HR Business Partner – Engineering New Santa Clara

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

Job summary

Forward Networks is seeking an experienced HR Business Partner to partner with our Sales organization in Santa Clara, CA. The role sits at the intersection of business strategy and people strategy, shaping how we design teams, quotas, and development to fuel a high-growth revenue engine.

You'll work directly with CRO, VPs of Sales, and Directors to align talent with go-to-market plans, coach leaders, manage talent programs, and ensure pay-for-performance alignment across base and commission

Qualifications

• 7–10+ years of HRBP experience supporting Sales or quota-driven groups.
• Senior-level partner with CRO, VP, and Director-level leaders.
• Knowledge of base/commission/OTE plans and quota design.
• Experience leading org design and change management in high-growth settings.
• Data-driven with dashboards on attrition, ramp, productivity.
• Bachelor's degree; MBA/HR/Organizational Psychology or SHRM/SCP a plus.

Responsibilities

• Advise Sales leadership on organizational design and territory structure.
• Translate revenue targets into people strategies and role architecture.
• Lead full-cycle talent management for Sales groups.
• Analyze attrition, ramp time, quota attainment, and productivity data.
• Collaborate with Talent Acquisition on hiring and headcount planning.
• Coach sales managers on leadership and performance conversations.
• Partner with Compensation on plan design and pay cycles.
• Handle employee relations within Sales with fair resolutions.
• Advocate for diversity, equity, and inclusion in sales teams.
• Collaborate cross-functionally to design revenue programs.

Skills

HR Business Partner

Sales organization

Org design

Workforce planning

People analytics

Employment law

Communication

Education

Bachelor's degree

MBA / HR / Organizational Psychology (plus)

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

As set forth in Forward ’s Equal Employment Opportunity policy,we do not discriminate on the basis of any protected group status under any applicable law.

Voluntary Self-Identification

For government reporting purposes, we ask candidates to respond to the below self-identification survey.Completion of the form is entirely voluntary. Whatever your decision, it will not be considered in the hiringprocess or thereafter. Any information that you do provide will be recorded and maintained in aconfidential file.

As set forth in Forward ’s Equal Employment Opportunity policy,we do not discriminate on the basis of any protected group status under any applicable law.

If you believe you belong to any of the categories of protected veterans listed below, please indicate by making the appropriate selection.As a government contractor subject to the Vietnam Era Veterans Readjustment Assistance Act (VEVRAA), we request this information in order to measurethe effectiveness of the outreach and positive recruitment efforts we undertake pursuant to VEVRAA. Classification of protected categoriesis as follows:

A "disabled veteran" is one of the following: a veteran of the U.S. military, ground, naval or air service who is entitled to compensation (or who but for the receipt of military retired pay would be entitled to compensation) under laws administered by the Secretary of Veterans Affairs; or a person that was discharged or released from active duty because of a service-connected disability.

A "recently separated veteran" means any veteran during the three-year period beginning on the date of such veteran's discharge or release from active duty in the U.S. military, ground, naval, or air service.

An "active duty wartime or campaign badge veteran" means a veteran who served on active duty in the U.S. military, ground, naval or air service during a war, or in a campaign or expedition for which a campaign badge has been authorized under the laws administered by the Department of Defense.

An "Armed forces service medal veteran" means a veteran who, while serving on active duty in the U.S. military, ground, naval or air service, participated in a United States military operation for which an Armed Forces service medal was awarded pursuant to Executive Order 12985.