Global Head of People and Talent

About ARIVE and the Role

ARIVE is a privately held, founder-led fintech transforming digital mortgage originations with the industry's first Wholesale Originations Marketplace. We empower local loan originators to deliver best-fit, personalized mortgages from a vast network of lenders. Our feature-rich loan origination platform is mission-critical for the tens of thousands of originators who rely on it every day.

We are profitable and growing rapidly - currently ~45 employees in the US and 130 engineers at our India subsidiary - and building the leadership team and organizational design that will carry ARIVE through its next phase of growth and scale.

We are looking for a Global Head of People and Talent - a strategic, hands-on leader and trusted advisor to the CEO who will own ARIVE's people function end-to-end, including organizational design, talent acquisition, employee development, performance, and culture. You will partner closely with functional heads to build a high-performance organization, collaborate openly with employees across every level and geography, and embody the ARIVE core values and culture in everything you do - leading the people function to ensure ARIVE remains agile and nimble, aligns employee expectations, and strengthens engagement through rapid growth.

Core Responsibilities

• Serve as a trusted advisor to the CEO on organizational design, key hiring decisions, talent management and people-related matters that shape the company; bring market intelligence, peer benchmarks, and best-practice recommendations that inform decisions and translate strategy into a multi-year workforce plan across the US and India.
• Implement organizational design across functions in close partnership with each functional leader - team structures, leveling, people development, and succession planning - and own the operating rhythm for planning, performance, and talent review cycles.
• Design and run performance management, calibration, and feedback cycles that raise the bar and help every employee do their best work.
• Operationalize ARIVE's compensation framework - base, bonus, and benefits - tied directly to performance reviews and measurable business and individual outcomes, with regular market research and benchmarking against SaaS peers and comparable companies to inform leadership decisions.
• Manage health, retirement, PTO, and employee wellness programs with the same rigor applied to every other investment.
• Build and maintain HR policies, employee handbooks, job titles and descriptions, mandatory state trainings (anti-harassment, workplace safety, and other state-required programs), and compliance controls across multi-state US operations and intercompany coordination with our India subsidiary.
• Oversee employee records, contracts, and the full employee lifecycle with discretion and sound judgment on sensitive matters - investigations, performance exits, and leadership changes.
• Elevate ARIVE's employer brand across the tech ecosystem and our key talent markets; lead the US recruiting team on new hires and provide oversight and alignment for India hiring with India HR leadership.
• Design new-hire onboarding and employee development programs that accelerate time-to-impact and growth, and anchor every joiner in ARIVE's mission, values, and ways of working; create career pathing, internal mobility, and development frameworks - including manager and leadership capability building - that help employees grow with the company.
• Champion recognition, celebration, and internal communication programs that reinforce ARIVE's values through direct engagement with employees at every level and geography; own engagement measurement and listening programs (pulse, engagement, exit) and the response programs that follow.
• Partner with the CEO and functional leaders to bring AI-forward thinking to workforce strategy - assess how AI is reshaping roles, identify reskilling and upskilling needs, and embed AI tools and practices into how the people function itself operates (recruiting, onboarding, performance, HR ops).

What We're Looking For

• 15 years experience in Human Resources.
• 5 years in senior people leadership roles, with meaningful time in high-growth technology companies.
• Bachelor's degree required; advanced degree or SHRM/HRCI certification a plus.
• Experience scaling people functions across distributed teams and multiple locations or time zones as the senior-most leader or a strong second-in-command ready to step into the top role.
• Proven ability to design high-performance organizations in partnership with strong functional leaders.
• Strong command of compensation strategy in technology companies.
• Ability to operate as both a trusted advisor to a founder-CEO and a hands-on builder who will write the people operations handbook, run calibrations, and stay close to the day-to-day people decisions across the company.
• Exceptional judgment and discretion with sensitive people data and related matters.
• Data-driven decision-making — reaches for the numbers before the narrative, balanced with empathy and sound instinct.
• AI-forward perspective on how technology is reshaping work, roles, and the people function itself - with practical experience deploying AI tools and frameworks within an HR organization.

What We Offer

• Compensation: $200,000 - $250,000 total (base performance bonus), depending on experience. Eligible for performance-based equity compensation.
• Comprehensive medical, dental, and vision insurance, 401(k) plan with employer match.
• Generous PTO policy.

Logistics

• Must be based in the San Francisco Bay Area and able to work from ARIVE's San Ramon HQ 3 days per week.
• Relocation assistance available for eligible candidates.
• Visa sponsorship is not available for this position.

ARIVE is an Equal Opportunity Employer. Qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, disability, protected veteran status, or any other characteristic protected by local, state, or federal laws.