Director, Strategic HR Business Partner; Remote

We believe in the power and joy of learning

At Cengage Group, our employees have a direct impact in helping students around the world discover the power and joy of learning. We are bonded by our shared purpose – driving innovation that helps millions of learners improve their lives and achieve their dreams through education.

Our culture values diversity, engagement, and discovery

Our business is driven by our strong culture, and we know that creating an inclusive and diverse workplace is absolutely essential to the success of our company and our learners, as well as our individual well-being. We recognize the value of diverse perspectives in everything we do, and strive to ensure employees of all levels and backgrounds feel empowered to voice their ideas and bring their authentic selves to work.

We achieve these priorities through inclusive programs, benefits, and initiatives that are integrated into the fabric of how we work every day. To learn more, please see

Reporting to the SVP, Talent Strategy Partner, the Director, Strategic HR Business Partner is a strategic leader who drives the talent agenda within a business unit or function. You will be a thought partner with senior business leaders to develop and help drive their talent strategy that will enable the team to deliver against its business strategy and objectives. You will work with our Centers of Excellence, HR Services, Talent and Total Rewards to implement this strategy, applying a strategic and customer focused approach.

You will be a core member of our high-performing and highly collaborative HR team, ensuring alignment with all HR goals and Cengage’s credo and ethos. If you possess a mentality of critical thinking, a practical approach to drive results, and a dedication to ongoing improvement, you are the person we are looking for!

Where you'll work: This is a remote work from home position for candidates located in the greater Boston MA or Cincinnati OH areas. The role requires occasional in person travel up to 20% of the time.

• As a member of the leadership team for a business unit or function, form effective partnerships with senior leaders to understand the business strategy and translate that strategy into strategic and operational Talent plans.

• Serve as a trusted advisor and coach to senior leaders (VP+) on highly critical and often complex talent and people related issues.

• Accountable for driving toward excellence in Talent Management across the Employee lifecycle. Bring the voice of the customer back to the broader HR team to ensure program design incorporates the needs of the business.

• Partner with Talent Acquisition to recruit and onboard senior leaders; create and implement targeted TA strategies to achieve business goals.

• Lead the performance management and talent review process and partner with leaders to ensure appropriate development plans are in place to support employee growth.

• Guide leaders to identify functional competencies and performance dimensions for specific roles.

• Coach and build capability of managers to be effective people leaders.

• Partner with SVP, Talent Strategy Partner and senior leadership teams to develop a workforce planning strategy that helps develop accurate forecasts for near and long-term hiring and skill development needs.

• Implement plans to ensure adoption of new processes and protection of Cengage’s culture and values.

• Partner with the Inclusion & Diversity lead to support development and execution of inclusion programs.

• Lead projects that are prioritized and critical to the talent agenda – examples include, but not limited to – compensation reviews, proactive retention, etc.

• Be a catalyst for organizational change; orchestrate organizational re-design efforts as needed, including Mergers & Acquisitions.

• Leverage data and business mentality to pull out insights and proactively anticipate implications for talent strategy; present recommendations to influence actions.

• Actively contribute to the global HR community to increase the capability and strategic value of the human resource function through high levels of performance and customer service. Share standard processes and seek…