Vice President of Human Resources

• As the Vice President of Human Resources, you will build and lead the People strategy that enables one of the world’s most ambitious engineering organizations
• You will serve as a trusted executive advisor responsible for developing the organizational capability, leadership systems, culture, and people infrastructure required to scale Xcimer from a rapidly growing deep technology company into the global leader in laser fusion energy
• This role combines strategic vision with operational excellence
• You will lead the following aspects of Human Resources: Business Partners, Total Rewards, HR Operations, Learning & Development, Organizational Design, Employee Relations, Compliance, and HR Systems, while partnering closely with executives and leaders in the company to ensure our people strategy accelerates business execution
• We are looking for an exceptional people first HR leader who thrives in high-growth, technically complex environments and is passionate about building organizations capable of solving humanity’s hardest engineering challenges
• Serve as a strategic advisor to the Executive Leadership Team on organizational strategy, leadership effectiveness, workforce planning, succession planning, and culture
• Partner with executive leadership to define, articulate, and reinforce the cultural principles and leadership expectations required for Xcimer’s next stage of growth
• Develop and execute a long-term People strategy that supports Xcimer’s rapid growth from R&D through commercialization and multi-site expansion
• Build, mentor, and lead a world-class Human Resources organization spanning HR Business Partners, Total Rewards, HR Operations, Learning & Development, and Employee Experience
• Partner with executive leadership on organizational design, executive coaching, leadership development, and succession planning across the company
• Develop a clear leadership principles framework that drives accountability, collaboration, respectful debate, and decision-making across engineering, scientific, and manufacturing teams
• Lead all compensation, equity, executive compensation, performance management, promotion, and career development programs while ensuring market competitiveness and internal equity
• Develop scalable people systems, policies, and operating rhythms that enable high performance while preserving the company’s entrepreneurial culture
• Build cultural “operating mechanisms” including onboarding, feedback systems, recognition programs, manager effectiveness processes, and leadership rituals that create consistency across sites and functions
• Drive workforce planning that develops and retains exceptional technical and business talent
• Champion organizational health through employee engagement, leadership effectiveness, performance management, recognition, and continuous feedback programs
• Monitor cultural health through engagement analytics, manager effectiveness metrics, retention trends, and qualitative insights; proactively identify cultural drift or emerging organizational risks
• Develop programs that reinforce desired cultural behaviors and address gaps—including manager capability building, leadership development, and cross-team collaboration initiatives
• Lead complex employee relations matters, investigations, risk management, and employment law compliance while partnering closely with Legal and executive leadership
• Establish governance mechanisms that reinforce cultural expectations, address misaligned leadership behaviors, and ensure organizational consistency as the company grows and diversifies
• Oversee HR technology, people analytics, reporting, and workforce insights to enable data-driven decision making across the business
• Build and scale programs supporting onboarding, leadership development, manager capability, learning, internal mobility, and succession planning
• Ensure compliance with all federal, state, and local employment regulations while establishing best-in-class governance and HR operational excellence
• Develop annual people budgets, headcount planning models, and organizational investment strategies aligned with company objectives
• Foster a culture grounded in accountability, respectful debate, operational excellence, innovation, and continuous improvement
• Serve as a member of the leadership team, contributing to enterprise strategy, organizational scaling, capital planning, and company performance
• Serve as a visible leader and culture champion across the organization while reinforcing Xcimer’s mission and values. ‘
• Develop organizational strategies supporting geographic expansion

Benefits

• Medical, Dental, Vision
• Basic and supplemental life insurance
• Paid parental leave
• Short and long-term disability
• 401(k) with company match of up to 6%
• Paid Time Off: 15 days per year based on weekly scheduled hours
• 10 paid sick leave
• 13 company-paid holidays
• Equity for eligible employees

• Proven ability to assess cultural health, identify organizational risks, and guide leadership through complex culture-related decisions or interventions
• Proven experience partnering directly with executive leadership teams on organizational strategy and executive decision-making
• Experience leveraging HR technology, analytics, and workforce data to improve organizational effectiveness and business performance
• Strong business acumen with the ability to connect people strategy directly to organizational performance and business outcomes
• Exceptional executive communication, influence, and change management skills with demonstrated success leading enterprise-wide transformation initiatives
• Experience building and leading high-performing HR teams
• Deep expertise across organizational design, leadership development, employee relations, total rewards, performance management, HR operations, compliance, and workforce planning
• Education: Bachelor’s degree in Human Resources, Business Administration, Organizational Psychology, or a related field; Master’s degree or MBA preferred
• Experience: 15+ years of progressive Human Resources leadership experience, including executive-level leadership in high-growth technology, aerospace, advanced manufacturing, energy, defense, or similarly complex engineering organizations
• Demonstrated experience shaping culture through leadership development, organizational design, performance systems, and manager capability building
• Demonstrated experience scaling organizations through periods of rapid growth while building modern HR systems, processes, and leadership capability
• Must be a U.S. citizen or national, U.S. permanent resident (current Green Card holder), or lawfully admitted into the U.S. as a refugee or granted asylum
• Experience supporting organizations that have scaled from fewer than 200 employees to more than 1,000 employees
• Experience supporting engineering, scientific research, hardware development, manufacturing, or deep-tech organizations
• Familiarity with government contracting, export controls, security-cleared workforces, or regulated industries
• Experience designing executive compensation and equity programs for venture-backed companies
• Experience leading organizations through commercialization, manufacturing scale-up, or international expansion
• Demonstrated success building high-performance cultures within mission-driven organizations
• Experience implementing enterprise HRIS, talent management, and people analytics platforms
• Experience scaling culture through rapid growth, multi-disciplinary technical teams, and multi-site expansion in engineering-centric environments