Senior HR Business Partner

Location: New York City 

In-office: 3 days per week (Tues-Thurs) 

Reports to: VP of Finance

Compensation: $150,000 – $210,000

About Axial

Axial is the trusted online M&A platform connecting buyers and sellers of $5M–$100M American privately held companies. Used by 4,000+ acquirers and 3,000+ M&A advisors, our digital transaction platform improves the speed, confidentiality, and success of private company exits.

Axial is a founder-led, profitable (since 2020) company based in NYC with a hybrid office culture. We are the category leader in our market — long-term oriented, values-driven, and focused on member trust, operational excellence, and profitable growth.

In 2025, over 12,500 private companies pursued an exit via the platform, leading to over 3 million platform connections and over $1B in annual transaction volume.

Overview

As we scale, we're looking for a Senior HR Business Partner to be the senior People voice in the room — coaching managers, partnering with leadership on talent decisions, and shaping how Axial grows its workforce.

This is a true business partner role. Most of your time is strategic: coaching managers, sharpening leadership's people decisions, and partnering through sensitive moments. You'll also oversee the People function's day-to-day, directing our HR Coordinator who handles onboarding, HRIS, benefits, and lifecycle changes.

You'll report to the VP of Finance and partner directly with the CEO, leadership team, and managers company-wide.

Responsibilities

• Manager Coaching & Performance. Design and run performance review cycles, leveling, calibrations, and development frameworks. Coach managers through feedback, performance issues, and team-building.
• Employee Relations. Investigate, advise on, and resolve sensitive ER matters with sound judgment, calm escalation instincts, and a clear sense of risk. 
• Talent Strategy & Hiring Partnership. Partner with leadership and hiring managers on workforce planning, role definition, leveling, comp calibration, and interview design. Shaping how and who we hire for our most consequential roles.
• Compensation & Total Rewards Strategy. Own salary bands, leveling architecture, and the annual comp cycle. Run market benchmarking, advise on offers, and partner with the CEO and VP of Finance on equity, bonus, and total rewards philosophy.
• Org Design & Workforce Planning. Partner with leadership on team structure, span of control, succession, and growth planning. Translate business strategy into people strategy.
• Engagement & Retention. Own engagement strategy. Run surveys and stay interviews, analyze data, and lead action planning with managers.
• Compliance & Risk. Own employment compliance across our global footprint. Partner with our PEO and external counsel on harder questions.
• People Analytics. Develop insights that bring rigor to people decisions — headcount, retention, performance distribution, comp equity, and hiring funnel health.
• Learning & Development. Design Axial's L&D framework — what we invest in and how we develop managers as we scale.
• Operational Oversight. Direct our HR Coordinator (part-time contractor), who runs the operational backbone. You'll set priorities and ensure clean execution — the goal is to free you from operational work, not pull you into it.
• Strategic People Initiatives. Lead projects that move the function forward — manager onboarding, leadership development, and culture programs.

How the People team is structured

As the most senior People person at Axial, you'll partner directly with leadership. The People function is structured so you can focus on strategy and judgment rather than execution:

• HR Coordinator (part-time contractor) — Reports to you. Owns onboarding/offboarding, HRIS/PEO admin, benefits, lifecycle changes, day-to-day employee questions, compliance training, and ATS coordination.
• Workplace Experience Associate (part-time contractor) — Reports to the VP Finance (may report to the Sr. HRBP). Owns office ops, vendors, team lunches, happy hours, and company events.

Qualifications

• 5–9+ years of progressive HR experience, including 3+ years as a true business partner to senior leaders
• Track record as the People voice in exec conversations — you've coached VPs, pushed back on founders, and held your own in hard rooms
• Strong ER instincts — handled complex matters with judgment, discretion, and calm escalation
• Experience scaling People functions in growth-stage companies 
• Comp/leveling experience across functions, including building or refining salary bands
• Experience managing or directing junior team members or contractors
• Strong People analytics mindset — you reach for data before opinion
• Tech-savvy with HRIS, ATS, Google Suite, and Notion. Active AI user who leverages LLMs to accelerate your work

Working at Axial

We're a tight-knit team (~55 employees) in a modern Manhattan office (30th and Park) where you'll have a direct impact on company growth. The atmosphere is collegial and well-equipped (kitchen, snacks, coffee, relaxing spaces, games). We work hard and have fun together.

At Axial, you will also enjoy:

• Medical, dental, and vision insurance — nearly 100% paid by Axial
• 401k program
• Flexible vacation policy
• Paid Parental Leave Policy
• Monthly Health & Wellness stipend
• Pre-tax commuter program

The values we subscribe to as a company

• Obsess Over Member Trust. Your daily choices reflect that we facilitate life-altering transactions. You take that responsibility seriously.
• Expect and Deliver Excellence. You're consistently excellent, so colleagues confidently partner with and rely on you. You're committed to continuous improvement.
• Communication Matters. You communicate concisely and articulately — internally and externally — and listen well and genuinely.
• Invent and Simplify. You're open-minded, seeking ideas that elevate the member experience and finding novel ways to simplify complex status quos.
• Be an Owner. You think long-term about your decisions and invest real time in colleague relationships.

 

Additional information

Applicants must be authorized to work in the United States.