Senior Director, HR Business Partner

Are you ready to join a team committed to making a meaningful impact on cancer treatment through the discovery and development of precision medicines? At Kura Oncology, you have an opportunity to be a part of something bigger, with a lasting impact that you can be proud of.

At Kura Oncology, we are working to change the paradigm and improve the science of cancer treatment. As an organization, we strive to cultivate a diverse and talented professional culture driven to develop precision medicine therapeutics.

As we continue to build a leading biotech organization with a strong culture, a patient-focused mindset and a team focused on relentless execution, we are looking for innovative, passionate professionals to join us and make our vision a reality.

To succeed at Kura, you will need to have a demonstrated ability for excellence in drug discovery and development and a roll-up your sleeves attitude. The ideal candidate will possess a values-driven work style where integrity and grit drive all behaviors, decisions, and actions.

ESSENTIAL JOB FUNCTIONS:

The Senior Director, HRBP serves as an embedded strategic and hands-on partner to leaders across the Operations, Development, and Global Program teams, translating business and portfolio priorities into workforce, organization, talent, leadership, and culture strategies. Reporting to the Vice President of HR (Head of HR), this role brings insights from the client groups into Kura’s broader people strategy and partners closely with leaders to anticipate workforce needs, shape organizational design, lead talent and succession planning, strengthen leadership and team effectiveness, and guide teams through change. Within the assigned client groups, the HRBP champions Kura’s values and works with leaders to embed them into how they lead, how teams work, and how people decisions are made, while partnering across HR on employee relations, performance, compensation, talent acquisition, and organizational effectiveness to support continued growth and operational excellence.

Partnering with Leadership and the Head of HR:

• Collaborate with client group leaders to understand business objectives and provide strategic guidance on workforce planning, team development, and organizational priorities.
• Act as a trusted advisor to leaders and managers, offering support on employee relations, performance management, and leadership development.
• Bring an independent HR point of view, challenge assumptions constructively, identify organizational and talent risks, and help leaders evaluate tradeoffs.
• Partner with the Head of HR to provide insights from client groups that inform broader HR strategies and initiatives.

Program Competitiveness and Market Alignment:

• Continually assess the competitiveness of HR programs, policies, and practices against industry and market standards.
• Provide recommendations to leadership to maintain alignment with best practices and ensure the organization remains competitive in talent attraction and retention.

Employee Relations:

• Address and resolve complex employee relations matters in alignment with organizational policies and employment laws.
• Serve as a resource and coach to managers and employees, providing guidance on team performance, conflict resolution, policy interpretation, and workplace issues. Ensure all employee relations practices reflect and reinforce Kura’s values.

Employee Engagement and Development:

• Champion a culture of collaboration, inclusion, and high performance aligned with Kura’s values.
• Implement initiatives that foster a performance-based, best-in-class culture.
• Work with client groups to develop and implement employee engagement initiatives tailored to client group needs, leveraging feedback to identify areas for improvement.
• Collaborate with leaders to create career development plans and establish clear career paths.
• Partner with Talent Acquisition to ensure the hiring process aligns with Kura’s values, emphasizing culture fit, inclusion, and organizational priorities.

HR Program Administration:

• In partnership with HRBP and HR Operations, roll out and administer HR programs such as performance management, compensation, benefits, and engagement initiatives, ensuring alignment with organizational goals, client group needs, and consistency across the organization.
• Propose and advance technical tools to improve time efficiencies and ensure the accuracy of employee and HR program data.

Workforce Planning, Talent, and Organizational Effectiveness

• Lead short- and long-term workforce planning with business leaders, Talent Acquisition, and HR Leadership translating business and portfolio plans into capability, capacity, headcount, and organizational requirements.
• Lead organization-design discussions involving structure, leadership roles, critical capabilities, spans and layers, decision rights, and cross-functional dependencies. Challenge staffing assumptions and recommend solutions that support long-term scalability.
• Lead talent reviews, 9-box discussions, succession planning, critical-talent identification, and performance and potential calibration, ensuring discussions result in clear development, retention, succession, and performance actions.
• Partner with leaders to identify critical roles, leadership pipelines and talent gaps.
• Design and facilitate leadership-team sessions, functional offsites, new-leader assimilations, team-effectiveness workshops, and organizational working sessions.
• Coach leaders on organization effectiveness, decision-making, accountability, team dynamics, candor, conflict, and leadership capability.

