Human Resource Business Partner; HRBP

Overview

Thanks for your interest in Oklo! We are searching for an HR Business Partner to join our team.

Position Description

The HR Business Partner (HRBP) reports directly to the Director of People and serves as an extension of People leadership across the organization. This role partners closely with business teams to drive organizational effectiveness, risk mitigation, manager capability, and employee experience, while operating in tight alignment with the Director of People on priorities, decision-making, and people strategy. This role is ideal for a builder who thrives in complexity, is comfortable navigating regulated environments, and can balance long-term people strategy with hands-on execution.

This is a hybrid position located in Santa Clara, CA with some travel required.

• Act as the primary People partner to assigned business units, advising leaders on organizational design, workforce planning, and team effectiveness during periods of rapid growth and site expansion.
• Support manager coaching on performance management, feedback, escalation, and decision-making in high-accountability, safety-critical environments.
• Support performance cycles, calibration discussions, promotions, and talent reviews for supported teams, ensuring consistency and fairness across the organization.
• Assist with complex employee relations matters, including investigations, performance escalations, and sensitive exits, in close partnership with Legal and leadership.
• Embed safety-first and security-minded expectations into people processes, manager accountability, and employee experience.
• Partner with Legal, IT, and Facilities to identify and mitigate people-related operational, compliance, and security risks.
• Support leaders through organizational change, including reorgs, new site launches, role expansion, and evolving operating models.
• Translate company milestones and operational needs into actionable people strategies that support execution and alignment.
• Partner closely with the HR Manager to ensure seamless execution of HR processes, systems readiness, and policy application.
• Provide strategic input into policy development, workforce planning, and People team priorities based on trends observed in the business.
• Serve as a consistent, trusted escalation point for managers navigating ambiguity, conflict, or high-stakes people decisions.
• Use people data, feedback, and qualitative insights to surface risks, recommend interventions, and inform leadership decisions.

• 3+ years as an HR Business Partner or equivalent
• Experience supporting leaders in fast-growing, complex, and regulated environments
• Strong employee relations background with sound judgment and discretion
• Demonstrated ability to coach and influence leaders at all levels
• Comfort partnering cross-functionally with Legal, IT, Facilities, and Operations
• Ability to balance strategic thinking with hands-on execution
• Experience supporting engineering, R&D, manufacturing, or lab-based teams
• Familiarity with multi-site and multi-state workforce management in both remote and in-person environments
• Experience with Workday highly preferred

• Has demonstrated ability to navigate sensitive employee relations, safety issues, and compliance considerations with discretion, fairness, and sound judgment
• Understands Oklo’s technical, operational, and regulatory context and translates business goals into people strategies
• Skilled at developing manager capability through direct coaching, feedback, and guidance
• Understands how people practices intersect with legal, security, safety, and compliance requirements in regulated environments
• Comfortable leading through growth, change, and uncertainty while maintaining clarity, trust, and alignment across teams
• Partners effectively with Legal, IT, Facilities, Finance, and Operations to solve problems and mitigate risk
• Reinforces a safety-first, mission-driven culture through everyday people decisions and Oklo values
• Uses qualitative and quantitative data to diagnose issues, identify trends, and recommend actions
• Collaborates with HR Operations on systems (e.g., Workday), documentation, and scalable workflows
• Balances urgency and execution speed with thoughtful decision-making and long-term impact

A startup person: you are not driven by titles or hierarchy, and prefer efficiency to excess process. You thrive in a fast-paced team and value meaningful work.

Motivated: you are self-motivated and engaged with the team’s goals, balancing work with life balance.

A team-player: you value collaboration and shared success.

An excellent communicator: you are a clear and upbeat communicator.

Creative: you solve open-ended problems with curiosity and creativity, even in ambiguity.

Detail-oriented: you value accuracy and quality in communication and work product.

Oklo requires remote employees to travel to headquarters (Santa Clara, CA) twice a quarter annually, based on business or team needs, including…