ISSA is looking for a Senior People Business Partner!

Please note 100% Remote position. Must reside in an ISSA-eligible state: AZ, CT, FL, GA, ID, IL, IN, MN, NC, NV, OH, OR, PA, SC, TN, TX, UT, VA, WI.

About ISSA: ISSA is an education and certification company for fitness trainers, personal trainers, strength and conditioning coaches, nutritionists, nutrition coaches, yoga instructors, health coaches, medical professionals, and more! For over 35 years, ISSA has created a personal fitness training program to merge gym experience with practical and applied sciences. With over 250 employees, we have certified nearly 500,000 trainers in 174 countries. We were recently recognized as a Best Place to Work and Healthiest Employer by The Phoenix Business Journal, Fastest Growing Private Company by Inc. Southwest Regionals, and Top Workplace by USA Today!

We're adding a Senior People Business Partner to our team of relationship-builders who are laser-focused on providing exceptional service to our students. We're tenacious and resilient in pursuing personal and professional success while incorporating fun into every day!

So What's the Job? 

As a Senior People Business Partner, you will serve as an advisor and hands-on partner to our leadership teams, aligning people strategies with business objectives. You will play a pivotal role in shaping the employee lifecycle, from performance management and leadership coaching to organizational design and culture. This is a high-impact role requiring a balance of empathetic employee advocacy, data-driven reporting, and expert-level navigation of complex employee relations.

Success in this role requires comfort operating at multiple altitudes. One day, you may be partnering on organizational design or culture initiatives. Next, you may be guiding a first-time manager through a difficult conversation or digging into the details of a performance issue.

This is not a purely programmatic or strategic role. It is a true player-coach business partner position for someone who values being close to the business, connected to employees, and actively involved in making things work. You are as comfortable shaping strategy as you are helping managers apply it in real time.

What is ISSA looking for?

• Leadership Partnership & Coaching
• • Strategic Advisory & Coaching: Serve as a trusted advisor and coach to leaders at all levels, with a focus on empowering front-line and mid-level managers, to help them navigate the complexities of modern people leadership.
  • Team & Culture Excellence: Partner with managers to architect high-performing team cultures, providing the framework and practical tools necessary to drive engagement and performance.
  • Real-Time Problem Solving: Deliver hands-on, "in-the-moment" guidance for the full spectrum of management challenges, from resolving interpersonal dynamics and performance hurdles to navigating complex cultural shifts with empathy and grit.
  • Act as a dedicated coach to people leaders, helping them build strong team cultures and high-performing teams, and navigate complex management challenges.
  • Build trusted relationships with leaders at all levels of the organization, with a strong focus on supporting and developing front-line and mid-level managers.
  • Provide practical, real-time coaching to managers navigating the full spectrum of people leadership, from day-to-day team management to more complex cultural, performance, and interpersonal challenges. This includes coaching, problem-solving, and equipping managers with the tools and guidance they need to handle real-time challenges effectively.
• Performance & Talent Management
• • Performance Management: Support managers in identifying performance gaps, drafting corrective actions, and providing the necessary coaching and support throughout the process including in exit circumstances.
  • Process Management: End-to-end execution of the Performance Review cycle, including tool administration, timeline management, and quality control.
  • Leadership Development: Partner with the Director, People Operations to design the framework and content for leadership development programs. Vet, select, and manage external training vendors, ensuring high-quality delivery and ROI. Create toolkits and "just-in-time" training resources for managers to help them navigate real-time challenges in the flow of work.
• Data-Driven Insights & Engagement
• • Survey Ownership: Lead the Employee Experience Surveys process. Translate raw data into executive-level reports and actionable strategies.
  • Engagement Content: Lead the design and implementation of engagement initiatives, overseeing the delivery of company-wide programs and events that bridge departmental silos, strengthen cultural alignment, and cultivate a positive employee experience.
  • Action Planning: Drive the Employee Experience Survey action planning process, helping leaders identify key themes, prioritize opportunities, build accountable action plans, and monitor progress toward improving the employee experience. 
  • Feedback Loops: Conduct New Hire and Exit Interviews; synthesize this data to provide leaders with "early warning" reports on retention or cultural friction.
  • Serve as a “voice of the business” as People Operations colleagues develop and maintain HR reporting for leaders (turnover, headcount, engagement metrics); regularly utilize these reports and dashboards to enable data-driven decision making.
• Strategic Planning & Organizational Effectiveness 
• • Partner with the Director of People Ops and VP, People on the development and execution of our overarching Culture Strategy, ensuring values are integrated into all business units.
  • Participate in Organizational Planning and Structure initiatives to ensure the company is scaled for efficiency and growth.
  • Support organizational change initiatives, helping translate strategic decisions into clear, effective team-level execution.
• Employee Relations & Compliance
• • Conflict Resolution: Serve as the primary mediator for interpersonal conflicts, fostering a culture of direct communication and mutual respect.
  • Full-Cycle Investigations: Lead and document complex workplace investigations from intake to final resolution, ensuring legal compliance and fair treatment.
  • Compliance & Policy: Maintain and interpret company policies and employment law (FLSA, FMLA, ADA, etc.), providing guidance to ensure the "full range" of ER cases are handled consistently.
  • Leave of Absence (LOA) Management: Act as the subject matter expert for leaves, balancing empathetic employee support with operational continuity for the business.
  • Collaborate closely with People Operations team members on cross-functional projects, process improvements, and initiatives that enhance the overall employee experience and drive efficiency 
  • Partner with People Operations team members to navigate complex or sensitive employee matters, helping facilitate communication and ensure thoughtful, consistent resolution 

