People Director San Jose, California (Hybrid

Nex is on a mission to help families rediscover the joy of movement. Created by parents for parents, Nex combines technology and play to deliver fun, social, and interactive experiences powered by natural body motion, encouraging kids and adults to move more, play more, and have fun together. Nex Playground, the company’s award-winning active play system, is purpose-built to get families moving year-round, with safety and privacy as core considerations in its intentional design.

It is certified kidSAFE+ COPPA compliant and built to support healthy, active play for all ages and abilities.

Nex Playground features a growing library of 50+ experiences, including motion and dance games, fitness and educational experiences, and Nex Originals. Content includes collaborations with partners like Hasbro, Sesame Workshop, and NBCUniversal. Nex has been recognized by Fast Company’s Most Innovative Companies, TIME’s Best Inventions, and Parents’ Best Entertainment System for Families, and has earned Red Dot, IDEA, and Core
77 international design awards.

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Location:

San Jose, California (Hybrid)

Annual salary: USD 160,000–195,000

Type:
Full-Time

Reports to:

Chief of Staff

At Nex, we believe that how we grow is just as important as how fast we grow. As People Director, you’ll be the architect behind that growth — helping us nurture great leaders, empower our teams, and scale our culture with intention.

You’ll partner closely with our U.S. leadership team (and later Canada and the U.K.), strengthening how we lead, develop, and connect. This role calls for someone who thrives at the intersection of strategy, empathy, and action — a person who sees the unseen in teams, brings out potential in others, and knows that culture isn’t a buzzword but a daily practice.

This isn’t a systems‑builder role — it’s a capability‑builder role. You’ll spend your days helping people make better decisions, shaping thoughtful leadership habits, and keeping the human heartbeat of Nex strong as we scale across time zones and stages of growth.

• Be a trusted strategic partner. You’ll work shoulder‑to‑shoulder with executives and managers to design teams, make brave talent decisions, and navigate the gray areas—performance conversations, restructures, or organizational pivots with empathy, fairness, and confidence.
• Coach and develop leaders. You’ll create experiences that grow people—manager training, feedback frameworks, leadership workshops, and one‑on‑one coaching that helps our teams stretch, learn, and step into bigger versions of themselves.
• Design how growth happens. You’ll own Nex’s global approach to Learning & Development. From building clear career pathways to shaping how performance conversations feel, you’ll ensure every employee knows where they stand and where they can go next.
• Shape and protect our culture. As we scale, you’ll help weave connection, inclusion, and belonging into every corner of Nex. You’ll look out for the subtle shifts that hint at culture drift and help us realign—keeping Nex a place where people feel seen, supported, and proud to contribute.
• Build what’s next. You’ll start as a high‑impact individual contributor, hands‑on and strategic. As we grow, you’ll hire and lead a small team of exceptional People professionals focused on learning, leadership, and employee experience.

• People Ops Manager owns systems, data, benefits, compliance, documentation, and the mechanics of cyclical programs like reviews and surveys.
• You’ll partner with People Ops on performance philosophy, onboarding content, and employee experience initiatives—you bring the why and what, they ensure the how runs smoothly.
• Talent Acquisition owns recruiting and hiring operations.
• You’ll partner with TA on senior hiring, interview training for managers, and workforce planning to align great talent with business growth.

• Are the kind of…