The Head of People serves as the senior People leader for a large, complex client account supporting a distributed manufacturing, engineering and technical-services workforce. The role translates client and business priorities into a practical, compliant and scalable People strategy that strengthens operational readiness, leadership capability, employee experience and sustainable account growth.
This leader has end-to-end accountability for the account People operating model, directly leading People Operations, Learning & Development, People Analytics/Change Management and People Business Partner functions, with close partnership and matrix alignment with Talent Acquisition and Communications.
The Head of People serves as a strategic advisor to account executives and client-facing operational leaders and requires regular travel to sites, leadership meetings and critical business engagements.
This position is remote.
What You'll Do
- Lead the end-to-end People strategy. Set and execute the account People roadmap across the employee lifecycle, aligning workforce, talent, organization, culture and enabling priorities to client commitments and business objectives.
- Lead a multi-disciplinary People organization. Provide direction, coaching, succession planning and capacity management across People Operations, Learning & Development, People Analytics/Change Management and People Business Partner teams. Establish operating rhythms, decision rights, service standards and accountability.
- Partner across Talent Acquisition and Communications. Work in close matrix partnership with TA and Communications leaders to align workforce plans, recruiting strategy, employer messaging, organizational change and employee communications with account needs.
- Serve as executive People advisor. Advise account executives and operational leaders on organization health, talent, workforce risk, leadership effectiveness, labor and employee relations, compensation, change, growth and business decisions. Translate complex operating issues into actionable People strategies.
- Own organization readiness and strategic workforce planning. Assess current and future capabilities, organizational design, staffing, leadership pipelines and capacity requirements; develop recommendations for growth, restructuring, business transitions and evolving client requirements.
- Drive talent and leadership strategy. Lead succession planning, talent calibration, leadership development and readiness. Ensure learning investments address business-critical capabilities and can scale across a geographically dispersed workforce.
- Use People analytics to drive business decisions. Establish and use meaningful workforce metrics and dashboards across attrition, retention, staffing, employee relations, leave, talent, learning and site health. Translate data into trends, risk signals, executive narratives and interventions.
- Lead People operations and continuous improvement. Sponsor simplification, automation and standardization across onboarding, employee support, timekeeping, travel and related account People processes. Establish governance, ownership and measures that reduce friction and improve scalability.
- Manage complex employee, labor and organizational risk. Establish expectations and escalation paths for employee relations, investigations, performance management, leave, labor relations and co-employment risk. Partner with Legal, Benefits, Employee Relations and other centers of expertise to balance business requirements, policy and regulatory obligations.
- Convert client requests into viable solutions. Evaluate business and client requests for feasibility, compliance, scalability, employee impact and cost, then mobilize the appropriate cross-functional resources to develop sustainable solutions.
- Provide client-facing governance and executive reporting. Shape People contributions to weekly, monthly and quarterly business reviews, leadership updates and ad hoc analyses, surfacing significant risks, decisions, dependencies and recommended actions.
- Lead change and transformation. Sponsor organizational, technology, process and workforce transformation; assess readiness and stakeholder impacts; establish governance; and ensure leaders are equipped to implement and sustain change.
- Build business cases and strengthen financial discipline. Partner with Finance and account leadership on People budgets, workforce economics, cost-of-employment risks, investment decisions and scenario planning. Develop evidence-based cases for headcount, technology, learning and program investments.
- Develop the People organization. Build an inclusive, accountable and high-performing team; develop People leaders; create succession and development pathways; and continuously assess organization capacity against account growth and changing service requirements.
- Travel approximately 35%. Maintain meaningful connection to the operating environment through site visits, leadership meetings, client engagements and team sessions.
To perform this job successfully, an individual will need to perform each crucial duty satisfactorily. The requirements listed below are representative of the knowledge, skill, and/or ability required. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform essential functions.
- Bachelor's degree preferred with 10+ years of progressive People/HR experience, including significant leadership responsibility within a complex, multi-site operating environment. Equivalent education and experience will be considered.
- Demonstrated experience leading multiple People disciplines through managers or senior individual contributors, ideally including People Business Partnering, People Operations, Learning & Development, analytics/change or adjacent functions.
- Experience supporting manufacturing, engineering, technical services, facilities, logistics or another operationally intensive workforce with geographically distributed locations and frontline employees strongly preferred.
- Executive-level consulting and influencing capability, including the ability to turn ambiguous business and client issues into clear People strategies, decisions and operating plans.
- Strong knowledge of employee relations, performance management, workforce planning, succession, organizational design, change management and talent development.
- Strong analytical and financial acumen, including experience using workforce data, dashboards, trends, scenario planning and business cases to guide decisions.
- Demonstrated ability to lead transformation and continuous improvement across processes, technology and operating models.
- Ability to communicate sensitive and complex information effectively with executives, clients, managers and employees and to influence stakeholders with competing priorities.
- Advanced proficiency with Microsoft 365 and comfort using data visualization, collaboration and AI-enabled tools to improve decision quality and productivity.
- Ability and willingness to travel approximately 35%.
When you join CBRE, you become part of the global leader in commercial real estate services and investment that helps businesses and people thrive. We are dynamic problem solvers and forward-thinking professionals who create significant impact. Our collaborative culture is built on our shared values — respect, integrity, service and excellence — and we value the diverse perspectives, backgrounds and skillsets of our people. At CBRE, you have the opportunity to chart your own course and realize your potential. We welcome all applicants.
Our Values in Hiring
At CBRE, we are committed to fostering a culture where everyone feels they belong. We value diverse perspectives and experiences, and we welcome all applications.
Disclaimers
Applicants must be currently authorized to work in the United States without the need for visa sponsorship now or in the future.
Applicant AI Use Disclosure
We value human interaction to understand each candidate's unique experience, skills and aspirations. We do not use artificial intelligence (AI) tools to make hiring decisions, and we ask that candidates disclose any use of AI in the application and interview process.
About CBRE Group, Inc.
CBRE Group, Inc. (NYSE:CBRE), a Fortune 500 and S&P 500 company headquartered in Dallas, is the world’s largest commercial real estate services and investment firm (based on 2024 revenue). The company has more than 140,000 employees (including Turner & Townsend employees) serving clients in more than 100 countries. CBRE serves clients through four business segments: Advisory (leasing, sales, debt origination, mortgage serving, valuations); Building Operations & Experience (facilities management, property management, flex space & experience); Project Management (program management, project management, cost consulting); Real Estate Investments (investment management, development). Please visit our website at www.cbre.com.
Equal Employment Opportunity: CBRE is an equal opportunity employer that values diversity. We have a long-standing commitment to providing equal employment opportunity to all qualified applicants regardless of race, color, religion, national origin, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, pregnancy, age, citizenship, marital status, disability, veteran status, political belief, or any other basis protected by applicable law.
Candidate Accommodations: CBRE values the differences of all current and prospective employees and recognizes how every employee contributes to our company’s success. CBRE provides reasonable accommodations in job application procedures for individuals with disabilities. If you require assistance due to a disability in the application or recruitment process, please submit a request via email at recruitingaccommodations@cbre.com or via telephone at +1 866 225 3099 (U.S.) and +1 866 388 4346 (Canada).