Director of Human Resources

Director, Human Resources - Portland, OR / Hood River, OR

Sightline Intelligence is the leader in onboard video processing. Sightline is seeking a talented candidate to join our empowered team of hardware and software professionals, dedicated to exceeding the expectations of our growing customer base. Sightline is an agile, innovative company developing onboard video processing systems for the autonomous vehicle industry (UAV, drone, robot, etc.).

Purpose of Position

Be a strategic leader, business partner and trusted advisor to the CEO and the executive team, responsible for building and scaling our HR function to support aggressive growth targets. This role encompasses comprehensive leadership of Human Resources, with cross-functional partnerships that ensure people, systems, and ways of working enable the mission and business strategy.

This role requires both strategic vision and hands-on execution. You will design enterprise frameworks and programs while leading and developing a high-performing HR team, actively coaching leaders, strengthening foundational people capabilities, and evolving practices as the organization scales.

Reporting Relationship: Reports to CEO Location: Portland, Oregon (hybrid/on-site) with regular travel to Hood River, Oregon and occasional international travel to Brisbane, Australia Team: Lead and develop a growing HR team across all three office locations

Key Responsibilities

Strategic HR Leadership & Business Partnership

• Serve as a strategic advisor and thought partner to the CEO and executive team on all people-related matters, including leadership effectiveness, organizational design, culture transformation, and workforce strategy.
• Develop and execute a cohesive people strategy aligned with business objectives and growth priorities.
• Serve as a trusted consultant on talent decisions, organizational effectiveness, and leadership development.
• Champion company culture, mission, and values as competitive advantages as the organization scales.
• Use data, analytics, and listening mechanisms to inform decisions and continuously refine people practices.
• Support organizational change initiatives, including growth-related transformations and integrations.

Performance Management & Talent Development

• Lead performance review and promotion processes, ensuring clarity, calibration, and alignment with compensation outcomes.
• Create and deliver leadership and talent development experiences grounded in shared capability expectations.
• Partner with leaders to address performance gaps directly and thoughtfully, with clear expectations and follow-through.

Talent Acquisition & Workforce Planning

• Set the strategic direction for talent acquisition, aligning hiring priorities and role sequencing with business needs.
• Strengthen employer branding and candidate experience to position the company as an employer of choice.
• Ensure onboarding and early leader experiences accelerate clarity, connection, and impact.

Organizational Development & Culture

• Lead organizational design initiatives to optimize structure, roles, and ways of working as the business evolves while preserving core cultural values.
• Create frameworks that support leadership development, succession planning, and high-potential identification

Total Rewards, Employee Relations & Compliance

• Partner with executive leadership and Finance to shape compensation and total rewards strategies aligned with business goals
• Ensure compliant, ethical people practices across US and Australian jurisdictions

Required Qualifications

• 10-15+ years of progressive experience in people, talent, or organizational leadership roles; including 5 years senior-level leadership
• Proven success building leadership capability, performance systems, and scalable people practices in growing organizations/industries; specifically defense, aerospace, AI, or deep tech sectors
• Strong business acumen with ability to connect people strategies to operational and financial outcomes
• Demonstrated success leading change management and organizational transformation initiatives
• Strategic thinker with hands-on execution capability-comfortable with ambiguity and building from the ground up with continuous…