Human Resources Business Partner (Information Technology)

HNI Corporation is a global family of brands for the workplace and home dedicated to enhancing the spaces where we live, work, and gather. We pride ourselves on fostering an environment where we make a positive impact on others while upholding our beliefs in integrity, inclusion, and belonging.

We are seeking an experienced Human Resources Business Partner - Information Technology to serve as a strategic talent and organizational advisor to HNI's IT leadership team. Supporting a complex enterprise technology organization, this role partners closely with senior leaders as they evolve organizational structures, workforce capabilities, and talent strategies to support changing business and technology priorities.

The HR Business Partner operates at a highly consultative level, helping leaders anticipate future workforce needs, assess organizational capabilities, develop talent, and build teams capable of supporting an increasingly complex technology environment. Particular emphasis is placed on strategic workforce planning, organizational design, talent acquisition, succession planning, professional development, and change management.

This role requires a mature, confident HR professional capable of developing credibility with senior technology leaders and navigating complex organizational decisions involving specialized technical talent. The successful candidate will understand how to translate business and technology strategy into practical workforce initiatives while coordinating effectively with Talent Acquisition, Compensation, Learning & Development, Immigration, and other HR Centers of Excellence.

IDEAL CANDIDATE PROFILE

Our ideal candidate is an experienced HR Business Partner who is at their best when operating as a strategic advisor rather than a transactional HR resource. They are comfortable sitting across the table from senior IT leaders and discussing how changing technology priorities, organizational structures, talent markets, and business strategies should influence the composition of their teams.

This individual brings the maturity and confidence to ask difficult questions, challenge assumptions constructively, and help leaders turn sometimes ambiguous organizational needs into concrete workforce strategies. They understand how workforce planning, organizational design, recruiting, succession, professional development, compensation, and retention work together rather than approaching each as an isolated HR process.

Experience supporting technical organizations is highly valued, particularly where specialized talent, rapidly evolving skills, organizational transformation, or foreign-national employees create additional workforce complexity. The successful candidate does not need to be an IT subject matter expert, but must possess the curiosity and business acumen to understand the work performed by technical teams and develop credibility with the leaders responsible for them.

WORK ENVIRONMENT

This position follows a hybrid work schedule, with employees expected to work onsite Monday through Thursday and remotely on Fridays. Because the role relies heavily on close partnership with IT leadership and other HR functions, regular onsite collaboration is an important component of the position.

ESSENTIAL DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES

Strategic HR Partnership & Organizational Consulting

• Serve as a trusted HR advisor to CIO-level leadership, Vice Presidents, Directors, and other senior leaders within the Information Technology organization.
• Develop a deep understanding of IT strategy, organizational priorities, technology roadmaps, and evolving business requirements to anticipate workforce implications.
• Advise leaders on organizational structure, leadership capabilities, workforce composition, talent priorities, and long-term organizational effectiveness.
• Provide thoughtful challenge and counsel to leaders when evaluating organizational and talent decisions.
• Help leaders translate strategic objectives into practical organizational and workforce plans.
• Participate in leadership planning discussions involving organizational growth, restructuring, consolidation, transformation, and changing technology capabilities.
• Build credibility across the organization through sound judgment, professional maturity, discretion, and a strong understanding of business and talent considerations.

Strategic Workforce Planning

• Partner with IT leadership to develop short- and long-term workforce plans aligned with enterprise technology strategy.
• Assess current organizational capabilities against future-state technology and business requirements.
• Identify critical roles, emerging skill requirements, capability gaps, succession risks, and areas of workforce concentration.
• Support build-versus-buy-versus-partner decisions regarding internal talent, external hiring, contractors, consultants, and managed services.
• Advise leaders on workforce implications associated with technology modernization, organizational restructuring, automation, acquisitions, and changing operating models.
• Use workforce data and organizational metrics to identify trends and support evidence-based workforce decisions.
• Develop workforce scenarios that help leaders anticipate future staffing and capability requirements.

Organizational Design & Transformation

• Partner with senior leaders as they evaluate and redesign organizational structures to support evolving technology priorities.
• Advise on spans of control, organizational layers, role clarity, reporting relationships, leadership structures, and distribution of responsibilities.
• Support organizational restructuring and integration initiatives involving teams, functions, or acquired businesses.
• Help leadership assess the organizational impact of new technologies, operating models, outsourcing strategies, and changing business requirements.
• Partner with Compensation and HR leadership to support job architecture, leveling, and role design for specialized technology positions.
• Support change management and communication strategies associated with significant organizational changes.

Talent Acquisition & Strategic Hiring

• Partner closely with Talent Acquisition and IT leadership to develop recruiting strategies for critical and difficult-to-fill technology positions.
• Help leaders define candidate profiles based on concrete technical capabilities, leadership competencies, business requirements, and future organizational needs.
• Participate in strategic intake discussions for senior, specialized, and business-critical positions.
• Advise leaders regarding internal versus external talent strategies and succession considerations.
• Support assessment and selection of leadership and other critical talent.
• Partner with Talent Acquisition to understand technology labor markets, talent availability, geographic considerations, and competitive hiring conditions.
• Help leadership prioritize hiring investments based on organizational needs and workforce plans.

