People Partner - US
OakNorth · New York City, New York
OakNorth is a leading commercial digital bank, built by entrepreneurs for entrepreneurs. Founded in 2015, we support lower mid-market businesses — those with revenues between $1m and $100m — by providing fast, flexible debt finance and personalised banking services. To date, we have lent over $16bn to businesses globally, directly contributing to the creation of 56,000 jobs and 34,000 new homes.
We began operating in the US in mid-2023 and have since lent over $700m to US businesses. In March 2025, we announced an exciting milestone: the acquisition of Community Unity Bank (CUB), an FDIC-insured community bank based in Birmingham, Michigan, which marks a significant step in our US expansion.
This is a rare opportunity to join early and have real ownership over how we build People in the US. As we establish our American operation across New York and Michigan, this is the first dedicated People hire on the ground — you won't be inheriting a playbook, you'll be writing it.
THE ROLE
We are looking for a commercially minded, hands-on People Partner to support our US business. Reporting into the Senior Director, People Partnering, based in the UK, you will be the primary HR contact for our US employee population across New York and Michigan, partnering closely with senior leaders to deliver an exceptional employee experience and drive business performance. This is a generalist role - you will need to be comfortable operating at both a strategic and operational level.
KEY RESPONSIBILITIES
BUSINESS PARTNERING
- Be a genuine commercial partner to US leaders — understanding the growth agenda, embedding yourself in the business, and shaping people strategies that directly support OakNorth's US expansion.
- Build trusted relationships quickly across New York and Michigan, becoming the go-to for leaders navigating anything from org design to team performance.
- Use data and insight to get ahead of risks and opportunities, bringing proactive insight led recommendations.
EMPLOYEE RELATIONS & COMPLIANCE
- Manage employee relations matters end-to-end, including performance management, investigations, and separations, in line with US employment law.
- Maintain up-to-date knowledge of federal and state employment legislation across New York and Michigan, and ensure policies and practices are compliant.
- Partner with legal counsel as required on complex or sensitive ER matters.
- Maintain accurate HR records and ensure compliance with at-will employment frameworks and applicable state-specific requirements.
PERFORMANCE & TALENT
- Support the delivery of OakNorth's performance cycle, including calibration and year-end processes, ensuring consistency across the US population.
- Partner with managers to build capability, provide coaching on feedback and development conversations, and embed a high-performance culture.
- Identify high-potential talent and support succession planning in partnership with the global People team.
LEARNING, DEVELOPMENT & CULTURE
- Partner with the L&D team to embed OakNorth's learning strategy on the ground in the US — spanning Manager Capability, Performance & Growth, Employee Lifecycle, and AI & Future Capability.
- Act as a culture carrier for OakNorth's values and ways of working as we establish our US presence, ensuring the experience in New York and Michigan feels authentically OakNorth.
- Drive employee engagement across the US population — running listening mechanisms, interpreting data, and working with leaders to take meaningful action.
- Champion belonging and inclusion within the US team, connecting local initiatives to the global People agenda.
ONBOARDING & OFFBOARDING
- Help support with the onboarding experience for US hires, ensuring a smooth and engaging start.
- Manage offboarding processes, including exit interviews, and feed insights back to the People Partners.
GLOBAL COLLABORATION
- Work closely with People Partners in the UK and India to deliver consistent, globally aligned people practices.
- Contribute to global People projects and initiatives, including L&D, culture, and engagement programmes.
- Act as the US voice in global People discussions, bringing market-specific context and insight.
WHAT WE'RE LOOKING FOR
ESSENTIAL
- 5+ years of HR generalist or business partnering experience, ideally within a fast-paced financial services, fintech, or technology environment.
- Strong knowledge of US employment law; experience navigating multi-state complexity across New York and Michigan.
- Track record of building credible relationships with senior stakeholders and influencing without authority.
- Experience managing complex employee relations matters independently.
- Proactive, resourceful, and solutions-focused, with a bias for action and the confidence to build where a playbook doesn't yet exist.
- Strong communication skills; able to flex between tactical delivery and strategic conversation.
- Collaborative working style with the ability to operate effectively across time zones within a global team.
- Willingness to travel between New York and Michigan as required to support both locations.
- Comfortable using AI tools to work smarter — drafting, analysing data, spotting patterns — and acts as an advocate for AI adoption within the people function.
- Approaches work with an AI-native mindset; not just open to new tools but actively seeks ways to leverage them to improve the employee experience and HR delivery.
DESIRABLE
- Experience in a scale-up, growth-stage, or post-acquisition integration environment.
- Exposure to performance management system implementation or optimisation.
- Experience working with an international People team across multiple geographies.
LOCATION & WAYS OF WORKING
New York (5 days in office). We are a high-energy, relationship-driven business and believe strongly in the value of being present. As our first People partner hire on the ground in the US, you're building relationships and culture from the ground up, and that happens in person. You'll also travel to Michigan regularly to stay close to the CUB team.
Benefits and Perks
- 401k plan with Principal (ON match up to 4%)
- Medical Care (managed through Insperity) - employees can add their family to their plan if needed
- Dental & Vision bundle
- Insperity Health Savings Account Program - this is a tax-advantaged employee benefit which can help manage health care costs by allowing employees to set aside some of their current earnings on a pretax basis for reimbursement of qualified health care expenses during the plan year
- EAP
- 20 days Holiday