Director, People Business Partner

Relay Therapeutics; Cambridge (MA); On-site; USD 156,000 - 223,000; Full time

Job summary

Relay Therapeutics is seeking a Director, HRBP to act as strategic advisor to leaders across Research, Clinical Development, and G&A. You will shape people strategy, evolve operating model, coach leaders, and drive scalable talent and organizational effectiveness initiatives to support growth.

Reporting to Senior Director, People, you will lead complex initiatives, analyze data, partner with Talent Acquisition, Total Rewards, and HR Operations, and ensure execution of Performance Management,

Qualifications

• 10+ years of progressive HR experience including HRBP roles.
• Strategic advisor to senior leaders influencing organizational decisions.
• Experience in fast-paced, high-growth biotech or science-driven settings.
• Expertise in organizational design, talent management, workforce planning, leadership coaching.
• Ability to lead enterprise-wide HR initiatives with measurable impact.
• Executive presence to influence across levels.
• Balance strategic thinking with hands-on execution.

Responsibilities

• Serve as primary HRBP for Research and G&A, partnering with Senior Director.
• Translate business strategy into people strategies to strengthen organizational effectiveness.
• Coach leaders on leadership effectiveness, organizational health, and change leadership.
• Partner with leaders on organizational design, workforce planning, succession planning, and team effectiveness.
• Provide data-driven insights and recommendations to help leaders make informed people decisions.
• Identify opportunities and proactively develop solutions to improve employee experience.

Skills

HRBP

Leadership coaching

Organizational design

Talent management

Workforce planning

Employee relations

Change management

People analytics

Executive presence

Education

Bachelor's degree

Advanced degree or HR certification

Job description

Position Summary

The Director, Human Resources Business Partner (HRBP) serves as a strategic advisor and trusted partner to leaders across Research, Clinical Development, and General & Administrative (G&A) functions, partnering to build organizational capability, strengthen leadership effectiveness, and enable Relay Therapeutics’ continued growth.

Reporting to the Senior Director, People Partner, this role provides strategic HR leadership across assigned client groups while partnering closely with HR leadership to evolve Relay’s people strategy and operating model. The Director will independently lead complex organizational initiatives, coach leaders through growth and change, and drive scalable talent and organizational effectiveness solutions that support business priorities.

This role is ideal for an experienced HRBP who thrives in a dynamic, science-driven environment and can seamlessly navigate between senior-level partnership, strategic problem-solving, and hands-on execution.

Key Responsibilities

Strategic HR Business Partnership

• Serve as the primary HRBP for Research and G&A functions, while partnering with the Senior Director, HRBP to support strategic initiatives and provide HR partnership across the Clinical Development organization.
• Translate business strategy into people strategies that strengthen organizational effectiveness, talent capabilities, and team performance.
• Coach leaders at all levels on leadership effectiveness, organizational health, performance management, employee relations, and change leadership.
• Partner with leaders on organizational design, workforce planning, talent strategy, succession planning, and team effectiveness.
• Provide thoughtful, data-driven insights and recommendations to help leaders make informed people decisions.
• Identify organizational opportunities and proactively develop solutions that improve employee experience and business outcomes.

Organizational Effectiveness & Talent Strategy

• Lead and influence organizational effectiveness initiatives that enable Relay’s continued growth and evolution.
• Partner with leaders to assess organizational needs, optimize team structures, and strengthen capabilities required for future business priorities.
• Drive talent management processes, including talent reviews, succession planning, and development planning.
• Partner with leaders and Talent Acquisition to develop workforce strategies, anticipate talent needs, and support critical hiring priorities.
• Leverage employee engagement data, people analytics, and organizational insights to identify trends and recommend actions.

Enterprise People Programs & HR Strategy

• Partner with HR leadership to design, implement, and continuously improve scalable people programs aligned with Relay’s culture and business needs.
• Own execution and evolution of key talent initiatives, including: Performance Management, Talent Reviews & Succession Planning, Employee Engagement & Pulse Surveys and Leadership Development
• Identify opportunities to improve HR processes, enhance employee experience, and increase organizational effectiveness.
• Collaborate cross-functionally with HR Operations, Talent Acquisition, Total Rewards, and other HR partners to deliver integrated people solutions.

Change Management & Culture

• Develop change strategies that support leader alignment, employee engagement, and successful adoption
• Coach leaders through moments of change and complexity with empathy, clarity, and sound judgment
• Serve as a culture ambassador, helping reinforce Relay’s values and build an inclusive, high-performing environment

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree required; advanced degree or HR certification preferred.
• 10+ years of progressive Human Resources experience, including significant HR Business Partner experience.
• Demonstrated experience serving as a strategic advisor to senior leaders and influencing organizational decisions.
• Experience supporting fast-paced, high-growth organizations; biotechnology, pharmaceutical, healthcare, or other science-driven environments preferred.
• Strong expertise in organizational design, talent management, workforce planning, leadership coaching, performance management, and change management.
• Proven ability to lead enterprise-wide HR initiatives and drive measurable improvements.
• Excellent executive presence with the ability to influence across all levels of an organization.
• Strong business acumen and ability to connect people strategies to business outcomes.
• Ability to balance strategic thinking with hands-on execution in an evolving environment.

Estimated Salary Range: $156,000 - $223,000.

The range provided above is based on what we believe to be a reasonable estimate for this job at the time of posting. Actual base salary will depend on a number of factors, including but not limited to, a candidate’s education, experience, skills and location.

About Relay Therapeutics

Relay Therapeutics is a clinical-stage precision medicines company transforming the drug discovery process with the goal of bringing life-changing therapies to patients. Built on unparalleled insights into protein motion and how this dynamic behavior relates to protein function, we aim to effectively drug protein targets that have previously been intractable, with an initial focus on enhancing small molecule therapeutic discovery in targeted oncology. Our Dynamo platform integrates an array of leading-edge experimental and computational approaches to provide a differentiated understanding of protein structure and motion to drug these targets. We have built a world-class team of leading experts from each of these disciplines, and they are driven by a deep collaboration at every step of our drug discovery process.

Our team is equal partsfearlessandrelentless, with a shared passion for working collaboratively in intellectually stimulating environments. If you’re excited by the challenge of putting protein motion at the heart of drug discovery and passionate about making a difference in the lives of patients, join us!