Talent Development & Succession Planning

• Lead talent review and succession planning activities across the IT organization.
• Partner with leaders to identify high-potential employees, critical technical experts, emerging leaders, and succession candidates.
• Identify organizational capability gaps and develop strategies for building required skills internally.
• Partner with Learning & Development and IT leadership to establish professional development strategies for technical and leadership populations.
• Support career path development for technical individual contributors, architects, engineers, analysts, project professionals, and technology leaders.
• Advise leaders on development opportunities including stretch assignments, mentoring, rotational experiences, formal education, certifications, and leadership development.
• Help establish strategies for retaining critical technical knowledge and developing successors for difficult-to-replace positions.

Foreign National & Global Talent Support

• Partner with internal immigration resources, Legal, Talent Acquisition, and business leadership regarding workforce planning involving foreign-national employees.
• Help leaders understand workforce considerations associated with employment authorization, sponsorship, international mobility, and immigration timelines.
• Incorporate immigration considerations into succession, staffing, retention, and workforce continuity planning for critical technology roles.
• Coordinate with appropriate subject matter experts regarding immigration-related employment processes and requirements.
• Support managers in navigating workforce planning decisions involving geographically distributed and internationally sourced technology talent.

Workforce Analytics & Decision Support

• Analyze workforce data to identify trends involving staffing, turnover, tenure, skills, succession readiness, recruiting activity, and organizational capability.
• Develop executive-level workforce insights that help IT leaders make informed organizational decisions.
• Partner with HR analytics and specialist teams to develop reporting that supports strategic workforce planning.
• Translate HR and workforce information into concise, actionable recommendations for senior leadership.
• Monitor workforce indicators that may signal emerging talent, capacity, succession, or organizational risks.

HR Partnership & Employee Support

• Serve as a senior HR resource for leaders and employees within assigned IT organizations.
• Provide guidance on HR policies, organizational practices, compensation, career development, employee engagement, and other workforce matters.
• Partner with specialized HR resources on employee relations, performance, leave, accommodation, and compliance matters as needed.
• Coach leaders on effective people leadership, communication, team dynamics, and organizational effectiveness.
• Ensure significant talent and organizational decisions align with company policy, employment requirements, and broader HR practices.

EDUCATION & EXPERIENCE

• Bachelor's degree in Human Resources, Business Administration, Organizational Development, Industrial/Organizational Psychology, or a related discipline required.
• 8-12 years of progressive Human Resources experience, including significant experience operating as an HR Business Partner or strategic HR advisor.
• Demonstrated experience advising senior business leaders on workforce planning, organizational design, talent strategy, and organizational change.
• Experience supporting organizational restructuring, transformation, or rapidly changing business environments.

PREFERRED QUALIFICATIONS

• Master's degree in Human Resources, Organizational Development, Business Administration, or related field preferred.
• Experience partnering with Information Technology, Engineering, Digital, Data, Cybersecurity, or other highly technical professional organizations strongly preferred.
• Experience supporting foreign-national employees and workforces requiring employment-based immigration sponsorship strongly preferred.
• Experience within a large, complex, multi-business, shared-services, or publicly traded organization preferred

OTHER RELEVANT SKILLS

• Professional maturity and executive presence with the confidence to advise and appropriately challenge senior leaders.
• Exceptional stakeholder management and relationship-building capabilities.
• Strong business acumen and ability to understand complex technology organizations without needing to be a technologist.
• Strategic and systems-oriented thinking with the ability to connect business strategy to organizational capabilities.
• Excellent judgment, discretion, and ability to navigate sensitive organizational issues.
• Strong consulting skills with an ability to move from ambiguous business challenges to practical recommendations.
• Ability to influence without direct authority and build alignment among stakeholders with different priorities.
• Excellent written, verbal, and presentation skills.
• Intellectual curiosity and willingness to develop an understanding of emerging technology disciplines and talent markets.
• Ability to operate effectively in a complex, changing environment while balancing immediate workforce needs with long-term organizational objectives.

We look forward to hearing from you!

HNI Corporation (NYSE: HNI) is a manufacturer of workplace furnishings and building products, operating under two segments. The workplace furnishings segment is a leading global designer and provider of commercial furnishings, going to market under multiple unique brands. The residential building products segment is the nation's leading manufacturer and marketer of hearth products.
We offer benefits starting from Day 1. To learn more, visit www.HNIbenefits.com.
Our company endeavors to make www.hnicareers.com accessible to any and all users. If you would like to contact us regarding the accessibility of our website or need assistance completing the application process, please contact us at 563-272-7400 or via email at [emailprotected] Company is an equal opportunity employer and does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, national origin, disability, protected veteran status, or other characteristics protected by law.