People Partner, Engineering & Product

ABOUT THE ROLE

We’re looking for a seasoned People Partner to partner with our Engineering and Product organization. You’ll work with leaders at all levels across Infrastructure, Inference, Applied Research, Applied AI, Product Engineering, and Product Management. These are some of the most technically pioneering groups in the company, and you’ll spearhead many exciting problems alongside the team from a people lens.

You won’t come in with a playbook or a pre-defined problem. You’ll identify what matters, shape a point of view from the roadmap and the people on the ground, and take ownership of making it happen.

WHAT YOU’LL DO

• Serve as an embedded, trusted advisor to Eng and Product leadership, with deep context on roadmaps, team structure, and where the org is stretched. Surface risks and opportunities early and challenge leaders candidly on the highest-leverage problems.

• Partner with leaders and Recruiting to protect the talent bar, calibrating on role scope, leveling, and what “great” looks like across engineering, research, product, and design.

• Work with senior leadership to shape how we develop and enable managers in this org, building the practical coaching, frameworks, and support that help first-time and newly hired managers lead well.

• Shape performance and growth approaches that work for different roles and groups across technical teams, including clear leveling expectations, fair calibration, and career paths for both IC and management tracks.

• Equip leaders to hire well, set clear expectations, give direct feedback, and navigate change (reorgs, team splits, role and level changes) with clarity and care.

• Use headcount, performance, attrition, and engagement data to flag where talent density needs attention and to identify top talent and flight risks early, informing retention conversations.

• Manage employee relations with sound judgment, recommending pragmatic, business-appropriate resolutions and knowing when to coach, act, or escalate, while reinforcing company-wide values.

WHAT WE’RE LOOKING FOR

• 5–8 years of progressive HR experience, with meaningful time as an HRBP or People Partner supporting engineering, product, or R&D organizations, ideally in a high-growth tech or AI environment

• Genuine fluency in how technical orgs operate (team structures, IC vs. management paths, what motivates engineers, researchers, and PMs) and the ability to speak that language directly with leaders

• Experience partnering with all levels of management, from VP+ leaders to first-time managers

• Demonstrated experience coaching and developing managers directly and often. This is a high-touch part of the role

• Strong judgment in employee relations: knowing when to coach, when to act, and when to escalate

• A highly analytical, first-principles mindset: comfortable using data to diagnose root causes and building simple, scalable approaches over heavyweight process

• Familiarity with compensation and leveling for technical talent, including equity and competitive market dynamics

Why Fireworks?

• Solve Hard Problems: Tackle challenges at the forefront of AI infrastructure, from low-latency inference to scalable model serving.