HR Business Partner – Engineering

Forward; Santa Clara (CA); On-site; USD 210,000 - 265,000; Full time

Job summary

Forward is seeking an HR Business Partner to partner with our Sales organization. You will help shape the talent, culture, and structure of revenue teams, working closely with CROs, VPs of Sales, and Directors to align people strategy with go-to-market goals.

The role requires credibility with senior leaders and a deep understanding of commission-based pay, org design, and workforce planning. You will lead talent management, behavior-based coaching, and change initiatives that scale with growth.

Qualifications

• 7–10+ years of progressive HR Business Partner experience
• Significant experience partnering with Sales leadership (CRO, VP, Directors)
• Deep understanding of sales structures, compensation plans (base/commission/OTE) and quota dynamics
• Strong track record in org design, workforce planning and change management
• Excellent coaching, communication, and relationship-building with senior leaders
• Data-driven HR approach with dashboards on attrition, ramp, productivity, and headcount
• Experience handling employee relations, performance management, and legal considerations
• Experience with incentive compensation design and annual planning cycles

Responsibilities

• Serve as strategic advisor to Sales leadership on org design, territory/quota structure, workforce planning and leadership effectiveness.
• Translate revenue targets into people strategies including org design, span of control and role architecture as sales scales.
• Lead full-cycle talent management for sales groups: performance reviews, calibration, succession, promotions, and career paths.
• Use data on attrition, ramp time, quota attainment, and productivity to diagnose health and propose interventions.
• Partner with Talent Acquisition on sales hiring, headcount planning and seasonal cycles.
• Lead org design and change management around territory realignments, M&A, or new market launches.
• Coach sales managers on leadership, performance discussions, and motivation in a quota-driven environment.
• Collaborate with Compensation on commission plan design and annual pay cycles for alignment with performance.

Skills

Org design

Workforce planning

Sales compensation

People analytics

Executive coaching

Employee relations

Communication

Education

Bachelor's degree

MBA / HR / Organizational Psychology

SHRM-SCP/SPHR certification

Job description

Forward was founded in 2013 by four Stanford Ph.D.s, building the industry's first network digital twin: a mathematically accurate model of the production network. It's the foundation for autonomous networking, giving engineers and AI agents the ability to know the impact of every change before it touches production. That founding instinct still defines how we work. We're accurate and evidence-driven, relentless about clarity, and we'd rather be certain than comfortable, building a groundbreaking platform that transforms how teams run and secure networks across every major cloud and vendor environment.

Global leaders like Goldman Sachs, PayPal, S&P Global, IBM, and Dell trust Forward, alongside fast-growing enterprises and government agencies, realizing an average of $14.2 million in annual benefits, according to IDC. Backed by top-tier investors, including A. Capital, Andreessen Horowitz, Goldman Sachs, MSD Partners, Omega Venture Partners, Section 32, and Threshold Ventures, and headquartered in Santa Clara, we're most proud of our team: curious people who'd rather build what doesn't exist than accept how things have always been done.

About The Role

Forward is looking for a HR Business Partner (HRBP) to serve as a strategic partner to our Sales organization. This role sits at the intersection of business strategy and people strategy, working directly with senior sales leaders (CRO, VPs of Sales, and Regional/Sales Directors) to build high-performing revenue teams, shape organizational design, and drive talent, culture, and change initiatives that scale with an evolving go-to-market motion. This role requires deep credibility with commercial leaders and fluency in the unique dynamics of a quota-carrying, commission-driven workforce.

What You'll Do

• Serve as a trusted strategic advisor to Sales senior leadership, providing coaching and counsel on organizational design, territory/quota structure, workforce planning, and leadership effectiveness.
• Partner with sales leaders to translate revenue targets and go-to-market strategy into people strategies, including org design, span of control, and role architecture as the sales org scales or restructures.
• Lead full-cycle talent management for the client group: performance management, calibration, succession planning, promotion processes, and career pathing tailored to sales career ladders (RSD/AE, SDR/BDR, sales management, and sales enablement tracks).
• Use data and analytics (attrition, ramp time, quota attainment, rep productivity, pipeline health as it relates to headcount, promotion equity) to diagnose organizational health and recommend proactive interventions.
• Partner closely with Talent Acquisition on sales-specific hiring strategy, headcount planning, and workforce composition, including seasonal/quarterly hiring cycles tied to sales capacity planning.
• Lead or co-lead org design and change management efforts tied to territory realignments, reorganizations, M&A integration, or new market/segment launches.
• Coach sales managers and directors on leadership skills, performance conversations, managing underperformance in a quota-driven environment, and team motivation.
• Partner with Compensation on commission plan design, quota setting implications, and annual compensation planning cycles (merit, equity, promotions) to ensure competitiveness and pay-for-performance alignment.
• Own employee relations matters within the client group, including performance improvement plans and terminations tied to quota non-attainment, ensuring fair, consistent, and legally sound resolution.
• Champion diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives specific to the challenges of building diverse sales teams.
• Partner cross-functionally (Talent Acquisition, Legal, Sales Enablement) to design and deliver programs that meet the unique needs of a revenue organization.
• Act as a culture carrier, helping sales leaders build and reinforce an environment of high performance, accountability, and inclusion.

What We're Looking For

• 7–10+ years of progressive HR Business Partner experience, with a significant portion spent directly supporting Sales, Revenue, or other quota-carrying/commission-based client groups.
• Proven experience operating at a senior level, partnering directly with CRO, VP, and Director-level sales leaders.
• Deep understanding of sales organizational structures, compensation plan design (base/commission/OTE), quota methodology, and the specific talent dynamics of hiring and retaining sales talent.
• Strong track record leading org design, workforce planning, and change management in a fast-paced, target-driven, high-growth environment.
• Excellent coaching skills with the credibility and presence to influence senior commercial leaders.
• Data-driven approach to HR — comfortable building and interpreting people analytics dashboards (attrition, ramp, productivity) to inform decisions.
• Sound judgment and experience navigating complex employee relations issues, including performance-based terminations; working knowledge of employment law.
• Experience partnering on incentive compensation design and annual compensation planning cycles.
• Exceptional communication, influencing, and relationship-building skills across all levels of the organization.
• Bachelor's degree required; advanced degree (MBA, HR, Organizational Psychology) or SHRM-SCP/SPHR certification a plus.

The base pay range for this role is between $210,000 and $265,000. Base pay will depend on your skills, qualifications, experience, and location