Director, People & Culture

Zevra Therapeutics; Boston (MA); On-site; USD 180,000 - 260,000; Full time

Job summary

Zevra Therapeutics in Boston is seeking a Director, People & Culture who will partner with the Chief People Officer and senior leadership to shape our culture, develop leaders, and strengthen talent.

This hands-on leader translates business priorities into People strategies, drives performance and recognition programs, builds learning, succession, and employee experience initiatives, and serves as a trusted advisor across the company.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree and 10+ years of progressive People/HR experience, including biotech or pharmaceutical exposure.
• Experience in a small-to-mid-sized organization and building programs in fast-moving environments.
• Proven culture builder with strong engagement, leadership effectiveness, talent, and ways of working.
• Deep experience across talent and performance management, leadership development, organizational effectiveness, change management, and employee relations.
• A strategic, data-driven mindset paired with hands-on, tactical execution.
• Strong business acumen and ability to connect People strategies to business outcomes.
• Experience leveraging HRIS, employee listening, and workforce analytics to inform decisions.
• Solid knowledge of HR best practices, employment law, and compliance requirements.

Responsibilities

• Build and strengthen our culture. Partner with leaders to foster a high-performing, engaged culture grounded in our values, with a focus on connection, collaboration, accountability, and recognition.
• Develop leaders and talent. Build and deliver leadership development, coaching, learning, succession, and talent programs that strengthen our leadership pipeline and help people do their best work.
• Turn insights into action. Use workforce data, employee feedback, and business insights to challenge thinking, identify opportunities, and provide simple, actionable recommendations.
• Elevate the employee experience. Listen to employees and leaders, identify opportunities for improvement, and create People programs and experiences that strengthen engagement and performance.
• Drive performance and organizational effectiveness. Lead and evolve key talent processes, including performance management, calibration, development planning, succession, and compensation planning. Partner with leaders through organizational growth and change.
• Be a trusted People partner. Coach and advise leaders on people, organizational, and employee relations matters, balancing employee advocacy, business needs, sound judgment, and appropriate risk management.
• Build, experiment, and improve. Roll up your sleeves and turn ideas into action. This role is for someone who enjoys creating and evolving programs—not simply administering them.

Skills

Culture building

Leadership development

Talent management

Organizational effectiveness

Change management

Employee relations

HR analytics

HRIS

Employment law

Communication

Coaching

Influencing

Business acumen

Education

Bachelor's degree

Tools

HRIS

Job description

About the role

We are looking for a Director, People & Culture who is passionate about building an exceptional company—not simply managing HR programs.

Partnering closely with the Chief People Officer and senior leadership team, this highly visible, hands-on leader will help shape our culture, develop our leaders, strengthen talent, and create an employee experience that enables our people and business to thrive.

We’re looking for a culture builder, trusted advisor, and pragmatic operator who can move seamlessly between strategy and execution—translating our business priorities and values into how we lead, develop talent, recognize performance, and work together.

Key Responsibilities:

• Build and strengthen our culture. Partner with leaders to foster a high-performing, engaged culture grounded in our values, with a focus on connection, collaboration, accountability, and recognition.
• Develop leaders and talent. Build and deliver leadership development, coaching, learning, succession, and talent programs that strengthen our leadership pipeline and help people do their best work.
• Turn insights into action. Use workforce data, employee feedback, and business insights to challenge thinking, identify opportunities, and provide simple, actionable recommendations.
• Elevate the employee experience. Listen to employees and leaders, identify opportunities for improvement, and create People programs and experiences that strengthen engagement and performance.
• Drive performance and organizational effectiveness. Lead and evolve key talent processes, including performance management, calibration, development planning, succession, and compensation planning. Partner with leaders through organizational growth and change.
• Be a trusted People partner. Coach and advise leaders on people, organizational, and employee relations matters, balancing employee advocacy, business needs, sound judgment, and appropriate risk management.
• Build, experiment, and improve. Roll up your sleeves and turn ideas into action. This role is for someone who enjoys creating and evolving programs—not simply administering them.

What You’ll Bring:

• Bachelor’s degree and 10+ years of progressive People/HR experience, including experience within a publicly traded biotech or pharmaceutical company.
• Experience in a small-to-mid-sized organization and a track record of building programs in fast-moving, evolving environments.
• Demonstrated success as a culture builder, strengthening engagement, leadership effectiveness, talent, and ways of working.
• Deep experience across talent and performance management, leadership development, organizational effectiveness, change management, and employee relations.
• A strategic, data-driven mindset paired with a willingness to be highly tactical and hands-on.
• Strong business acumen and the ability to connect People strategies to business priorities and outcomes.
• Experience leveraging HRIS, employee listening, and workforce analytics to inform decisions.
• Strong knowledge of HR best practices, employment law, and compliance requirements.
• Exceptional communication, coaching, influencing, and relationship-building skills.
• A high degree of ownership, curiosity, judgment, and customer focus with the ability to thrive in a fast-paced environment.

This is role adheres to our 4 days/week (Monday - Thursday) onsite policy at our Boston HQ.

Equal Employment Opportunity Statement

Zevra is an equal opportunity employer that is committed to diversity and inclusion in the workplace. We prohibit discrimination and harassment of any kind based on race, color, sex, religion, sexual orientation, national origin, disability, genetic information, pregnancy, or any other protected characteristic as outlined by federal, state, or local laws.