[Hiring] VP of People @Backblaze External Website

Role Description

We need a builder to run People at a public, remote-first company scaling through roughly the 500-1000 range while expanding internationally. You'll design the systems that make Backblaze a great place to work when there's no office doing that job for us - engagement, culture, communications, retention, succession, and manager development - and you'll run a small HR Operations and strategic HRBP team to do it.

This isn't a maintenance role. The operational foundation is already in place; you'll build the next layer on top of it, with your team, using AI agents as part of how the work gets done.

What You Will Own

• Making Backblaze an even better place to work when there is no office carrying it for us.
• Engagement as a leader-owned discipline with outcomes, not a survey followed by silence.
• Strategic employee and leader communications: a standing rhythm that gives people line of sight to the strategy.
• Culture as a design output: connection, recognition, and belonging designed and budgeted.
• Remote working excellence: same expectations and development across geographies.
• Retention and succession: knowing who is at risk before they resign.
• A learning organization: manager capability rebuilt for distributed teams.
• Partnering with our AI Transformation Leader on how AI changes work design.

What You Will Personally Build in Year One

• The engagement program and the operating rhythm behind it.
• How remote teams work here, written down and adopted.
• The employee and leader communications cadence.
• The retention model and the succession plan.
• The manager development approach for a company with distributed teams.
• The design of our in-person moments: offsites and team gatherings.

Qualifications

• You have operated teams outside the United States.
• You have scaled a company through roughly this stage - somewhere in the 500-1000 range.
• You are a builder who builds with people, not around them.
• You use AI agents in your daily work.
• You lead a team and are still close enough to the work to know when it is good.
• You care about making a company a great place to work across geographies.

Also True of the Right Person

• Comfortable that this is a public company.
• Coming from a strong mid-sized technology company rather than a large enterprise.
• Either a first-time VP ready to step up or a second-time VP who wants to build.
• A strong communicator who over-communicates by instinct.

This Is Not the Role for You If

• Your strength is running an established function well.
• You need a large team to be effective.
• You do not default to building and running POCs.
• You want to spend most of your time on executive comp and board work.
• You think culture is a benefits problem or an office problem rather than a design problem.

What We Offer

• Competitive compensation and equity package.
• Full benefits including medical, dental, vision, and 401(k) with matching.
• RSU grants for full-time employees.
• ESPP program.
• Flexible vacation policy.
• Maternity & paternity leave.
• MacBook to use for work, plus a generous stipend to personalize your workstation.
• Childcare bonus (human children only).
• Fertility treatment and support.
• Learning & development program.
• Commuter benefits.
• A collaborative and transparent culture that supports a healthy work-life balance.

Pay Transparency

To provide greater transparency to candidates, we share base pay ranges for all US-based job postings regardless of state. The expected salary range for this role is $210,000 - $230,000 plus 30% target annual bonus and RSUs.

At Backblaze, we value being fair and good to our customers, partners, and employees. Diversity, equity, and inclusion are at the core of our values. We are committed to fostering a workforce where all employees feel a sense of belonging regardless of race, ethnicity, nationality, gender, sexual orientation, age, religion, socio-economic status, ability, veteran status, and education. We are proud to be an Equal Opportunity Employer.