Synopsys is hiring a People Partner, Sr Director to support its defense and national security business. Candidates must have 12+ years of HR leadership experience and a strong understanding of government contracting and FOCI-mitigated environments. You will lead strategic workforce p
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Category People Hire Type Employee Job ID 18280 Base Salary Range $180000-$270000 Date posted 07. 26. 2026 Position Summary The Senior Director, Human Resources is a strategic member of AGI leadership responsible for building, scaling, and modernizing the people function for a defense-oriented business operating in a highly regulated national security environment. The role partners with executive leadership, program leadership, operations, finance, legal, security, and the parent company shared services organization to align workforce strategy with mission execution, growth, compliance, and employee experience objectives.
This leader will operate at the intersection of talent strategy, organizational effectiveness, defense program execution, employee relations, compliance, culture, and AI-enabled HR modernization. The successful candidate will bring the credibility and judgment required to support a cleared, government-contracting workforce while also driving practical, business-focused HR solutions across talent acquisition, compensation, performance, succession, employee relations, workforce planning, and leadership development.
The Senior Director will be expected to work effectively within a Proxy or FOCI-mitigated environment, respecting governance boundaries and security protocols while maintaining strong alignment with the parent company where permitted. This includes partnering with parent company shared services for scalable HR operations, systems, payroll, benefits, compensation, talent acquisition, HRIS, learning, and employee relations support while ensuring AGI-specific business, security, and compliance requirements are understood and met.
Key Responsibilities
Executive HR Leadership & Business Strategy
Serve as the senior HR leader and trusted advisor to AGI executives, program leaders, and functional leaders on workforce strategy, organizational design, talent risk, culture, leadership effectiveness, and employee engagement.
Translate AGI business priorities, defense customer commitments, and growthobjectivesinto a practical multi-year people strategy that strengthens execution, retention, leadership depth, and organizational resilience.
Partner with the parent company shared services organization to deliver HR programs efficiently while ensuring solutions are adapted to AGI operating requirements, cleared workforce needs, and Proxy/FOCI governance expectations.
Use workforce analytics, talent data, and AI-enabledinsights responsiblytoidentifyhiring bottlenecks, retention risks, succession gaps, leadership needs, and opportunities for HR process modernization.
Represent HR in executive operating reviews, workforce planning discussions, M&A/integration activities, customer or audit readiness activities, and enterprise risk discussions asappropriate.
Defense Prime / Government Contracting Workforce Leadership
Lead HR strategy for an organization supporting Department of Defense, Intelligence Community, aerospace, defense, or federal contracting customers, with an emphasis on mission assurance, workforce readiness, security-aware culture, and compliant execution.
Partner closely with Security, Legal, Contracts, Compliance, Ethics, Program Management, and Finance to support requirements tied to cleared personnel, classified programs, labor charging, export controls, government customer expectations, and contract-driven staffing.
Anticipate workforce needs for proposal pursuits, program ramps, captures, recompetes, transitions, and contract awards; ensure talent acquisition and internal mobility plans can meet program schedules and customer commitments.
Build workforce plans that align hiring, skills, clearance requirements, location strategy, labor categories, compensation, and program economics with AGI growth and delivery commitments.
Partner with parent company Talent Acquisition and HR shared services to attract, assess, hire, and onboard high-quality talent across engineering, technical, program management, operations, security, business development, and corporate functions.
Develop executive and technical succession plans, leadership pipelines, key role coverage, and retention strategies for critical talent supporting defense programs and growth initiatives.
Create repeatable talent review, performance enablement, leadership development, and career pathing mechanisms thatsupport bothhigh performance and employee growth.
Strengthen onboarding and integration for employees joining AGI, including leaders, cleared hires, program transitions, and employees working in sensitive or restricted operating environments.
Partner with parent company Total Rewards and compensation shared services on competitive pay, incentive design, job architecture, leveling, benefits, retention tools, and market-informed offers while considering defense market talent dynamics.
Lead performance management, goal alignment, engagement, recognition, and culture initiatives that reinforce accountability, inclusion, collaboration, compliance, security awareness, and mission focus.
Coach executives and people leaders on effective communication, change adoption, engagement, management capability, team health, and leadership behaviors that support a high-trust organization.
