Vice President, People & Culture
Description
Position Summary:
The Vice President, People & Culture is a key member of Sutro Biopharma’s executive leadership team, reporting directly to the CEO. This role provides strategic leadership and oversight of all human resources operations, ensuring alignment with the company’s mission, culture, and long-term business goals. As a people-first organization, the VP will lead initiatives across talent acquisition, career development, engagement, retention, organizational effectiveness, and employee experience — while maintaining compliant, scalable, and people-centered HR policies and practices that support a high-performing, inclusive culture.
The ideal candidate brings a strong track record of building and scaling high-impact People functions within dynamic, growth-focused organizations. You will serve as a trusted advisor and business partner to the executive team, providing guidance on organizational design, talent strategy, leadership development, change management, and workforce planning. In support of Sutro’s commitment to learning and development, this leader will also design and implement performance management and career development frameworks to nurture internal talent and enable long-term growth.
Embracing technology, process improvement, and a high level of teamwork and collaboration is embedded in Sutro’s culture. We rely on lean management systems and data-informed decision-making to drive organizational performance. The VP will play a key role in guiding Sutro’s culture of continuous improvement and innovation, helping to maintain our technology leadership while supporting expansion into new markets and service lines.
As a culture champion, the VP will help shape and sustain a “Best Place to Work” environment through employer branding, recognition programs, DEI initiatives, and career pathing aligned with Sutro’s mission and values. This role will also serve as a strategic thought partner to senior leaders—leveraging market insights and best practices to continuously evolve recruitment and retention strategies in alignment with business needs.
Key Responsibilities
How You Will Make An Impact
- Continue development of the P&C Business Partner role through strategic P&C management, data-driven decision-making, employee experience, talent management, and effective collaboration
- Design, build, and implement a performance management process and assessment design that ties to the goals and metrics of the company
- Designing and facilitating learning experiences that unlock the potential for new levels of leadership and innovation.
- Design and collaborate with organizational leaders to implement world-class employee experience through journey mapping and elevating touchpoints
- Evolve talent acquisition and retention practices.
- Lead employment branding, creating programs and opportunities for employees to develop their careers and professional and management competencies
Duties and Responsibilities
- Collaborate with executive leadership to support the organizational mission and vision through talent management, people & culture planning, and organization development needs
- Evolve key performance indicators for the organization’s people and talent management, and assess the organization’s success and market competitiveness based on these metrics
- Lead people strategies, ensuring processes, culture, communication practices, and programs create an outstanding employee experience
- Evolve the design and management of the performance management process to correspond and align with the organization’s annual goals and accomplishments
- Leadership development and coaching - Program Design and Ownership
- Designing and facilitating learning experiences that unlock the potential for new levels of leadership and communication.
- Maintain rigorous compliance standards vital to the business, its performance, and its reputation as a premier provider across employment, benefits, insurance, safety, laws, and other regulations and requirements
- Establish data analysis protocols for reliable reporting on HR results, recruitment, retention, engagement, learning and development, and succession planning
- Advance competitive compensation, benefits, performance appraisal, and employee incentive programs
- Perform other duties as agreed upon
Management Responsibilities
- Manages, coaches, and develops direct reports, optimizing and scaling the P&C department structure and composition to align with the company's goals
- Recruits, interviews, hires, and trains management-level P&C staff
- Oversees the daily workflow of the department
- Provides constructive and timely performance evaluations
- Oversees discipline and termination of employees per company policies
Education and Experience Qualifications
Education:
- Bachelor’s Degree in Human Resources, Business Administration, or related field required
- Master’s degree is highly preferred
Required Experience:
- At least ten years of human resource management experience is required, with strategic talent management and team development
- Knowledge in the fields of HR, Talent Development, and Change Management
- Knowledge of California employment-related laws and regulations
- Experience with HRIS systems, tools, and best practices
Ideal Experience:
- Leadership development and coaching - Program Design and Support
- Organization Development
- Culture Evolution
- Change management
- Employee Engagement and Experience Design
- Certifications: SHRM-CP, PHR, SPHR, or SHRM-SCP are highly preferred
Professional Qualifications
- Demonstrated success in scaling organizations, aligning talent acquisition strategies with both high-growth business and culture objectives
- Strength in data analytics and skilled in using data analytics to develop insights and drive decisions
- Successful experience in developing programs for career development, performance reviews, recruiting, and succession planning
- Experience in change management and organizational development
- Excellent verbal and written communication skills
- Exceptional project management skills and demonstrated ability to manage multiple priorities
- Excellent interpersonal and conflict resolution skills
- Excellent organizational skills and attention to detail
- Thorough knowledge of employment-related laws and regulations
- Knowledge of and experience with varied human resource information systems
- Expert proficiency with Microsoft Suite, SharePoint, ADP Workforce Now, ATS and related software
Success Attributes
- Proven Organizational Coach
- Exceptional leadership and management style
- Embodies Sutro’s core competencies
- Strong sense of accountability and work ethic, with outstanding follow-up and organizational skills
- Strategic thinker and skilled problem-solver
- Inspirational, hands-on executive who leads from the front and builds a strong, positive culture
- High emotional intelligence and self-awareness, fostering positive energy and passion for the organization
- Creative and adaptable in developing effective strategies to achieve goals and drive results
- Demonstrates integrity, trustworthiness, and authenticity
- Exercises sound judgment with consistent ethics, discretion, and diplomacy
Sound exciting? Apply today and join our team!
Sutro Biopharma, Inc. encourages all colleagues to be fully vaccinated for COVID-19 prior to the first date of employment.
As an equal opportunity employer, we believe in fostering a culture that is inclusive and values diversity in background and opinions. Sutro Biopharma hires extraordinary individuals into every position in the company and is committed to the diversity of our team. Our company progresses without regard of race, ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, religious belief, age, disability, or citizenship status. We are dedicated to creating a safe environment where our employees can grow and succeed together.
To recruiting firms: Sutro Biopharma does not accept agency resumes and solicitations from third-party agencies. Please do not forward resumes to our hiring managers or employees. Sutro Biopharma is not responsible for any fees related to unsolicited resumes.
The anticipated salary range for fully qualified candidates applying for this role at Sutro Biopharma’s California based locations will be $345,000 - $370,000 (not including bonus, equity, and benefits). The base salary offered will vary depending on the market, job-related knowledge, skills and capabilities, and experience.
About Sutro Biopharma
Sutro Biopharma, Inc., is relentlessly focused on the discovery and development of precisely designed cancer therapeutics to transform what science can do for patients. Sutro’s fit-for-purpose technology, including cell-free XpressCF®, provides the opportunity for broader patient benefit and an improved patient experience. Sutro is advancing a robust early-stage pipeline of novel exatecan and dual-payload antibody drug conjugates (ADCs), coupled with high-value collaborations and industry partnerships, which validate its continuous product innovation. Sutro is headquartered in South San Francisco. For more information, follow Sutro on social media @Sutrobio, or visit www.sutrobio.com.