Senior HR Business Partner, Engineering

Astera Labs (NASDAQ: ALAB) provides rack-scale AI infrastructure through purpose-built connectivity solutions. By collaborating with hyperscalers and ecosystem partners, Astera Labs enables organizations to unlock the full potential of modern AI. Astera Labs’ Intelligent Connectivity Platform integrates CXL®, Ethernet, NVLink, PCIe®, and UALink™ semiconductor-based technologies with the company’s COSMOS software suite to unify diverse components into cohesive, flexible systems that deliver end-to-end scale-up, and scale-out connectivity. The company’s custom connectivity solutions business complements its standards-based portfolio, enabling customers to deploy tailored architectures to meet their unique infrastructure requirements. Discover more at www.asteralabs.com . Role Overview   Astera Labs is seeking a  Senior HR Business Partner  to join our People team in San Jose, CA. In this high-impact role, you will partner directly with engineering organizations—serving as a trusted advisor, coach, and strategic partner to engineering leaders, managers, and employees across our technical teams.   You will bring deep HRBP/Generalist experience, strong employee relations expertise, and substantial knowledge of US labor and employment law to ensure our people practices are both effective and compliant as we scale. This role is critical to supporting the talent strategies, people leader development, and organizational health that enable our engineering teams to deliver world-class AI infrastructure connectivity products.   Key Responsibilities   1. Engineering Partnership & Coaching   Serve as a trusted partner to engineering people leaders, providing hands-on coaching on people management, team dynamics, and leadership effectiveness   Build strong relationships across all levels ensuring employees and managers have accessible, credible HR support   Coach engineering managers on performance conversations, career development discussions, feedback delivery, and navigating difficult team situations   Help translate the unique challenges of semiconductor product development into practical people strategies   2. Employee Relations & Compliance   Serve as the primary point of contact for employee relations matters across supported engineering groups, handling investigations, performance issues, interpersonal conflict, and conduct concerns with professionalism and care   Apply strong knowledge of North America labor and employment law—including federal, state, and local regulations—to advise leaders and ensure compliant, defensible people decisions   Conduct thorough, fair, and well-documented workplace investigations, partnering with Employment Counsel and Legal on complex or high-risk matters   Proactively identify compliance risks and partner with HR Operations to ensure policies, practices, and manager actions align with legal requirements   Stay current on evolving employment legislation and regulatory changes, advising leaders on implications and necessary adjustments   Provide clear, empathetic, and legally sound guidance to managers navigating terminations, leaves of absence, accommodations, and other sensitive situations   3. Talent Strategy & Organizational Effectiveness   Partner with engineering leaders on organizational design, role clarity, and team structure to support product roadmap execution   Lead talent reviews, retention planning, and succession planning for critical technical roles   Support headcount planning and workforce decisions, balancing near-term delivery needs with long-term capability building   Identify talent risks and hotspots early, working proactively with leaders to address retention and engagement challenges   4. Performance Management   Guide leaders and managers through performance cycles, calibration sessions, and compensation reviews with fair, consistent, and well-reasoned recommendations   Ensure performance management practices are applied consistently and in compliance with company policy and legal standards   Partner with Compensation and HR Operations to support equitable pay decisions and address compensation-related concerns   5. Operational Excellence & Scalability   Identify gaps in people processes or manager capability and proactively propose solutions   Partner with HR Ops and Centers of Excellence to simplify, standardize, and scale HR practices as the engineering organization grows   Operate with an owner's mindset—taking accountability for outcomes, not just recommendations   Basic Qualifications   Bachelor's degree in Human Resources, Business Administration, Organizational Development, or related field   8+ years of HR Business Partner experience supporting engineering or technical organizations   Demonstrated experience in supporting engineering organizations   Strong knowledge of North America employment and labor law, including federal and California state regulations (wage and hour, leaves, accommodations, terminations, harassment/discrimination)   Proven track record handling complex employee relations matters, workplace investigations, and sensitive personnel issues   Demonstrated ability to coach managers and build trusted relationships with technical employees at all levels   Strong judgment and comfort operating in fast-paced, ambiguous environments   Clear, confident communicator who can influence and advise engineering leaders effectively   Preferred Qualifications   PHR, SPHR, SHRM-CP, or SHRM-SCP certification   Experience supporting organizations through rapid scaling or hypergrowth phases   Background partnering with engineering teams   Strong analytical skills with experience using people data to inform talent decisions   Track record of developing manager capability and building coaching cultures within engineering organizations   Experience in AI, data center, or connectivity-focused technolo