Human Resources Business Partner (HRBP)

Thea Energy; Kearny (NJ); On-site; USD 80,000 - 140,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Salary range $80K - $140K

Comprehensive health benefits

Employee equity stock options

20 days PTO

Job summary

A leading fusion energy company in Kearny, NJ, is seeking a Human Resources Business Partner (HRBP) to manage the employee lifecycle beyond hiring. This role involves maintaining a high-performance culture, refining performance management, and leading initiatives for employee engagement and diversity. Ideal candidates have 3+ years in HRBP roles within a startup or engineering context, and strong knowledge of labor laws. The position offers a competitive salary and comprehensive health benefits.

Qualifications

• 3+ years as a HRBP in a high-growth startup or engineering environment.
• Strong knowledge of state and federal labor laws including OSHA.
• Experience coaching managers on employee relations.

Responsibilities

• Lead efforts in maintaining a high-performance, inclusive culture.
• Refine and execute the company’s performance review cycle.
• Identify skills gaps and deliver training programs.

Skills

Employee relations

Performance management

Learning and development

Data-driven HR metrics

Emotional intelligence

Microsoft Office

Education

Bachelor’s degree or higher

Tools

HRIS platforms

SharePoint

Slack

JustWorks

Job description

About Thea Energy:

Thea Energy is leveraging recent breakthroughs in stellarator physics and engineering to create a faster and simpler approach to commercializing fusion energy. The company is reinventing the stellarator using computer-controlled arrays of planar coils thereby replacing the intricate, complex modular magnets required in all other stellarator architectures. Thea Energy is on a mission to create a limitless source of zero emission energy for a sustainable future.

Position Overview:

As a Human Resources Business Partner (HRBP), you will be responsible for the "employee lifecycle" beyond the initial hire. You will reporting directly to the Head of People, and handle the day-to-day "boots on the ground" HR needs of a best-of-class, high-growth hardtech company.

Key Responsibility Areas:

• Employee Relations & Culture: Lead the charge in maintaining a high-performance, inclusive culture. Manage complex employee relations, conduct investigations when necessary, and provide conflict resolution coaching.
• Performance Management: In partnership with Thea Energy’s VP - People and management team, refine and execute the Company’s performance review cycle, including goal setting, continuous feedback loops, and promotion calibrations.
• Learning & Development: Identify skills gaps within the employees and leadership; create and deliver training programs that foster professional growth.
• Total Rewards & Compensation: Partner with the VP - People on compensation benchmarking, benefits administration, and equity education to ensure we remain competitive in the deep-tech market.
• HR Operations & Compliance: Maintain and enhance data integrity, manage compliance (labor laws, safety/OSHA standards for the lab), and help to refine internal HR policies and handbooks.
• Employee Engagement: Execute internal engagement initiatives (team building, pulse surveys) that keep our team aligned and motivated.
• DEI: Serve as a strategic DEI consultant to business leaders, auditing talent lifecycles to eliminate bias and implementing data-driven inclusion initiatives that measurably improve workforce representation and employee belonging.

Ideal Experience & Skillsets:

• 3+ years as a HRBP within a high-growth startup, engineering, or manufacturing environment.
• Strong knowledge of state and federal labor laws including OSHSA.
• HR Experience in a manufacturing, lab, or other hardtech environment is a significant plus.
• Experience coaching mangers on employee relations issues.
• Learning and Development experience in creating and delivering training.
• Experience with modern HRIS platforms and a data-driven approach to HR metrics.
• Exceptional emotional intelligence and the ability to communicate effectively with everyone from PhD physicists to lab technicians.
• A "builder" mentality - you enjoy creating processes from scratch and are comfortable with the ambiguity of a fast-moving startup.
• Experience with Microsoft Office (Word, Excel, PowerPoint).
• Experience with SharePoint and Slack is a plus.
• Experience with JustWorks is a plus.
• Bachelor’s degree or higher is required.

Company Benefits:

• Salary range $80K - $140K depending on experience
• Comprehensive health benefits (e.g. medical/dental/vision)
• Employee equity stock options
• 20 days PTO

It’s not necessary to meet all of the skillsets outlined above. Please feel free to send us a note and tell us why you would still be a great fit for this role or Thea Energy.

Diversity and Inclusion: Thea Energy is an equal opportunity employer committed to creating a company of diverse backgrounds. By creating a diverse environment, we will bring new ideas and approaches to solving some of the world’s hardest (and most important) problems. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, national origin, family or marital status, age, disability, veteran’s status, or other characteristic protected by applicable laws and regulations.

We may use artificial intelligence (AI) tools to support parts of the hiring process, such as reviewing applications, analyzing resumes, or assessing responses. These tools assist our recruitment team but do not replace human judgment. Final hiring decisions are ultimately made by humans. If you would like more information about how your data is processed, please contact us.