Head of People

The Opportunity

The success of insitro relies at its core on our ability to attract, retain, and develop talented individuals across a spectrum of high-demand disciplines, and to build a collaborative, high-performance culture that synthesizes those disciplines into a whole which is greater than the sum of its parts. The Head of People will be responsible for leading the People function and strategy, guiding and scaling the organization through significant growth, while continuing to foster a diverse, inclusive and equitable work environment. Reporting to the CEO, the Head of People will be a member of and closely collaborate with the executive team to make data-driven business decisions to create and execute programs and initiatives in all areas of a People Operations and Organizational Development leadership role: Talent Acquisition & Onboarding, People and Workplace Operations, Employee Engagement & Experience, Organizational Design, Learning & Development, Performance Management, Total Rewards and Retention.

In collaboration with a small, high-performing People Ops & Recruiting team, the Head of People will ensure an awesome experience for all team members by delivering innovative and effective People Ops services that will result in hiring and retaining the best talent who will deliver on our mission: Leading the way to better medicines through predictive models that integrate machine learning and biology at scale.

The role is based in South San Francisco and is required on site most days, with flexibility to work remotely 1-2 days a week, aligned with the organization’s flexible, post-pandemic hybrid work model.

Your responsibilities will include:

• As a strategic leader, set organizational direction by leveraging your business acumen to drive business results, create and execute best practice People initiatives, customized to organizational needs 
• Provide motivating leadership and management to the People team, as well as inspirational People & Culture leadership to the entire organization
• Serve as a trusted advisor and executive coach to the CEO and executive team to ensure the people and organization strategy enables the business results
• Be a champion of insitro’s collaborative, transparent, diverse and inclusive culture and employee experience
• Architect and execute People function strategies to effectively recruit, onboard, develop, retain, and reward top quality talent at all levels to achieve growth objectives and make all team members cared for
• Develop and implement effective career development programs and manage effective performance, compensation and promotion reviews, emphasizing feedback and development, based on a culture that encourages and rewards high performance and equity throughout the organization
• Create and facilitate learning and development opportunities, such as management and leadership training, seminars, learn at lunch opportunities, etc. to cultivate a growth mindset across the organization
• Lead organizational development initiatives in alignment with the organization’s growth to ensure the team’s effectiveness and productivity and enable the organization to respond and adapt to changes
• In collaboration with the Finance team, manage total rewards programs, including cash and equity compensation
• Act as coach/mentor/advocate for employees and managers; resolve employee relations issues and develop proactive and constructive solutions
• Continue to build the People Operations infrastructure, systems, programs and policies, leveraging best-in class technology and analytics towards creating strong and innovative People practices that scale with the organisation 
• Ensure all practices and policies are in compliance with all applicable laws 

You will be joining a biotech startup that has long-term stability due to significant funding, providing many opportunities for significant impact. You will
work closely with a very talented team, learn a broad range of skills, and help shape insitro’s culture, strategic direction, and outcomes. Join us, and help make a difference to patients!

About You

• 15+ years of experience with strong functional expertise in all aspects of the People functions (talent acquisition & onboarding, organizational design and effectiveness, learning & development, total rewards, employee engagement and experience, performance management), including experience in senior leadership role(s) in high-growth environment
• SPHR and/or Master’s degree in Organizational Development preferred
• Prior experience in biotech/Life Sciences or High Tech is required, while experience in both industries is preferred
• Experience scaling up a company and ability to thrive in a fast-paced, rapidly-changing environment
• Successful track record as a strategic, operationally strong and collaborative People function leader, demonstrating solid business acumen
• Expertise in organizational development and ability to guide effective organizational structure, programs, and initiatives, aligned with organizational growth and goals
• Motivation and ability to nurture a collaborative, high-performance culture that is grounded in diversity, equity and inclusion

• Excellent verbal and written communication and interaction skills
• Exceptional project management skills, with ability to track and manage several projects simultaneously in a fast-paced environment 
• Growth mindset with interest to learn new things and ability to lead change in a growing organization
• Passion for making a difference in the world

Benefits at insitro

• Excellent medical, dental, and vision coverage
• Open vacation policy
• Team lunches (catered daily)
• Complementary onsite barista and snacks 
• Commuter benefits
• Paid parental leave
• Flexible work schedule (on site and remote)
  
  

About insitro

insitro is a drug discovery and development company using machine learning and data generation at scale to transform the way that drugs are discovered and delivered to patients. We rely on human genetic cohorts, human-derived cellular disease models, and high-throughput biology and chemistry to identify coherent patient segments, actionable therapeutic targets, and new or existing chemical matter. The goal is to deliver predictive insights to improve the probability of success and reduce the number of costly dead ends along the R&D journey. The company has established enabling collaborations with Gilead in NASH and Bristol Myers Squibb in ALS and is building a pipeline of wholly owned and partnered medicines leveraging its unique insights on patient biomarkers, targets, and molecules. insitro is located in South San Francisco, CA and has raised over $600M from top tech, biotech, and crossover investors since formation in 2018. For more information on insitro, please visit the company’s website at www.insitro.com.