About Nominal
Engineers today are building some of the most ambitious machines humanity has ever seen. They should have AI that’s purpose-built for them.
Nominal is building the Hardware Intelligence Platform that gives engineers increased visibility into complex physical systems, helps them make better decisions, and ultimately gets their products into the real world faster. It brings together the systems, data, intelligence, and applications hardware engineering requires to meet the AI moment. Hardware engineering teams use Nominal to simulate, test, manufacture, and operate the physical systems that keep the world moving, from spacecraft and autonomous vehicles to next-generation energy systems and robotics.
Our customers span aerospace, defense, manufacturing, transportation, energy, and robotics. They include Anduril, Shield AI, Wisk Aero, Pratt Miller Motorsports, Antares, and Shinkei Systems, amongst others, alongside programs within the U.S. Air Force and Navy. Our team draws from SpaceX, Palantir, Anduril, Applied Intuition, Tesla, and other leading companies, united by a common mission: giving hardware engineers the tools to build the future with speed, safety, and confidence. We're a fast-moving team that owns problems end-to-end, works across disciplines, and thrives at the intersection of hardware and software.
Some of the world’s leading technology investors, including Sequoia, Lightspeed, Founders Fund, General Catalyst, Lux Capital, and Insight Partners, are backing Nominal’s ambition to change how machines are built and operated. We’re looking for engineers who want to take on hard problems and help make a new generation of world-changing hardware possible.
🏢 About the role
Nominal is scaling the teams that bring our platform to market: Commercial Sales, Government BD, Mission (FDEs), Solutions Architects, Customer Success, RevOps, and Enablement. How we hire, develop, and organize those teams over the coming years will have a direct impact on the pace and health of our growth and team.
We're looking for a People Business Partner to be the strategic people partner to our Growth organization. You'll work hand in hand with Growth leaders on org design, workforce planning, performance management, talent development, compensation, engagement, inclusion and more. Not only will you meet the needs of the moment, but you’ll also build the infrastructure to match a quickly-scaling commercial team. You’ll partner closely with Talent, Finance, Business Operations, and the rest of the People team. This is a first-of-a-kind opportunity at Nominal, so it will be up to you to set the tone for what excellence looks like.
This is a high-ownership role for someone who has scaled a go-to-market org before and knows that great sales cultures are designed, not inherited.
🚀 What you'll do
- Be a trusted partner to Growth leaders: Advise on org design, team structure, spans and layers, and the leadership capacity each team needs as it scales. Bring a strategic point of view, not just a process. You should be a trusted thought partner.
- Plan and shape hiring: Build workforce plans with Talent and Finance, define hiring profiles and leveling for sellers, forward-deployed engineers, solutions architects, and other roles, and make sure new hires ramp quickly, learning technical skills and integrating into the culture.
- Run performance and development: Lead performance cycles and calibrations for the Growth org using Nominal's performance framework. Help managers handle quota-carrying performance with clarity and fairness, from coaching to difficult exits.
- Partner on compensation: Work with RevOps and Finance on sales comp plans, OTE benchmarking, leveling, promotions, and equity refreshes so we pay competitively and reward the right behavior.
- Develop great managers: Build programs that help first-time and experienced managers lead well, from onboarding and ramp to feedback and career growth.
- Handle employee relations with care: Manage sensitive issues and investigations with sound judgment, discretion, and fluency with multi-state and multi-national employment requirements (incl. California).
- Use data to get ahead of problems: Track engagement, attrition, ramp time, and hiring velocity. Spot risks early and bring leaders options before issues surface.
- Build programs that scale: Turn what works in Growth into playbooks the whole company can use, and use AI tools to make People operations faster and more self-serve.
🔍 We're looking for someone with
- 6+ years in People Business Partner or HR roles, including 3+ years supporting sales or go-to-market teams at a high-growth B2B technology company.
- Experience scaling through hypergrowth: You've supported an org that doubled or more, and you've built the structure and programs that kept it healthy.
- Deep understanding of sales organizations: You know how quotas, ramp, territories, and comp plans affect seller performance and morale.
- Strong employee relations judgment: You handle complex, sensitive situations calmly and ideally know California employment law well.
- A data-driven approach: You use people data to diagnose problems and make recommendations leaders act on.
- Influence and directness: You earn trust with senior leaders, tell them what they need to hear, and drive work through people who don't report to you.
- A builder's mindset: You're comfortable creating programs from scratch and moving between strategy and hands-on execution.
⚡ Skills that supercharge us
- People partner experience at high-growth companies or startups
- Supporting teams that sell to U.S. government and defense customers
- Experience supporting international team expansion
- Hands-on experience designing sales compensation plans
- Fluency with modern HRIS and people analytics tools
✨ Benefits/perks
- 🏥 100% coverage of medical, dental, and vision insurance
- 🏖️ Unlimited PTO and sick leave
- 🍽️ Free lunch, snacks, and coffee
- 🚀 Professional Development Stipend
- 🛠️ In-office hardware lab with a $250 project stipend
- ✈️ Annual company retreat
- 👶 12 weeks parental leave
- 🌱 Fertility and family planning ($15,000 lifetime)
- 💪 Wellness stipend ($100/month)
- 🛠️ $500/year hardware sensor stipend
- 💼 401(k)
- 📈 Employee-friendly equity terms
- 🏢 In-office 5 days per week
All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, or national origin.
ITAR Requirements
To conform to U.S. Government export regulations, applicant must be a (i) U.S. citizen or national, (ii) U.S. lawful, permanent resident (aka green card holder), (iii) Refugee under 8 U.S.C. § 1157, or (iv) Asylee under 8 U.S.C. § 1158, or be eligible to obtain the required authorizations from the U.S. Department of State. Learn more about the ITAR here.
Compensation
The base pay range for this role is $150,000 – $210,000 per year.
