Workplace Experience & Strategic Initiatives Manager

Workplace Experience & Strategic Initiatives Manager

Better Up

Posted Mar 14

Full-time

New York

• Serve as the day‑to‑day owner of the San Francisco hub, ensuring a seamless, safe, and high‑quality employee and guest experience.
• Oversee daily workplace operations including space readiness, front‑of‑house support, vendor coordination, events, and real‑time issue resolution.
• Act as the primary point of accountability for the SF hub—anticipating needs, resolving problems quickly, and continuously improving the experience.
• Lead workplace logistics related to hybrid work, in‑office programming, leadership on‑site needs, and executive meetings.
• Own workplace health, safety, and compliance for the hub, partnering with Legal, People, and external vendors to meet local and company standards.
• Manage local vendors and service partners; ensure service levels, budgets, and contracts are met.
• Partner closely with regional and global counterparts to ensure consistency while adapting to local needs.

• Own and evolve the long‑term Workplace Experience and hub strategy, balancing employee experience, cost discipline, scalability, and risk management.
• Directly manage Workplace Experience Specialists in international locations, including London and Austin, providing clear priorities, coaching, and performance management.
• Establish operating standards, playbooks, and shared ways of working across hubs to ensure a consistent global experience while allowing for local nuance.
• Lead workplace‑related programs such as space planning, moves, expansions, hub model evolution, and vendor transitions across regions.
• Translate strategy into executable plans with clear milestones, risks, dependencies, and success metrics.
• Use data, employee insights, and on‑ground feedback to inform decisions and continuously refine the workplace model.

• Lead cross‑functional HR initiatives beyond workplace, partnering with Total Rewards, HR Operations, People Systems, Finance, IT, and Legal.
• Bring structure and momentum to complex, ambiguous projects—owning planning, prioritization, execution, and communication.
• Balance project delivery with ongoing workplace operations, ensuring neither is compromised.
• Act as a trusted execution partner to HR leadership, surfacing tradeoffs, risks, and recommendations.

• Own strategic vendor relationships tied to workplace and HR initiatives, including contract negotiation, renewals, and performance management.
• Manage workplace and program budgets with strong cost discipline and transparency.
• Build strong relationships with senior leaders and cross‑functional partners; communicate clearly and decisively at all levels.

• Champion the use of AI, automation, and modern tools to streamline workplace and HR workflows.
• Improve reporting, forecasting, and decision‑making through better data, tooling, and dashboards.
• Reduce manual effort while increasing consistency, insight, and scalability across workplace and HR programs.

• 8–12+ years of experience in Workplace Experience, HR Operations, Program Management, or similar operational leadership roles.
• Hands‑on experience owning a physical workplace or hub, ideally in a hybrid or high‑growth environment.
• Proven people management experience, including leading distributed or multi‑site teams.
• Strong project management skills with a track record of delivering complex work in ambiguous environments.
• Experience managing vendors, budgets, space planning, and health & safety considerations.
• Comfort being visible, present, and accountable…