Qualifications

• Experience: 7+ years of HR experience, with at least 3-4 years in a dedicated HRBP or equivalent role supporting leadership.
• People-First Advocate: You lead with empathy and intuition, believing that a company's success is a direct byproduct of its people’s thriving; you strive to build environments where employees feel seen, heard, and valued.
• Coaching Prowess: Proven track record of influencing and coaching first-time and mid-level managers.
• Employee Relations Expert: Extensive experience managing a full range of workplace dynamics, with a focus on resolving complex issues, fostering positive employee-employer relationships, and ensuring a fair and consistent work environment across the organization.
• Analytical Mindset: Comfortable working with HRIS and anecdotal data to tell a story through numbers.
• Communication: Exceptional verbal and written communication skills, with the ability to handle high-stress conversations with poise.
• Leadership Influencer: Experience working directly with leaders to influence organizational structure and leadership behavior.
• Project Management: Ability to manage large-scale processes like annual performance reviews across multiple departments.
• Education: Bachelor’s degree in HR, Business, or a related field; PHR/SPHR or SHRM-CP/SCP certification preferred.

Working Style & Approach (What will make you successful in this role):

• Comfortable operating across both strategic and tactical work
• Resourceful, pragmatic, and solutions-oriented
• Able to adapt style and communication to different levels of the organization
• Motivated by being close to the business and supporting leaders in real time

WHO is ISSA looking for?

Skills can be developed. Experience can be built. What's harder to teach and what we pay close attention to is mindset. The qualifications above are specific to this role. But across every role at ISSA, we're looking for the same kind of person.

• Someone who leads with curiosity. Who asks "why do we do it this way?" as a genuine question, not a complaint.
• Someone humble enough to know what they don't know, and bold enough to challenge the way things have always been done.
• Someone who can advocate hard for an idea and then fully commit when the team goes a different direction.
• Someone who takes ownership of their mistakes, shares credit for their wins, and believes the best idea should win regardless of who had it.

We're looking for people who are personally invested in healthy living, not because it's their job, but because they believe in its power to change lives. You don't have to have it all figured out. You just have to care. 

We're not looking for perfect. We're looking for growth-oriented, mission-driven, and genuinely invested in doing something that matters. If that sounds like you, you'll fit in great here!

Anything else? Absolutely! Benefits & Perks:

This is a place where every day we're inspired by our teammates, encouraging each other to be our best. The environment is friendly and upbeat! And we feel it’s important to reward our team with competitive pay and benefits. Here are some highlights:

Free Certifications & Discounts: As an ISSA team member, you have access to our courses at no expense and can enroll 5 friends and family each year, too! We also offer an employee discount program, PerkSpot, and exclusive fitness industry discounts.

Wellness Reimbursement: If our company’s mission is to encourage healthy living, we need to walk the talk, ensuring each employee is supported in their wellness journey! Employees can get reimbursed up to $600/year for fitness, wellness, and mental health purchases. Eligible expenses range from gym memberships, fitness equipment, personal learning courses, and more!

Work-Life Synergy: Our team members start with 3 weeks of PTO each year and can earn up to 6 weeks each year. Everyone at ISSA gets 9 paid holidays each year plus 1 floating holiday.

Parental Time Off: We support our team members as they grow their families! Eligible employees giving birth can receive up to 12 weeks of paid leave, while other parents welcoming a new child (including partners and adoptive/foster parents) receive up to 6 weeks of paid bonding leave.

Medical, Dental, and Vision Coverage: A key component to living a healthy lifestyle is having access to the care we and our families need. We offer 2 medical insurance plans accompanied by Health Savings Account (HSA) and Flexible Savings Account (FSA) options, as well as Dental and Vision coverage.  And you don’t have to wait forever! Eligibility begins on the 1st of the month after you start.

Team Building: We may be remote, but we don’t have to be alone! We host virtual team activities, town halls, and other special events...fun ways for us to connect and support one another.

Tools To Do The Job: We ensure you have the tools, equipment, and systems you need.  We begin the process before your start date, so you are ready to rock ‘n roll on your first day. We also provide a monthly remote work allowance!

100% Remote Work: You can say goodbye to long commutes because all of our roles can be performed from the comfort of your own home. To connect and communicate more effectively, ISSA is a camera-friendly culture in which cameras are on for scheduled meetings. We have found this bridges the gap that can exist since we are not working together in an office. 

What Else? We have a 401(k) company match and 100% company-paid life/AD&D insurance/short-term disability.  We also offer an employee assistance program to assist with various life challenges.  Our ultimate goal is to support you and your overall wellness.

Transform your career at ISSA!

Pay Transparency Statement:  In accordance with the standards listed above, the expected base salary range for this position is $110,000 to $120,000 annually. In addition to the base salary, this role is eligible for an annual performance-based bonus. Final compensation within this range will be determined by the candidate's specific skills, qualifications, and relevant experience.