Director - People Operations

Who are we?

Cohere is focused on building and deploying large language model (LLM) AI into enterprises in a safe and responsible way that drives human productivity, and creates magical new ways to interact with technology and real business value. We’re a team of highly motivated and experienced engineers, innovators, and disruptors looking to change the face of technology.

Our goals are ambitious, but also concrete and practical. Cohere wants to fundamentally change how businesses operate, making everyone more productive and able to focus on doing better what they do best. Every day, our team breaks new ground, as we build transformational AI technology and products for enterprise and developers to harness the power of LLMs.

Cohere was founded by three global leaders in AI development, including our CEO, Aidan Gomez, who co-created the Transformer, which makes LLMs possible. Collectively, we're driven by the belief that our technology has the potential to revolutionize the way enterprises, their employees, and customers engage with technology through language.

Cohere’s broader research team is world-renowned, having contributed to the development of sentence transformers for semantic search, dynamic adversarial data collection and red teaming, and retrieval augmented generation, often referred to as “RAG,” among other technological breakthroughs.

We have been deliberate in assembling a team of operational leaders with industry-leading experience, with backgrounds working at the most sophisticated, demanding, and respected enterprises in the world. Cohere’s operational leaders have built, scaled, and led multi-billion product lines and businesses at Google, Apple, Rakuten, YouTube, AWS, and Cisco.

The Cohere team is a collective from all walks of life, from people who left college to start businesses, to some of the most experienced people from globally renowned companies. We believe a diverse team is the key to a safer, more responsible technology, and that different experiences and backgrounds enable us to tackle problems from all angles and avoid blindspots.

There’s no better time to play a role in defining the future of AI, and its impact on the world.

Why this role?

Generative AI represents a turning point for businesses in every industry.  Cohere is at the center of enterprise transformation and is laser focused on serving the enterprise sector, and its developers and partners.  The People Operations organization is pivotal to the growth and success of Cohere. As the Director, People Operations, reporting to our VP of People Operations, you will be managing a growing team of People Ops Partners (POPs), and leading them in shaping our organizational culture, fostering employee engagement, and driving talent development initiatives. You will collaborate closely with leadership as you build and implement strategic HR programs that align with Cohere’s mission, vision, and values. This role calls for a seasoned HR professional with a passion for building high-performance teams in a dynamic and evolving startup environment.

As our HR Director, you will:

• Coach, mentor and advise a team of People Ops Partners, as they support their lines of business on all things people.
• Through your team, develop and execute HR strategies aligned with Cohere’s business objectives.
• Provide strategic guidance to leadership on organizational design, workforce planning, and talent development.
• Implement initiatives to enhance employee morale, satisfaction, and retentionFoster a positive and inclusive workplace culture that aligns with Cohere’s values.
• Oversee performance management processes, providing guidance to managers on goal setting, performance evaluations, and professional development.
• Collaborate with teams to identify training needs and design programs to enhance employee skills.
• Implement career development plans to support employee growth and retention.
• Drive continuous improvement in HR processes to enhance efficiency and effectiveness.

You may be a good fit for this career opportunity if you have:

• Bachelor’s degree in Human Resources, Business Administration, or a related field.
• 5+ years of management experience.
• Proven experience as an HR leader in a startup or high-growth environment.
• Strong knowledge of HR best practices, employment laws, and industry trends.
• Exceptional communication and interpersonal skills.
• Ability to navigate ambiguity and thrive in a fast-paced, dynamic environment.

If some of the above doesn’t line up perfectly with your experience, we still encourage you to apply! If you consider yourself a thoughtful worker, a lifelong learner, and a kind and playful team member, Cohere is the place for you.

We value and celebrate diversity and strive to create an inclusive work environment for all. We welcome applicants of all kinds and are committed to providing an equal opportunity process. Cohere provides accessibility accommodations during the recruitment process. Should you require any accommodation, please let us know and we will work with you to meet your needs.

Our Perks:

🤝 An open and inclusive culture and work environment 

🧑‍💻 Work closely with a team on the cutting edge of AI research 

🍽 Weekly lunch stipend, in-office lunches & snacks

🦷 Full health and dental benefits, including a separate budget to take care of your mental health 

🐣 100% Parental Leave top-up for 6 months for employees based in Canada, the US, and the UK

🎨 Personal enrichment benefits towards arts and culture, fitness and well-being, quality time, and workspace improvement

🏙 Remote-flexible, offices in Toronto, Palo Alto, San-Francisco and London and co-working stipend

✈️ 6 weeks of vacation

Note: This post is co-authored by both Cohere humans and Cohere technology.