Senior People Business Partner

sweetgreen is on a mission to build healthier communities by connecting people to real food. We passionately believe that real food should be convenient and accessible to everyone. Every day in each sweetgreen restaurant, our 5,000+ team members make food from scratch, using fresh ingredients and produce delivered that morning. And in our local communities, we’re committed to leaving people better than we found them. We’re in the business of feeding people, and we’re out to change what that means. Our people are our most valuable ingredient — the heart of our company, the face of our brand, and what truly makes the sweetgreen experience special and unique.

The Senior People Business Partner is a key strategic leader on the People Team, serving as a trusted advisor and thought partner to senior Operations leadership. This role drives the development and execution of people strategies that directly support sweetgreen’s growth, partnering seamlessly with Centers of Excellence to build the future of our organization. This is not a “support” seat; it’s a leadership seat.

We are looking for a senior people leader who can think enterprise-first, influence at the VP level, and drive meaningful outcomes across complex, multi-layered organizations. This leader will bring a sharp consultative approach, a data-driven mindset, and the instincts to know when to push, when to coach, and when to escalate. They’ll champion an inclusive culture, lead through ambiguity, and elevate the capability of every leader they touch.

Our mission as a People Team is to obsess over the employee experience to enable sweetgreen employees to do the best work of their lives.

What You’ll Own (Essential Functions of the Role)

• Own and lead workforce planning strategies across multiple levels of Operations leadership, translating business priorities into actionable people plans
• Serve as a strategic advisor to senior leaders (Director through VP level), proactively identifying organizational risks and opportunities before they become problems
• Drive people analytics and storytelling, using data to surface insights, shape strategy, and influence decisions at the executive level
• Lead talent management processes including succession planning, calibration, and high-potential identification; build and maintain a strong internal bench
• Partner with Talent Acquisition and Operations leadership to design and execute a staffing strategy that scales with the business
• Lead complex, high-stakes employee relations investigations end-to-end — from intake through resolution, and provide clear, defensible recommendations
• Serve as a key partner on employment litigation, labor investigations, and regulatory matters, working cross-functionally with Legal
• Translate business insights and trend analysis into retention and engagement strategies with measurable impact
• Coach and develop leaders at all levels on building inclusive, high-performing teams — going beyond the moment to build lasting capability
• Drive and oversee compensation and total rewards programs, including annual salary planning, equity cycles, salary surveys, and benefits administration
• Build and maintain strong cross-functional partnerships that reinforce sweetgreen’s core values and culture at scale
• Champion compliance across all people practices, ensuring alignment with sweetgreen policy and federal, state, and local law
• Lead or co-lead enterprise-wide people initiatives, from design through execution, with accountability for outcomes
• Contribute to the development of company-wide policies, training programs, and frameworks that address evolving people priorities
• Mentor and develop junior People team members, raising the overall bar of the team

Desired Experience

• 8+ years of progressive HR Business Partner experience, with at least 3 years supporting senior or executive-level leaders
• Demonstrated experience building and delivering a People Strategy to VP and above; comfort operating in the room with senior stakeholders
• Deep expertise in organizational design and development, with the ability to translate insights into practical, scalable recommendations
• Significant experience with multi-state employers and large hourly or field-based populations; restaurant or retail industry experience a strong plus
• Track record of successfully leading complex change initiatives in ambiguous, fast-paced environments
• Proven ability to lead end-to-end execution of high-visibility, cross-functional projects
• Experience navigating and resolving sophisticated employee relations matters, including those with legal or regulatory exposure
• Strong executive presence and communication skills, equally comfortable in a board room and a restaurant break room

Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities

• Strategic business partnership, you think like a business leader who happens to be in HR, not the other way around
• Executive-level influence without authority; you move people and priorities without needing a mandate
• Results-driven, with high personal accountability for outcomes and a bias toward action
• Unimpeachable integrity and sound judgment, especially when handling sensitive or confidential matters
• Advanced critical thinking and analytical skills, you don’t just find the answer, you find the right question
• Ability to hold multiple competing priorities simultaneously without dropping the ball or the relationship
• A genuine passion for navigating complex employee relations situations, you don’t avoid hard conversations, you lead them
• Clear, direct, and diplomatic communicator; upward, downward, and laterally
• Deep alignment with sweetgreen’s Core Values and mission; you model the culture you’re building

This role is in-person, based at our New York Support Center. Approximately 20% of time will be spent in our restaurants, with regular travel to field locations across regions.

What you'll get:

• Highly competitive pay + bonus plan
• Three different medical plans to suit your and your family's needs
• Dental and Vision insurance
• Flexible PTO plan
• 401k program
• Employee HSA and FSA
• Complimentary greens
• An opportunity to make a real impact on the people around you, both by growing them and by connecting them to real food
• To live the sweetlife and celebrate your passion + purpose
• A collaborative team of people who live our core values and have your back
• A clear career path with opportunities for development, both personally and professionally
• Free sweetgreen swag

Come join the sweetlife!

About sweetgreen

sweetgreen is on a mission to build healthier communities by connecting people to real food. We passionately believe that real food should be convenient and accessible to everyone. Every day in each sweetgreen, our 3,500 team members make food from scratch, using fresh ingredients and produce delivered that morning. And in our local communities, we’re committed to leaving people better than we found them. We’re in the business of feeding people, and we’re out to change what that means.

sweetgreen provides equal opportunities for everyone that works for us and everyone that applies to join our team, without regard to sex or gender, gender identity, gender expression, age, race, religious creed, color, national origin, ancestry, pregnancy, physical or mental disability, medical condition, genetic information, marital status, sexual orientation, any service, past, present, or future, in the uniformed services of the United States (military or veteran status), or any other consideration protected by federal, state, or local law.

sweetgreen participates in the federal government's E-Verify program to determine employment eligibility. To learn more about the E-Verify program, please click here.