Head of People Partnering

Who are we?

UpGuard’s mission is to protect the world’s data. We obsessively seek out elegant, robust ways to enable our customers to find, acknowledge, and remediate cyber risk. With UpGuard, organizations leverage our security expertise and software to automate what was once laborious, spreadsheet-driven processes–whether it's monitoring the attack surface of hundreds of vendors or assessing the security of their own infrastructure. UpGuard is used by some of the world’s largest, fastest-growing, and most innovative companies.

Our People team consists of Talent Acquisition and Team Member Experience. At UpGuard, we all deserve to work in an environment where we are treated with dignity and respect. Our People team is committed to creating such an environment, where everyone has the opportunity to be themselves and reach their fullest potential. Our Talent Acquisition team is committed to finding individuals who embody our values and are passionate about the work they do to help UpGuard continue to grow. Our TMX team provides structure for UpGuard, maximizing employee productivity and protecting the company from any issues that may arise within the workforce. TMX responsibilities include people management, employee benefits and wellness, and developing competencies that enhance individual and organizational performance.

Why are we hiring for this role?

This role is critical to strengthening People Partnering at UpGuard and enabling the next stage of our growth. You’ll play a key role in shaping a high-performance, values-led culture as we continue to scale globally. Experience supporting leaders through fast-paced, evolving environments will set you up for success here. There’s no one-size-fits-all in our People team—but if you’re ready to rethink traditional HR and lean into bold, practical people leadership, you’ll fit right in.

What will you do?

• While being the key Business Partner for leaders in the APAC region, you’ll partner with our global leaders to shape and deliver people strategies that scale with our business and culture.
• Leading and developing our People Partnering function—coaching the team to deliver high-impact, high-trust support to their business areas.
• Turning our strategy into action—from co-designing team structures, and enabling performance, to guiding leaders through change and growth with confidence.
• Spotting risks before they become issues—using people and performance data to surface insights, shape initiatives, and measure impact.
• Driving key moments in the team member lifecycle—performance reviews, compensation cycles, development planning—with People Ops to ensure a seamless experience.
• Embedding high-quality, consistent practices for employee relations and performance development—working closely with the VP, People, you’ll partner with leaders and business teams to get things right, early.
• Being a calm, clear presence in complex situations, offering confident, pragmatic advice through ambiguity and growth.
• Championing our global culture and values, and using every opportunity to embed DEIB into how we hire, grow, support, and celebrate our people.
• Working closely with our EOR partners to support compliant, consistent experiences across our globally distributed team.
• Playing a key role in shaping the future of work at UpGuard, where remote, high-performing, people-first teams thrive.
  
  

This Job Is For You If You Have

• Proven experience leading People Partnering or senior HRBP teams in high-growth tech, SaaS, or remote-first environments—you thrive in pace and ambiguity.
• A track record of delivering impactful company-wide programs that elevate how teams perform, grow, and lead.
• Strong commercial acumen—you balance care and performance while keeping business outcomes in focus.
• Confidence in influencing senior leaders, navigating tough conversations, and creating space for productive tension.
• A proactive mindset—you don’t wait for issues; you anticipate, act early, and redesign the system if needed.
• The ability to zoom out and think strategically while rolling up your sleeves to get things done—equal parts coach, operator, and builder.
• A data-informed approach—you use insights to guide action, influence change, and track impact.
• Experience working across borders, partnering with EORs, and navigating global compliance, especially in AU, India, the US, and the UK.
• Excitement for leveraging AI to build scalable solutions, raise the bar, and show what great looks like.
  
  

What would give you an edge?

• Experience leading People Partnering in a 300+ person, global, remote-first company.
• Built or scaled HRBP/People Partnering functions with operational and cultural excellence at the core.
• Experience working with tools like Leapsome, Notion, Asana, Gemini/ChatGPT, BambooHR.
• A creative mindset and a bias for action, you enjoy finding better ways to do things and then making them happen.
  
  

This Role Might Not Be For You If

• You haven’t operated in a scale-up or high-growth environment (this one moves fast).
• You’re looking for a ‘traditional’ People Partner role.
• You prefer to wait for direction rather than drive progress.
• You struggle to communicate clearly or influence stakeholders across the organization.
• You avoid conflict or find performance conversations overly uncomfortable.
  
  

What's in it for you?

• Monthly Lifestyle subsidy: use this for financial, physical and mental wellbeing (all regions)
• WFH set-up allowance: to ensure you have the right environment to work in, we will help you get set up within your first 3 months at UpGuard (all regions)
• $1500 USD annual Learning & Development allowance: to support your career development all team members will be able to expense development opportunities against this allowance (all regions)
• Generous Annual Leave/PTO allowances: time to recharge your batteries (all regions)
• 18 weeks paid Parental Leave: irrespective of parenting role (all regions)
• Personal Leave allowance: this includes sick & carer’s leave (all regions)
• Fully remote working environment: whilst we have physical offices in Sydney & Hobart, we do not mandate compulsory attendance (all regions)
• Top-spec hardware: all team members will be provided with top-spec laptops for their role (all regions)
• Personal device security & online privacy protection subsidy: UpGuard provides team members with a paid subscription to personal device security & online privacy protection platform (all regions)
• Generative AI subsidy: UpGuard provides paid subscriptions for all team members to access generative AI tools to support their work (all regions)
  
  

UpGuard is a Certified Great Place to Work in the US, Australia, UK and India, establishing its position as a leading global technology employer. 99% of team members agree that UpGuard is a great place to work, apply now to find out why!

As an Equal Employment Opportunity and Affirmative Action Employer, qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender perception or identity, national origin, age, marital status, protected veteran status, or disability status.

For applications to positions in the United States, please note, at this time we can only support hiring in the following US states: CA, MD, MA, IL, OR, WA, CO, TX, FL, PA, LA, MO, or DC .

Before starting work with us, you will need to undertake a national police history check and reference checks. Also please note that at this time, we cannot support candidates requiring visa sponsorship or relocation.