases to be made by a job applicant. All applicants are encouraged to apply directly to our open jobs via our website. Interviews are generally conducted via Zoom video conference unless the candidate requests other accommodations.

If you believe that you have been the target of an interview/offer scam by someone posing as a representative of Harness, please do not provide any personal or financial information and contact us immediately at security@harness.io. You can also find additional information about this type of scam and report any fraudulent employment offers via the Federal Trade Commission’s website (https://consumer.ftc.gov/articles/job-scams), or you can contact your local law enforcement agency.