Senior Director, People - Americas & Global People Operations

Acast; New York (NY); Hybrid; USD 165,000 - 190,000; Full time

Job summary

Acast is seeking a senior HR leader to drive Americas human capital strategy and oversee the Global People Operations COE. You will bridge executive strategy with scalable operations, lead regional HRBP work, and shape AI-enabled People systems for global growth.

Responsibilities include workforce planning, M&A integration, governance and compliance, and enterprise-wide talent programs, with a data-driven, global mindset in a fast-growing media/tech environment.

Qualifications

• 10+ years of progressive HR experience including HRBP leadership, People Operations/COE ownership, and M&A integration.
• Experience in data-driven workforce planning and governance.
• Ability to partner with executives and manage complex employee matters across regions.

Responsibilities

• Serve as the primary HRBP to Americas leaders and advise on org design and performance management using data.
• Own infrastructure, policies, and tech roadmap for global People Operations and AI strategy for HR.
• Lead people-related elements of regional M&A activity and change management.
• Direct enterprise-wide talent programs including succession planning and HP development.
• Oversee HR policies, handbooks, and compliance across jurisdictions.

Skills

HR leadership

People Operations

HRBP

Data analytics

Education

Bachelor's degree in HR or related field

Master’s degree preferred

Tools

Lattice

HRIS systems

Data visualization

Job description

About Acast

Since 2014, Acast has been building the world’s most valuable podcast marketplace, creating the technology that connects podcast creators, advertisers, and listeners. Its marketplace spans more than 140,000 podcasts, 3,300 advertisers, and one billion quarterly listens. Crucially, those listens are monetized wherever they happen—across any podcast app or listening platform.

About the role

This high-impact leadership role sits at the intersection of strategic HR advisory, global operational excellence, and enterprise governance. Serving as a trusted partner to Americas leadership, you will drive human capital strategy for the region while leading our Global People Operations Center of Excellence (COE).

You will bridge the gap between high-level executive strategy and scalable operational execution—leading regional HRBP work, championing data-backed workforce planning, steering M&A integrations, and building modern, AI-enabled People systems to support Acast’s global growth.

What you’ll do

• Strategic Regional Business Partnership: Serve as the primary HRBP to Americas leaders. Advise on organizational design, workforce planning, and performance management using actionable data—such as attrition drivers, promotion velocity, and span-of-control benchmarks—to proactively diagnose team health before escalations occur.

• Global People Operations & Systems COE: Own the infrastructure, policies, and tech roadmap for global People Operations. Standardize service levels across regions, drive HRIS and platform integrations (including Lattice and adjacent tools), manage vendor relationships, and partner with the CPO to shape the company’s AI strategy for HR.

• M&A Integration & Change Leadership: Lead people-related elements of regional M&A activity and business transformations. Oversee cultural alignment, compensation structures, retention strategies, and transparent employee communications during periods of transition.

• Talent Management & Workforce Analytics: Direct enterprise-wide talent programs, including succession planning, high-potential development, and annual compensation and performance cycles. Lead workforce planning analytics, including headcount modeling and organizational design diagnostics.

• Governance, Compliance & Executive ER: Oversee company-wide HR policies, employee handbooks, and compliance frameworks across all operating jurisdictions. Manage complex, sensitive employee relations matters and partner with Legal to mitigate employment risk.

Who you are

• Experienced People Leader: You bring 10+ years of progressive HR experience spanning HRBP leadership, People Operations/COE ownership, and hands‑on M&A integration—ideally within media, adtech, or a high‑growth tech environment.

• Data-Fluent & Systems-Minded: You don't just consume HR data; you interrogate it. You are comfortable defining metrics, building dashboard specifications, evaluating survey methodologies, and making platform architecture decisions.

• Strategic Advisor & Hands-on Executor: You seamlessly pivot from advising senior executives on high-level organizational strategy to diving into operational process design and execution in a fast-paced, globally matrixed environment.

• Compliance & Governance Expert: You possess deep expertise in employment law, compliance, and governance frameworks, with the executive judgment needed to navigate complex workforce issues.

• Proven Builder & Innovator: You have a track record of scaling HR operations, building manager effectiveness programs, and introducing modern tools and practices that simplify processes for leaders and employees alike.

Salary Range: $165,000 – $190,000 per year

Location: SoHo, New York City (Hybrid)

Culture

Acast is committed to creating a diverse environment and is proud to be an equal opportunity employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment regardless of race, gender, sexual orientation, religion, ethnicity, national origin or any of the other wonderful characteristics that make us different.

Culture is our number one priority as a business. We believe people come first, and we work every day to enable autonomy, continuous improvement and bring out the best in people. We’re global and have remote teams, so it’s even more important that we strive for an open, inclusive and caring environment where everyone feels visible and welcome.

We consider ourselves a modern organization driven by strong values to create the best, most fulfilling and nurturing culture.

We very much look forward to finding the next great person to join our cause!