Senior Director, People and Culture

Adaptive Biotechnologies

Posted on: April 17, 2026

Closing: May 17, 2026

Salary: Undisclosed

Job Description

At Adaptive, we're Powering the Age of Immune Medicine. Our goal is to harness the power of the adaptive immune system to transform the way diseases are diagnosed and treated.

As an Adapter, you'll have the opportunity to make a difference in people's lives. With Adaptive, you'll create a career highlight through collaboration with bright, curious colleagues working at the apex of innovation and application.

It's time for your next chapter. Discover your story with Adaptive.

Position Overview

The Senior Director, People provides hands-on leadership of people-related strategies and execution across two critical HR verticals. As head of the HR People Partners (HRPP's), you and your team will deliver strategic HR solutions to all client groups across Adaptive, including (but not limited to) performance management and compensation planning, coaching managers and executives, organizational design and talent planning, employee relations, and succession planning. You will also oversee the People Operations (POPS) team's efforts in HR ops, benefits administration, HR systems and people analytics. As a bridge between both teams, you will ensure that business needs and HR practice are aligned, resulting in positive performance and an Adapter (Employee) Experience consistent with our core values.

This role is an integral member of the People & Culture Leadership Team (PCLT). Through inclusive partnership and thoughtful influence, you are able to rally peer resources across the HR function in support of the business units we serve. This leader must cultivate an inclusive culture where there is diversity of thought to drive innovative ideas.

You report directly to the Chief People Officer and play a pivotal role for the organization as we undertake exciting growth and pursue our mission to improve patient outcomes through our proprietary immune medicine science and technology platform.

Note on people manager roles: Leaders at Adaptive demonstrate behaviors consistent with Adaptive's Core Values and Leadership Principles. Critical functions of your role include helping establish individual team member goals, aligning those individual goals with broader team objectives, and ensuring those objectives drive the achievement of company goals. Providing thoughtful coaching and consistent feedback to your team members will drive performance excellence and accountability, as well as support your team members' growth and development. Leaders at Adaptive create an environment of belonging, respect, and open and honest communication every day.

Key Responsibilities and Essential Functions
  • Lead the People Partner and People Operations teams at Adaptive, providing organizational oversight, strategic counsel, and hands-on support to leaders and employees.
  • Actively lead and share insights from the business, emerging trends in the field of HR, and elevate the capabilities and cohesiveness of the team to maximize their value to Adaptive.
  • Provide expert guidance and thought partnership in people and organizational issues, provide management coaching to build leadership capability and proactively address employee issues, work with managers and employees to address complex issues from end-to-end.
  • Partner with HR COE's to design, develop, and implement programs aligned with business strategies, our culture, and core values that attract, develop, engage and retain top talent.
  • Oversee, optimize, and integrate workflows, core processes and systems to meet the overall PaCT strategy and provide a positive employee experience
  • Manage the teams responsible for end-to-end operational delivery of the employee experience including answering employee inquiries, processing of employee transactions, administration of HR programs (benefits, onboarding, offboarding, leave administration, ADA compliance, Worker's Compensation, and COBRA programs), COE support, reporting and analytics.
  • Own data integrity in our people systems, ensure methods are in place to update and clean data on a regular basis and help educate stakeholders and users on effective use
  • Oversee and leverage People Analytics to provide reporting, analytics, and metrics that provide strategic insights and support decision making initiatives.
  • Bridge leader and employee needs with the HR systems strategy to improve and scale current workflows and processes to meet future needs. Ensure systems and processes are efficient, simple, streamlined, and integrated.
  • All other duties as assigned

Position Requirements
  • Bachelors + 17 years of related experience, or Masters + 14 years of related experience, or PhD + 10 years of related experience
  • Progressive HR experience and at least 2 years in a management and team leadership role, including strategic HR business partnering experience required.
  • Experience conceptualizing, initiating, designing and leading organization-wide initiatives in a fast-paced environment
  • Deep HRBP, Organizational Transformation, talent development, and change management experience including the ability to consult, coach, and influence senior executives, lead complex business initiatives, align cross-functional teams, and partner collaboratively at all levels
  • Knowledgeable HR Operations and HR Systems expert with a balance of strategic capability, problem solving, and a willingness to effectively execute individually and through others.
  • Excellent organizational and project management skills, along with the ability to manage multiple and competing demands are critical for success.
  • Strategically oriented with a hands-on approach and a focus on innovation, efficiency, simplicity, and ease of use for managers, employees, and candidates.
  • Highly collaborative, and builds strong, trusting relationships in order to align various stakeholders and to influence decision-makers to think strategically and critically and to drive positive transformational change throughout the organization
  • A change agent with a growth mindset, comfortable with ambiguity and proven ability to translate changing business objectives to effective People strategies
  • Possesses a high degree of emotional intelligence, empathy, intellectual energy, outstanding interpersonal, conflict-resolution, coaching and listening skills
  • Prior experience working in Technology or Life sciences industries is preferred
  • Prior experience working in and/or supporting international businesses is preferred

Compensation

Salary Range: $231,800 - $347,800

Possible "other compensation" elements to include:
  • equity grant
  • bonus eligible

ALERT: Malicious groups posing as Adaptive employees have recently used fraudulent email aliases to extend employment offers, provide fake documents, and request sensitive personal and financial information. Legitimate Adaptive employment opportunities are initiated through our careers page and extended after multiple interviews with verified employees. Adaptive does not ask new hires to purchase anything out-of-pocket, including home office supplies and equipment.

Interested in this position, but don't meet all the requirements? Adaptive is committed to building diverse, equitable, and inclusive teams across our organization. Please consider applying even if your experience doesn't match all the qualifications; you may be the exact candidate we're searching for!

Adaptive is not currently sponsoring candidates requiring work authorization support for this position.

Adaptive's posted compensation information includes a base salary (or hourly rate) range and summary of other available total compensation. The base salary range represents a minimum-to-maximum salary (or hourly rate) available to candidates upon extension of offer. Base salary is thoughtfully considered upon offer and is determined through multiple evaluation checks throughout the interview process, including: a candidate's ability to meet minimum qualifications (skills/experience/education), a candidate's ability to thoughtfully address preferred qualifications, current market conditions, and internal pay equity. Listed base salary is exclusive of bonus, commission, equity, differential pay, benefits, and other incentives.

Adaptive's benefits at-a-glance.

Adaptive Biotechnologies is an Affirmative Action and Equal Opportunity Employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, or protected veteran status and will not be discriminated against based on disability. Please refer the "Know Your Rights: Workplace Discrimination is Illegal" Poster for more information. If you'd like to view a copy of the company's affirmative action plan or policy statement, please email [email protected].

If you have a disability and you believe you need a reasonable accommodation to search for a job opening or to submit an online application, please e-mail [email protected]. This email is created exclusively to assist disabled job seekers whose disability prevents them from being able to apply online. Only messages left for this purpose will be returned. Messages left for other purposes, such as following up on an application or technical issues not related to a disability, will not receive a response.

NOTE TO EMPLOYMENT AGENCIES: Adaptive Biotechnologies values our relationships with our Recruitment Partners and will only accept resumes from those partners who have active agreements with Adaptive. Adaptive Biotechnologies is not responsible for any fees related to resumes that are unsolicited or are received by any employee of Adaptive Biotechnologies who is not a member of the Human Resources team.

Adaptive Biotechnologies

Posted on: April 17, 2026

Closing: May 17, 2026

Salary: Undisclosed

This role is part of a curated selection of life science opportunities featured on Xtalks. Employers may request edits or removal here.