HR Business Partner at Periodic Labs

ABOUT PERIODIC LABS The most important scientific discoveries of our time won’t happen in a traditional lab. We’re an AI and physical sciences company building state-of-the-art models to accelerate breakthroughs across materials, energy, and beyond. Backed by world-class investors and growing rapidly, we operate at the pace the frontier requires. Our team brings deep expertise, genuine ownership, and an insatiable drive to push the boundaries of what’s scientifically possible. ABOUT THE ROLE Periodic Labs is growing fast — and we’re building the people infrastructure to match. As our first HR Business Partner, you’ll be embedded across our engineering and research organization, partnering directly with technical leaders to build high-performing teams, navigate complex people challenges, and design the talent systems that will define how we grow. This isn’t a generalist HR role. We need someone who has worked inside engineering organizations — ideally in frontier AI, physical products, semiconductors, manufacturing, or a hardware-forward startup — and who deeply understands how technical teams operate under pressure. You’ll be a trusted advisor to managers and ICs alike, bringing both strategic judgment and operational rigor to everything from performance cycles to org design. WHAT YOU’LL DO - Serve as the embedded HRBP for business, engineering and lab teams, building trusted relationships across disciplines - Partner with people managers on performance management, compensation calibration, career development, and organizational design as the company scales - Lead employee relations work with professionalism and sound judgment — handling sensitive situations, investigations, and manager coaching with discretion - Support the design and execution of performance review cycles, promotion frameworks, and leveling guides suited to a technical and scientific workforce - Work closely with recruiting to shape workforce planning, headcount prioritization, and organizational design - Identify and address retention risks proactively, partnering with leadership to build engagement and career pathing frameworks that match the ambition of our team - Design and iterate on onboarding programs that integrate new engineers and scientists quickly into the Periodic Labs culture and way of working - Help build and operationalize people programs from scratch — from manager training and feedback culture to compensation bands and career ladders - Advise on org design and team structure as we grow, including when and how to add management layers, form new functions, and scale specialized teams - Use people data and analytics to surface insights and drive evidence-based decisions on headcount, attrition, and team health YOU WILL THRIVE IN THIS ROLE IF YOU HAVE - 10+ years of HR or people experience, with at least 3 years in an HRBP role embedded in an engineering or technical organization - A background supporting teams in physical products, semiconductors, manufacturing, or a hardware-forward startup — you understand the operational rhythms and talent profiles of these environments - Experience navigating the intersection of research and engineering cultures — where intellectual rigor, speed, and hands-on problem-solving all coexist - Strong command of performance management, comp calibration, employee relations, and organizational design - A builder’s mindset — you’re comfortable in ambiguous environments where people programs are still being defined and you’ll often have to create the playbook from scratch - High EQ and communication skills — you build trust quickly with engineers and scientists, and you know how to navigate difficult conversations with directness and care - Sound judgment on sensitive matters — you handle employee relations and investigations with appropriate seriousness and discretion - Data fluency — you use people analytics to diagnose issues, identify trends, and support decisions with evidence - Ability to operate at multiple altitudes: you can advise a VP on org design in the morning and help a first-time manager handle a difficult conversation in the afternoon ESPECIALLY STRONG CANDIDATES MAY ALSO HAVE - Experience at an AI lab, deep tech company, or research institution where the talent profile is unusually specialized - Familiarity with compensation design for rare technical roles — physicists, materials scientists, ML researchers — where standard comp benchmarks don’t apply - Experience partnering with recruiting on technical hiring strategy, including sourcing for niche disciplines - A background in operations, finance, or program management that brings additional analytical depth to the people function - Experience scaling an HR function in a startup environment from early stage through a growth financing event MECHANICS - Minimum education: bachelor’s degree or an equivalent combination of education and training or experience - Location: Our lab is located in Menlo Park and we prefer folks to be located in Menlo Park or San Francisco but can be flexible based on role - Compensation: The annual compensation range for this role is $200,000-$300,000 - Visa sponsorship: Yes, we sponsor visas and will do everything we can to assist in this process with our legal support. We’re building a team of the world’s best — the scientists, engineers, and problem-solvers who don’t just follow the frontier, they define it. If you’re driven to bring AI to life in the physical world and make discoveries that have never been made before, you belong here.