Guide organizational design, operating model changes, workforce transitions, and integration activities with rigorous change management and careful employee communication.
Ensure HR programs are practical, scalable, and easy for managers and employees to use, leveraging shared services whereappropriate withoutlosing business intimacy.
Compliance, Governance & Proxy Environment
Operate effectively in a Proxy / FOCI-mitigated governance structure, including awareness of the role of proxy holders, outside directors, voting trustees, government security committees, security reviews, compliance reporting, and communication boundaries.
Partner with Legal, Security, Ethics, Compliance, and parent company teams to ensure HR practices support applicable employment laws, government contracting rules, security requirements, data protection expectations, export controls, and internal policies.
Maintain HR readiness for audits, customer reviews, investigations, employee relations matters, policy reviews, and compliance inquiries, ensuring documentation and decision-making standards are defensible.
Promote responsible use of AI/AGI-related tools in HR, including governance for sensitive employee data, bias mitigation, employee privacy, transparency, and human oversight in talent decisions.
Support a culture where employees understand security, ethics, compliance, and mission obligations without sacrificing engagement or employee experience.
Required Experience & Qualifications
Leadership Experience
12+ years of progressive HR experience, including significant senior HR leadership, HR business partner, orpeopleleadership responsibility in a complex, matrixed, or regulated business.
Experience supporting aerospace, defense, national security, government contracting, technology, manufacturing, engineering, or similarly regulated environments strongly preferred.
Demonstrated success advising executives, leading HRteamsor matrixed HR delivery models, and partnering with shared services / centers of excellence to deliver enterprise-scale HR programs.
Experience supporting cleared or sensitive workforces, government program organizations, proxy companies, Special Security Agreement environments, FOCI-mitigated entities, or similar governance structures preferred.
Functional Expertise
Deep knowledge of HR strategy, talent acquisition, workforce planning, employee relations, compensation, benefits, performance management, talent development, succession planning, organizational design, and change management.
Strong command of U.S. employment law, HR compliance, documentation practices, workplace investigations, manager coaching, and employee relations resolution.
Ability to use HR data, workforce analytics, HRIS platforms, AI-enabled insights, and business metrics to influence decisions while protecting employee privacy and ensuringappropriate governance.
Experience partnering with Finance on labor planning, budgets, program staffing, headcount management, compensation affordability, and workforce risk.
Education & Certifications
Bachelor's degree in Human Resources, Business Administration, Industrial/Organizational Psychology, Labor Relations, Organizational Development, or a related disciplinerequired; advanced degree preferred.
Professionalcertificationsuch as SHRM-SCP, SHRM-CP, SPHR, PHR, or equivalent is desirable.
Familiarity withdefenseindustrial base practices, cleared personnel processes, government contracting, export controls, and FOCI/Proxy governance is highly desirable.
Executive Competencies
Executive presence and sound judgment in sensitive, confidential, and high-stakes situations.
Ability to balance strategic vision with hands-on execution in a growing, mission-critical business.
Strong collaboration across parent company shared services, AGI leadership, Security, Legal, Finance, Program Management, and functional teams.
Clear, credible communication with executives, employees, customers, auditors, government stakeholders, and board/proxy governance participants.
High integrity, discretion, accountability, and commitment to fair, compliant, mission-aligned HR practices.
Candidate Profile
The ideal candidate is a business-oriented HR executive who has built credibility with technical, operational, and executive stakeholders in environments where people strategy directly affects customer delivery, compliance, and mission outcomes. This person is comfortable working through shared services and centers of excellence, but remains close enough to the business to understand program pressures, talent risks, culture dynamics, and leadership needs. They can modernize HR operations using data and AI responsibly while honoring strict confidentiality, security, governance, and Proxy environment constraints.
At Synopsys, we want talented people of every background to feel valued and supported to do their best work. Synopsys considers all applicants for employment without regard to race, color, religion, national origin, gender, sexual orientation, age, military veteran status, or disability.
In addition to the base salary, this role may be eligible for an annual bonus, equity, and other discretionary bonuses. Synopsys offers comprehensive health, wellness, and financial benefits as part of a competitive total rewards package. The actual compensation offered will be based on a number of job-related factors, including location, skills, experience, and education. Your recruiter can share more specific details on the total rewards package upon request. The base salary range for this role is across the U.S.
