Business Partner - R&D

WHO ARE WE

Cognism is the leading provider of European B2B data and sales intelligence. Ambitious businesses of every size use our platform to discover, connect, and engage with qualified decision-makers faster and close more deals. Headquartered in London with global offices, Cognism’s contact data and contextual signals are trusted by thousands of revenue teams to eliminate the guesswork from prospecting.

OUR WORK MODEL

Hybrid:
This is a hybrid role, requiring 3 days per week in the London office, with flexibility to work remotely on other days.

YOUR ROLE

As the People Partner – R&D, you will act as a strategic HR Business Partner to Engineering, Product, Data, and Information Security leadership. This role is pivotal in aligning people strategy with the R&D roadmap, organisational design, and delivery priorities.

Operating at the intersection of business performance, talent density, and organisational effectiveness, you will partner directly with the CTO, CPO, and CISO to ensure the organisation is appropriately structured, skilled, and enabled to deliver against product, technology, and security objectives.

You will act as a trusted advisor to senior technical leaders, driving a high-performance culture, supporting scalable growth, and leading complex change initiatives across organisational design, capability uplift, and workforce planning.

YOUR CHALLENGES & OPPORTUNITIES

• Strategic Partnership – Build trusted relationships with Engineering, Product, Data, and Security leaders, developing a deep understanding of organisational needs, team dynamics, and delivery priorities to provide proactive, commercially grounded people guidance.
• Organisational Design & Workforce Planning – Partner with R&D leadership to design and implement structures, workforce plans, and people initiatives aligned to business strategy, technical objectives, and long-term roadmap requirements.
• Talent Density & Capability Uplift – Collaborate with Talent Acquisition to attract and hire high‑calibre global technical talent, ensuring hiring plans address capability gaps and support scalable growth.
• Performance Excellence – Lead and embed robust performance management processes across R&D, including calibration and annual review cycles, ensuring fair, objective, and strategically aligned outcomes.
• Leadership Coaching – Provide expert coaching to technical leaders on performance management, employee relations, organisational design, and reward considerations, enabling confident and consistent decision-making.
• Engagement & Analytics – Leverage engagement surveys, pulse data, and people analytics to identify trends, risks, and opportunities, translating insights into actionable plans that enhance retention, engagement, and team effectiveness.
• Change Leadership – Drive complex change initiatives including restructuring, capability transformation, and cultural evolution to support a high‑performing and inclusive R&D function.
• Compliance & Risk Management – Ensure full compliance with global employment legislation and internal policies, mitigating risk while supporting consistent and compliant people practices across multiple jurisdictions.

OUR EXPECTATIONS

• Progressive People Partner Experience – Proven experience supporting R&D or technical functions within fast‑paced, high‑growth or scaling environments.
• Organisational Change Expertise – Demonstrated success shaping and executing initiatives across organisational design, performance management, and leadership coaching.
• Commercial & Data‑Driven Mindset – Strong analytical capability with the ability to diagnose root causes, translate insights into strategic action, and influence leadership decisions.
• Global Employment Knowledge – Working knowledge of global employment law and regulatory considerations, applying pragmatic and compliant solutions within complex environments.
• Influential Relationship Builder – Credible, confident, and able to challenge constructively while building trust at all levels, including senior technical leadership.
• Matrixed Environment Experience – Experience operating within global, matrixed organisations, driving alignment across diverse stakeholder groups and competing…