Senior People Business Partner

About Us

SUSE is a global leader of enterprise open source software. By transforming community innovations into secure, sovereign and AI-ready solutions, SUSE empowers customers to escape vendor lock-in and regain control of their IT destiny. Through industry-leading Linux, Kubernetes, Edge and AI infrastructure solutions, SUSE delivers the flexibility to innovate everywhere—from the data center to multi-cloud and out to the edge. Only SUSE also manages many Linux and Kubernetes distributions. At SUSE, Choice Happens because we prioritize community, interoperability and relentless innovation. Discover how we power mission-critical resilience at www.suse.com. 

Job Description

(Any US location considered)

About Us

SUSE is a global leader of  enterprise open source software. By transforming community innovations into secure, sovereign and AI-ready solutions, SUSE empowers customers to escape vendor lock-in and regain control of their IT destiny. Through industry-leading Linux, Kubernetes, Edge and AI infrastructure solutions, SUSE delivers the flexibility to innovate everywhere—from the data center to multi-cloud and out to the edge. Only SUSE also manages many Linux and Kubernetes distributions. At SUSE, Choice Happens because we prioritize community, interoperability and relentless innovation. Discover how we power mission-critical resilience at www.suse.com.  

Job Description

Role Overview

The world of work is changing and so is the profession of HR. No-one knows what the future will look like. This is an opportunity to shape it. 

This role will play a key part in shaping the future of work at SUSE - both in the functions you partner with and in the People Business Partner role itself.

This is not a traditional or transactional HR role, absorbed in repetitive admin and processes. We are looking for a Strategic Consultant and Creative Change Catalyst.

Our team is evolving along our ambitious multi-year capability roadmap. You will find us operating from an established foundation as trusted, credible counsels and in a phase of accelerating our impact. We are looking for someone who is excited to help us continue to elevate our impact, maximising technology and human value creation whilst navigating today’s reality - we have work to do on our processes, systems and ways of working. ‘Good’ is being industry-leading and AI-first. We think that’s exciting.

In this role, you will partner with senior leaders, use strategic courage, AI fluency, and deep business acumen to navigate external volatility and translate potential into measurable business impact. Our purpose is to ensure SUSE delivers double-digit growth and our people thrive. 

We role model learning and skill growth by prioritising it for ourselves. You will be part of a team committed to and passionate about your learning, with significant opportunities for you to build and develop future-focused skills and experiences in AI, future-of-work design, and high-level strategic consulting with the flexibility to pursue learning that matters to you. 

We are redesigning the future. Join us to build something we never imagined possible.

• Architect and deliver the 3-Year Strategy: Partner with senior business leaders to deliver performance through alignment of their business strategy with the FY27–FY30 People Strategy, with a focus on long-term value creation.

• Drive Business Impact & ROI: Focus on measurable people and business outcomes, evaluating people initiatives through metrics, and return on investment (ROI).

• Navigate Volatility: Act as a trusted partner helping leaders navigate the volatility of external forces with confidence and strategic courage.

• Industry-leading organisation building: Partner with the business to operate as an industry-leading organisation, leading and delivering customer and people focused change and transformation. 

• An AI-First Team Builder: Serve as a catalyst for AI adoption and growth of AI fluency within our teams, partner with the business to lead the human and cultural side of AI transformation, balancing rapid AI adoption with ethical stewardship and psychological safety. 

• Unlock Capability: Build AI confidence within leadership teams, unlocking digital capabilities across SUSE to turn potential industry threats into distinct business opportunities.

• Task-First Work design: In order to understand what transformation means to our people, we must first understand the work itself. Partner with leaders and teams to challenge existing workflows, evaluate how work happens today and how it can be done tomorrow, identify tasks that should be automated through technology and the high-value work that must remain deeply human. Support the re-design of work in order to maximise efficiency and customer-value whilst enabling our people to engage in meaningful, high-impact, purpose-driven work.

• Preserve and Nurture Culture: As we automate transactional tasks, champion the how. Intentionally invest in human connection, wellbeing, collaboration, and psychological safety as key drivers of corporate value.

• Performance Coaching: Coach and elevate business leaders into high-impact performance coaches. 

• High Performance team building and Facilitation: Identify opportunities to create and deliver team and leadership development interventions at meetings, offsites etc

• Skills-Based Architecture: Lead the ongoing transformation toward a skills-based organization, defining what skills are needed to deliver our strategy and company goals. 

• Engagement: Identify opportunities and solutions to continuously improve employee experience and engagement 

• Collaborating with our broader people team: (including Employee Relations, Talent Acquisition, Total Rewards, Learning and Development, HR Ops, Engagement & Wellbeing), evolving how we work together, and what we deliver, whilst supporting each other to feel meaning, purpose and joy in our work.

• Building community, relationships and connections across the business: to continuously improve how we collaborate and deliver results.

Skills & Experience 

• Stakeholder Influence and partnership: Building influence and trust with senior leaders and team members across the world, when you don't share an office. Navigating time zones, communication methods and matrixed organisations to get things done.

• Strategic Courage: The bravery to challenge the status quo, speak truth, have difficult conversations and notice what will help us go faster and be better.  

• Talent Strategy: Defining and mapping the skills needed, available and emerging. Translating business strategy into talent strategy. Leveraging and embedding talent programmes and initiatives for maximum impact to build skills, opportunities and internal mobility in support of our goal to be a world-class talent builder. 

• Change Leadership: A proactive, positive, leader of change. Observing opportunities, asking 'what if' and helping others see the 'why'. Making things happen and bringing people along with you in large-scale transformation. Going beyond delivery of a change plan, to landing a change for business impact.

• Work and Organizational Design: Alongside the more traditional organisation design, work design is an emerging skill within the People profession; we would love to learn this skill together.

