People Business Partner

People Business Partner

Location: Sydney, Australia

Job Description:

About Karbon

Karbon is the global leader in AI-powered practice management software for accounting firms. We provide an award-winning cloud platform that helps tens of thousands of accounting professionals work more efficiently and collaboratively every day. With customers in 40 countries, we have grown into a globally distributed team across the US, Australia, New Zealand, Canada, the United Kingdom, and the Philippines. We are well-funded, ranked #1 on G2, growing rapidly, and have a people-first culture that is recognized with Great Place To Work certification and on Fortune magazine''s Best Small Workplaces List.

People Business Partner

Our People team is a high-performing group, deeply committed to our Karbonites and values. We''re looking for a People Business Partner who is commercially sharp, proactively curious, and fluent in both the HR discipline and the AI tools redefining how great HR professionals work. Reporting to the VP of People, this role partners primarily with our Engineering and Product teams, with the opportunity to influence senior leaders, drive performance, and deliver real business insight.

You''re the right partner for us if you walk into every leader conversation already knowing the business context, team health, delivery velocity, attrition signals, engagement trends, and you bring people insights leaders haven''t thought to ask for yet.

This is a hybrid role based near Town Hall station, 3 days per week in-office.

About the Role

• Partner proactively and deeply with the Chief Product Officer and Chief Technology Officer, understanding their delivery model, team dynamics, and metrics well enough to shape the people agenda without being prompted.
• Actively use AI tools and agentic workflows to surface insights, automate routine work, and elevate everything you deliver, from data analysis and reporting to leader prep and project execution.
• Lead and report on complex employment relations matters with clarity, while coaching leaders to own them end-to-end.
• Lead with confidence on modern award interpretation, contract compliance, and WHS, proactively surfacing risk before it surfaces itself.
• Challenge leaders constructively, balancing strong support with the willingness to push back when decisions carry people or business risk, using data and AI-generated insights to back your position when needed.
• Leverage people data and analytics to build narratives that drive leadership alignment. You use AI to go deeper and faster, and bring insights to the table, not just reports.
• Own and drive specific value-add HR projects as needed to continuously elevate our overall people function and offering.
• Be a change champion, guiding and supporting leaders through change when needed.
• Partner closely with People Ops and our Talent Team to deliver a seamless employee experience across the full lifecycle, and contribute to global People initiatives across Karbon''s seven regions.

About You

• 4+ years as an HR Advisor/People/HR Business Partner with a strong HR Generalist foundation.
• Prior SaaS or high-growth tech experience is essential. You understand how Engineering and Product orgs operate and what drives delivery and team health.
• Working knowledge of Australian employment law, Fair Work, modern award interpretation, and WHS.
• A proactive partnering instinct. You don''t wait to be asked. You review data, attend business reviews, and bring people insights before leaders know they need them.
• Demonstrated ability to build credibility at a senior level. You show up as a peer, not a support function.
• Proven ability to challenge leaders constructively. You''re trusted precisely because you''ll push back when it matters, not just validate.
• Data fluency. You build compelling narratives from people data, increasingly powered by AI, that influence strategic decisions.
• Hands-on fluency with AI tools and agentic workflows. You actively use them every day to improve output, automate repetitive work, and move faster.
• A project driver, known for delivering results across multiple initiatives simultaneously without close supervision.
• Experience coaching leaders through org design and workforce planning, and you're also learning how best to coach leaders through the human implications of building AI-augmented teams.
• Unquestioned integrity, high EQ, and personal maturity. You handle sensitive situations with compassion and discretion.
• Genuine curiosity about where AI is taking the future of work, and an appetite to be at the front of that curve.

Why Work at Karbon?

• Gain global experience across USA, New Zealand, UK, Philippines, and Canada
• 4 weeks annual leave plus 5 extra "Karbon Days" off a year
• Flexible working environment
• Work with (and learn from) an experienced, high-performing team
• Be part of a fast-growing company that firmly believes in promoting high performers from within
• A collaborative, team-oriented culture that embraces diversity, invests in development, and provides consistent feedback
• Generous parental leave

Karbon embraces diversity and inclusion, aligning with our values as a business. Research has shown that women and underrepresented groups are less likely to apply to jobs unless they meet every single criteria. If you''ve made it this far in the job description but your past experience doesn''t perfectly align, we do encourage you to still apply. You could still be the right person for the role!

We recruit and reward people based on capability and performance. We don't discriminate based on race, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, lifestyle, age, educational background, national origin, religion, physical or cognitive ability, and other diversity dimensions that may hinder inclusion in the organization.

Generally, if you are a good person, we want to talk to you.

If there are any adjustments or accommodations that we can make to assist you during the recruitment process, and your journey at Karbon, contact us for a confidential discussion.

At this time, we request that agency referrals are not submitted for this position. We appreciate your understanding and encourage direct applications from interested candidates. Thank you!