Regulatory Compliance:

• Ensure HR practices within client groups comply with applicable laws, regulations, and company policies, including SOX and FDA requirements.
• Stay current on industry trends and legislative changes to proactively address compliance risks.

 

JOB SPECIFICATIONS:

• BA/BS in Business, Human Resources, or a related field. 
• SPHR Certification and or MA/MS preferred.
• Minimum of 12 years of broad-based Human Resources experience.
• Experience in the pharmaceutical or biotech industry required. 
• Experience supporting a commercial team
• Certification in workstyle or behavioral assessment tools (e.g., DiSC, MBTI, or similar) to support team dynamics, leadership coaching, and development initiatives.
• Strong business acumen and proven ability to diagnose and co-develop solutions with and for the business
• Experience working for a publicly traded company and knowledge of SOX regulations affecting Human Resource programs
• Knowledge of current best practices within the human resource profession in addition to federal, state and local employment- related regulations.
• Knowledge of the trends and methods for attracting and retaining employees specifically in the biotech, pharmaceutical or other related industries.
• Demonstrated ability to lead and influence a business team; approachable and an effective communicator with people across all levels in the organization.
• Ability to recognize and design/implement innovative human resource programs in various identified areas within the function.
• Strong interpersonal and written, verbal and presentation communication skills, with the ability to develop a high degree of personal credibility across client groups.
• Technology saavy with ability to implement technology services. Must have extensive skills, knowledge abilities with computers and software programs including Word, Excel, and HRIS programs. UKG experience is a plus.
• Ability to “roll up your sleeves” and individually contribute results.
• Leads decision-making across multiple programs or areas, setting direction and making strategic trade-offs that impact cross-functional execution and outcomes.
• Drives cross-functional alignment across multiple programs, influencing stakeholders to shape strategy and ensure cohesive execution across functions.

The base range for a Senior Director is $267,000 - $300,000 per year. Individual pay may vary based on additional factors, including, and without limitation, job-related skills, experience, work location, and relevant education or training. Kura's compensation package also includes generous benefits, equity, and participation in an annual target bonus.

Kura’s Values that are used for candidate selection and performance assessments:

• We work as one for patients
• We are goal-focused and deliver with excellence
• We are science-driven courageous innovators
• We strive to bring out the best in each other and ourselves

The Kura Package

• Career advancement/ development opportunities
• Competitive comp package
• Bonus
• 401K + Employer contributions
• Generous stock options
• ESPP Plan
• 20 days of PTO to start
• 18 Holidays  (Including Summer & Winter Break)
• Generous Benefits Package with a variety of plans available with a substantial employer match
• Paid Paternity/Maternity Leave
• In-Office Catered lunches
• Home Office Setup
• Lifestyle Spending Stipend
• Commuter Stipend (Boston Office)
• Regular employee social activities, including happy hours, monthly birthday celebrations, Kura Koffee Talks, and much more!

Kura Oncology is a commercial-stage biopharmaceutical company committed to discovering and developing innovative precision medicines to help patients with cancer lead better, longer lives.

Through our deep understanding of cancer biology and decades of experience in precision oncology, we are studying the underlying causes of treatment resistance. This enables us to design smart combination regimens with other cancer therapies to target tumors from multiple directions, with the goal of improving long-term clinical benefit.

Kura developed and is commercializing KOMZIFTI® (ziftomenib), the FDA-approved once-daily, oral menin inhibitor for the treatment of adults with relapsed or refractory NPM1-mutated acute myeloid leukemia, and continues to pioneer advancements in menin inhibition and farnesyl transferase inhibition. For additional information, please visit Kura’s website at www.kuraoncology.com and follow us on X and LinkedIn.

Kura Oncology is committed to creating a diverse environment and is proud to be an equal opportunity employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, gender, gender identity or expression, sexual orientation, national origin, genetics, disability, age, or veteran status. 

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