Senior People Business Partner

Job Description: Senior People Business Partner

Cartwheel is an early-stage company building a new kind of mental health program for kids that puts schools at the center. We see our role as supporting school staff who see kids every single day. Instead of going around them, we collaborate with them. This means: 

• Earlier intervention
• Higher student and family engagement in care
• Better coordination among the trusted adults in a student’s life 

Kids shouldn't just aspire to get out of bed and drag themselves to class. They should be able to experience joy. They deserve to envision and build a life they’re excited to live. If you join Cartwheel, you’ll help make this vision a reality for millions of students across the country. We’re backed by top investors including Menlo Ventures, Reach Capital, General Catalyst, BoxGroup, and Able Partners, and we're looking for mission-driven teammates to join our team.

ABOUT THE ROLE 

We’re looking for a Senior People Partner to join our People & Culture team. This role is critical to Cartwheel’s Series B stage: building employee relations from 0→1, scaling performance systems, enabling managers, and codifying our culture as we grow. You’ll manage sensitive ER cases, design lightweight but scalable people processes, and serve as a trusted advisor to executives—giving leverage to the Head of People while ensuring our systems stay aligned with our mission.

Role type: This is a W2, Full-Time, Salaried position

Location: Remote in the US, with regular in-person team retreats

Start date: October 2025

WHAT YOU’LL DO

• Own sensitive employee relations cases end to end and establish our ER program from the ground up (intake, SLAs, documentation, escalation).
• Design and deliver a performance cycle that is timely, fair, manager-friendly, and scalable.
• Equip and empower first-time managers with toolkits and training that drive measurable behavior change in feedback, 1:1s, and goals.
• Partner with leaders on role clarity, org design, and change management that helps teams move faster.
• Strengthen culture and engagement by supporting ERGs with clear governance and safe escalation, trending toward an 8/10 engagement score.
• Package people insights for executives, prioritize trade-offs, and represent People in leadership forums when needed.

• 5–8 years as an HR Business Partner/People Partner in high-growth environments.
• Proven ability to manage sensitive, high-risk ER cases independently.
• Experience building and scaling performance management systems.
• Credibility with executives; able to influence adoption across teams.
• Pragmatism: you ship v1s and iterate, while knowing when to escalate.

Extra credit…

• Healthcare or education experience.
• HR certifications (PHR/SPHR/SHRM).
• Experience supporting distributed/remote organizations.

• Experience supporting distributed 1099/Contractor NetworkClinical Network

WHY YOU'LL LOVE CARTWHEEL 

Our hope is that Cartwheel will be your best career decision! In addition to tackling one of the biggest challenges of our time, at a company well-positioned to do so, you'll have:

• Mission-oriented and inclusive colleagues who will go to bat for you
• Competitive annual compensation of $130k-150k
• Generous PPO medical, vision, and dental coverage
• Paid Parental leave
• Generous paid time off, including company closure from Christmas-New Years
• 401k with a company match
• Meaningful equity ownership stake in Cartwheel
• Flexible and remote role with in-person retreats
• Annual learning stipend
• Macbook

Cartwheel is proud to be an equal opportunity employer. We embrace diverse backgrounds and perspectives and an inclusive work environment. We're committed to equal employment opportunity regardless of race, color, religion, ancestry, national origin, gender, sexual orientation, disability status, or veteran status.

We participate in E-Verify. Please be prepared to provide acceptable documentation to verify your identity and work authorization