• Data Analysis and Storytelling: Our core data is good; you will need to be able to translate that data into a simple, compelling message that influences leaders to act. Our reporting and ambition for predictive analytics is a work in progress; you will need to be able to navigate the reality of today whilst we work to build our analytics of the future.

• Strategic Consulting and Coaching: Scale and build leadership capability and performance through coaching, knowing when to be a consultant and when to be a coach, going beyond ‘responsive order-taking’ to understanding business problems and proposing solutions. 

• Facilitation: Creating opportunities within the teams you partner, to facilitate learning moments and sessions eg. offsite team meetings, all hands calls etc

• Emotional Intelligence: The 'human' in Human Resources. Role modelling Emotional Intelligence and empathy to build trust and psychological safety. Understanding your own emotions and those of others. The ability to listen actively, accurately understand another's perspective, and adapt to their needs.  Supporting leaders and team members develop these skills

• Systems thinking:The ability to see the whole organisation as an interconnected, living system, not just a set of separate departments/processes. Solving root causes, not just symptoms 

• Tech-Forward & Curious: An active curiosity regarding the future of work, fluent in AI tools, with understanding of how technology expands what is possible, and a proficient user of enterprise tools like Workday.

• Proven HR Leadership: Progressive HR business partnering experience, preferably within fast-paced, matrixed global technology environments.

Competencies: 

Modelling the core competencies which are foundational across our business: 

• Adaptable Resilience

• Analytical Reasoning and Decision Making

• Execution

• Influencing with Empathy

• Leading and Developing People

• Learnability

• Self-Awareness

• Strategic Thinking with Business Acumen

What We Offer 

We empower you to be bold, driving your career to create the future you want. We celebrate and reward your achievements.  

SUSE is a dynamic environment that is evolving rapidly, thus requiring agility, strong entrepreneurship and an open mind. 

This is a compelling opportunity for the right person to join us as we continue to scale and prosper.   

If you’re a big thinker, obsessed by execution and thrive in a dynamic environment in which you can tangibly create a lasting legacy, then please apply now!  

We give you the freedom to be yourself. You will work in a global community of unique individuals – like you – with different backgrounds, talents, skills and perspectives. A truly open community where everyone is welcome, has a voice and is encouraged to reach their full potential regardless of age, gender, race, nationality, disability, sexual orientation, religion, or any other characteristics.   

Sounds like the right fit for you? Click Apply to submit your resume. A recruiter will contact you if your skills match our current or any future positions. In the meantime, stay updated on the latest SUSE news and job vacancies by joining our Talent Community.

SUSE Values 

SUSE's culture is centered on four key values - Choice, Community, Trust, and Innovation - which are deeply integrated with our open source ethos. SUSE fosters a diverse and inclusive environment where our people are encouraged to be themselves.

Choice: 

We are continuously making choice happen 

We are accountable for our choices 

We never get complacent

Community: 

Nobody is smarter than everybody 

We embrace diversity of thought 

We are “open source first, upstream first” where collaboration benefits all

Trust: 

We are trusted to deliver with integrity 

We offer trust by default, and do not wait for it to be earned

We foster an environment where everyone trusts each other 

Innovation: 

We foster a culture of experimentation, and embrace change by challenging the norm

We are committed to continuous improvement, creativity and adaptability 

Ideas are great, but without execution they are just ideas

This position is subject to a background check(s), including criminal, credit, and/or employment references. The candidate is required to complete the background check(s) once an offer has been accepted. This will be conducted by SUSE’s external provider, where legally permitted.

For US Only - US Pay Transparency Disclaimer

If this role is filled in the United States of America, the starting base salary will be within the applicable pay range displayed below. In addition to base salary, this position may be eligible for a commission plan and a competitive benefits package. US benefits include comprehensive medical coverage, life and disability insurance, a 401(k) plan, an Employee Assistance Program, and generous paid time off and leave policies.

Final compensation will be determined based on factors such as experience, skills, geographic location, internal equity, and budget. This pay transparency information applies to US-based roles only.

Base Pay Range Min & Max

Job

What We Offer 

We empower you to be bold, driving your career to create the future you want. We celebrate and reward your achievements.  

SUSE is a dynamic environment that is evolving rapidly, thus requiring agility, strong entrepreneurship and an open mind. 

This is a compelling opportunity for the right person to join us as we continue to scale and prosper.   

If you’re a big thinker, obsessed by execution and thrive in a dynamic environment in which you can tangibly create a lasting legacy, then please apply now!  

We give you the freedom to be yourself. You will work in a global community of unique individuals – like you – with different backgrounds, talents, skills and perspectives. A truly open community where everyone is welcome, has a voice and is encouraged to reach their full potential regardless of age, gender, race, nationality, disability, sexual orientation, religion, or any other characteristics.   

Sounds like the right fit for you? Click Apply to submit your resume. A recruiter will contact you if your skills match our current or any future positions. In the meantime, stay updated on the latest SUSE news and job vacancies by joining our Talent Community.

SUSE Values 

SUSE's culture is centered on four key values - Choice, Community, Trust, and Innovation - which are deeply integrated with our open source ethos. SUSE fosters a diverse and inclusive environment where our people are encouraged to be themselves.

Choice: 

We are continuously making choice happen 

We are accountable for our choices 

We never get complacent

Community: 

Nobody is smarter than everybody 

We embrace diversity of thought 

We are “open source first, upstream first” where collaboration benefits all

Trust: 

We are trusted to deliver with integrity 

We offer trust by default, and do not wait for it to be earned

We foster an environment where everyone trusts each other 

Innovation: 

We foster a culture of experimentation, and embrace change by challenging the norm

We are committed to continuous improvement, creativity and adaptability 

Ideas are great, but without execution they are just ideas