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Associate Director, People Business Partner

Cambridge, MA

Position Summary

The Associate Director, Human Resources Business Partner (HRBP) serves as a trusted advisor to leaders across Research and General & Administrative (G&A) functions, partnering to build high-performing teams and enable organizational effectiveness. This role provides strategic and day-to-day HR business partnership while helping drive and evolve Relay Therapeutics people strategy as the organization continues to grow.

Reporting to the Senior Director, HR Business Partner, this individual will independently support client groups across Research and G&A, provide day-to-day HRBP support to Clinical Development as needed, and lead the execution of key enterprise-wide talent initiatives, including performance management, talent management, employee engagement, and other core people programs. This is an ideal opportunity for someone who enjoys balancing strategic partnership with execution and is excited to help shape how HR scales alongside the business.

Key Responsibilities

HR Business Partnership

  • Serve as the primary HR Business Partner for designated Research and G&A groups, building strong relationships with leaders and employees.
  • Partner with leaders to develop organizational strategies that support business objectives and foster high-performing teams.
  • Coach managers and leaders on performance management, employee relations, leadership effectiveness, team dynamics, and organizational change.
  • Support workforce planning, organizational design, succession planning, and talent development efforts.
  • Partner closely with Talent Acquisition to develop hiring strategies and ensure an exceptional candidate and onboarding experience.
  • Leverage people data and insights to identify trends, recommend actions, and improve organizational effectiveness.

Clinical Development Support

  • Partner with the Senior Director, HRBP to provide day-to-day HR support for the Clinical Development organization.
  • Collaborate on organizational initiatives, leadership coaching, talent discussions, and employee matters within the Clinical Development function.

People Program Strategy & Organizational Effectiveness

  • Partner with HR leadership to continuously evolve Relay's people strategy and programs to support the company's growth and changing business needs
  • Lead the execution and continuous improvement of Relay's core people programs, including:
    • Performance Management
    • Talent Reviews & Succession Planning
    • Quarterly Pulse Surveys and Action Planning
    • Employee Development initiatives
  • Identify opportunities to modernize and innovate HR processes, ensuring people programs remain scalable, effective, and aligned with Relay’s culture.
  • Partner cross-functionally with HR Operations to deliver a seamless employee experience.

Change Management, Employee Experience & Culture

  • Support organizational change initiatives through thoughtful planning, communication, and leader coaching.
  • Champion Relay's values and culture by fostering an inclusive, engaging, and high-performing work environment.
  • Help identify and implement new ideas that strengthen employee experience as the company continues to scale.

Qualifications

  • Bachelor's degree required; advanced degree or HR certification preferred.
  • 8+ years of progressive Human Resources experience, including significant HR Business Partner experience supporting scientific or clinical-stage organizations.
  • Experience partnering with leaders in biotech, pharmaceutical, healthcare, or other highly regulated environments preferred.
  • Demonstrated success coaching leaders and influencing across all organizational levels.    
  • Strong knowledge of talent management, organizational design, employee development, performance management, and change management.
  • Experience leading enterprise-wide HR programs and driving process improvements.
  • Ability to balance strategic thinking with hands-on execution in a fast-paced, evolving environment.
  • Excellent communication, relationship-building, and project management skills.
  • Strong analytical mindset with the ability to leverage data to inform recommendations.

What Success Looks Like

  • Trusted advisor to leaders across Research, G&A, and Clinical Development.
  • Delivers scalable, high-impact people programs that enhance organizational effectiveness.
  • Coaches leaders to build engaged, high-performing teams.
  • Drives thoughtful organizational planning and talent strategies that support business growth.
  • Brings forward innovative ideas that continuously improve the employee experience and help the HR function evolve alongside the organization

Estimated Salary Range: [$139,000 - $199,000].

The range provided above is based on what we believe to be a reasonable estimate for this job at the time of posting. Actual base salary will depend on a number of factors, including but not limited to, a candidate’s education, experience, skills and location.

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About Relay Therapeutics

Relay Therapeutics is a clinical-stage precision medicines company transforming the drug discovery process with the goal of bringing life-changing therapies to patients. Built on unparalleled insights into protein motion and how this dynamic behavior relates to protein function, we aim to effectively drug protein targets that have previously been intractable, with an initial focus on enhancing small molecule therapeutic discovery in targeted oncology. Our Dynamo platform integrates an array of leading-edge experimental and computational approaches to provide a differentiated understanding of protein structure and motion to drug these targets. We have built a world-class team of leading experts from each of these disciplines, and they are driven by a deep collaboration at every step of our drug discovery process.  

Our team is equal parts fearless and relentless, with a shared passion for working collaboratively in intellectually stimulating environments. If you’re excited by the challenge of putting protein motion at the heart of drug discovery and passionate about making a difference in the lives of patients, join us! 

 

 

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