Vice President, Talent and Culture

VP, Talent & Culture

Location: US-Remote

Avalara is entering the year it proves its transformation can scale, and none of that scales without the right people, in the right roles, held to a real bar. We're looking for a Vice President of Talent & Culture to own the systems that make that possible: who we hire, how fast our people and leaders get better, and whether the standards we set are the standards we live by. 

Done right, talent density gets measurably higher, and it holds up under review, not just at the hiring stage. Manager effectiveness scores move because managers got better, not because the survey changed. Work gets redesigned so people and agents work together deliberately, and progress is judged by the value it creates. Certification means someone can do the thing, not that they sat through a course. The org chart itself goes AI-native: agent-human manager roles and peer expectations get defined before they cause confusion, not after. Culture and engagement show up in the numbers the same way revenue does, and when they slip, someone catches it and says so before it turns into a bigger problem. And a leadership gap gets flagged while there's still time to close it, not the week it becomes a crisis. 

You'll own talent density and workforce risk, capability and reskilling execution, early careers, and talent mechanisms. This is an enterprise-wide seat. The standards you set apply across all of Avalara, not one business unit or team. It's part strategist, part builder, part coach. You'll set the talent bar for the company, build the standards leaders and People Partners rely on every day, and have real influence over how Avalara wins its next chapter of growth. You'll report to the VP People and partner closely with People Partners, Talent Acquisition, and People Analytics. 

#LI-Remote

What Your Responsibilities Will Be

• Get ahead of risk. You own the early warning system: workforce readiness, organizational health, talent risk. Partner with People Analytics to catch gaps early, and bring a point of view to leadership, not just a report. 

• Set the bar. Decide where performance standards sit, drive calibration and talent review outcomes. 

• Own the standards. The standards Avalara hires, develops, and evaluates against don't live in a dozen disconnected documents. They're one system, and you own making it cohesive. “You'll know it when you see it” doesn't count. 

• Make culture real. Run leadership and engagement as a discipline, not a program. Track manager effectiveness and engagement, including whether it works as well for every part of the workforce as it does on average, with the same rigor the business tracks revenue. Call it out when standards aren't being lived. 

• Direct the capability engine. Own AI reskilling and manager capability, plus the onboarding and leadership development that build it. Own the outcomes, not just the programs. Hold certification to demonstrated application rather than course completion, and make sure Avalara has the skills it needs ahead of the need. 

• Build the AI-native org. The agent-human manager role, new expectations between peers and agents, and what that means for hiring, comp, and internal assessment are yours to define.  

• Lead by example on AI. Use it to build better standards faster, and make sure your own team lives the bar you're setting for everyone else. 

• Enable People Partners. Build what PPs run on, so they focus on their client teams instead of improvising work that should already be standardized. 

• Own Early Careers as a talent strategy, not a summer program. It's where Avalara decides how much of its future bench it builds instead of buys, and where to use that talent strategically. 

• Build the team. Assess honestly, develop real potential, and raise the bar across all five reports, not just the easy ones to evaluate. 

What You'll Need to be Successful

• You've operated at the VP level or equivalent, owning enterprise-wide talent systems end to end, not a single program inside someone else's. 

• You've spent 15+ years in talent management, organizational effectiveness, or workforce strategy, including at least 3 leading enterprise-level functions, and you have a track record of measurably increasing talent density and leadership effectiveness, not just running a talent function that already exists. 

• You've built systems, functions, and standards from scratch, and you can point to what changed in the business as a result. 

• You bring deep expertise in performance management, succession, organizational effectiveness, and workforce planning, at a pace and scale that matches high growth environments. 

• You have strong instincts on org design and talent risk, and you can anticipate what the workforce needs to look like 12 and 24 months out and build toward it now, not react to it later. 

• You've influenced senior leaders and shaped company wide talent decisions, including ones where you had to make the unpopular call. 

• You have direct experience assessing, developing, and, when the evidence says so, replacing inherited talent. 

• You're genuinely fluent in AI and how it's changing the way organizations build, develop, and manage their workforce, with hands on experience applying it to your own work, not just familiarity with the concept. 

• You have a bachelor's degree or equivalent experience. 

• You can pull together leadership expectations, success traits, and performance signals that live in a dozen different places today into one cohesive view of what Avalara hires for, develops for, and assesses against. 

• You think in systems, not symptoms. You start from the actual problem and the root cause, not the nearest fix, and you have the judgment to know when redesigning is worth it and when it isn't. 

Nice to Have 

• Experience in a SaaS, technology, or high growth global company. 

• Background building or scaling talent functions in a public market or public market ready environment. 

• Experience designing and deploying AI enabled workforce systems. 

Avalara is an AI-first Company

AI is embedded in our workflows, decision-making, and products.  Success here requires embracing AI as an essential capability.

• You’ll bring experience using AI and AI-related technologies, ready to thrive here.

• You’ll apply AI every day to business challenges - improving efficiency, contributing solutions, and driving results for your team, our company, and our customers.

• You’ll grow with AI by staying curious about new trends and best practices, and by sharing what you learn so others can benefit too.

How We'll Take Care of You

Total Rewards 

In addition to a great compensation package, paid time off, and paid parental leave, many Avalara employees are eligible for bonuses. 

Health & Wellness 
Benefits vary by location but generally include private medical, life, and disability insurance. 

Inclusive culture and diversity 
Avalara strongly supports diversity, equity, and inclusion, and is committed to integrating them into our business practices and our organizational culture. We also have a total of 8 employee-run resource groups, each with senior leadership and exec sponsorship.