Senior People Programs Specialist

About Vanta

At Vanta, our mission is to help businesses earn and prove trust. We believe that security should be monitored and verified continuously, and we empower companies to practice better security and prove it with ease. Vanta has a kind and talented team, and while some have prior security experience, many have been successful at Vanta without it.

As a Senior People Programs Specialist at Vanta, you will execute and scale core people programs across performance, feedback, career growth, and talent planning to help Vanta’ns drive impact and enable leaders to make data-informed decisions. This role sits on one of Vanta’s newest teams within the People org and plays a key role in building and running talent management programs at scale.

The People Programs team builds and operates Vanta’s company-wide talent management systems that support high performance, career growth, and retention. We create clear, consistent frameworks for performance, continuous feedback, recognition, career progression, and succession planning, and provide leaders with meaningful visibility into talent. We use data and emerging AI tools to improve consistency and support better people decisions across the company.

In this role, you will focus on the execution of Vanta’s people programs and help improve them over time. You’ll manage workflows, tools, and communications for key talent processes, and work closely with People Business Partners and the People Enablement team to ensure programs are well adopted. Your work will help leaders rely on our talent data and ensure employees experience fair, clear, and consistent people processes throughout their career journey at Vanta.

What you’ll do as a Senior People Programs Specialist at Vanta:

• Execute core talent and performance programs (performance cycles, talent reviews, and engagement surveys) by managing timelines, workflows, tools, documentation, and follow-through.
• Own program communications for defined processes, including manager guidance, timelines, and reminders, to ensure clarity and strong adoption.
• Build and maintain dashboards and reports that give People Business Partners and leaders accurate, actionable insights into performance and talent outcomes.
• Run engagement and inter-department surveys, including setup, data quality audits, reporting, and coordination on action planning.
• Support rollout and adoption of feedback, recognition, and career frameworks by integrating them into tools and processes and reducing friction for managers and employees.
• Contribute to Vanta’s AI fluency frameworks and programs and identify opportunities for improvement.
• Partner closely with People Business Partners, People Enablement, and People Operations to support program execution, adoption, and address issues during live cycles.
• Use AI-enabled tools and workflows to improve program efficiency, data quality, and consistency.
• Surface risks, gaps, and insights during program execution and escalate thoughtfully with proposed improvement ideas or solutions.

How to be successful in this role:

• 4+ years of experience in People Programs, Talent Management, Program Management, or a related field, ideally in a high-growth or fast-paced environment.
• Experience executing performance reviews, talent reviews, promotions, feedback systems, or engagement surveys.
• Strong project management skills and the ability to juggle multiple timelines, workstreams, and stakeholders at once.
• Comfort working with data and dashboards to spot issues and improve program effectiveness and adoption.
• Clear written and verbal communication skills, especially when explaining processes or sharing updates.
• A collaborative working style and experience partnering across People teams and with business leaders.
• Comfort navigating ambiguity and improving programs as needs evolve.
• Interest in using AI-enabled tools to improve quality, consistency, and scale. Prior experience is a plus.
• Preferred: Bachelor’s degree in Psychology, Human Resources, Learning and Development, Organizational Development, or a related field.
• Open to using AI to amplify their skills and strengthen their work - demonstrating curiosity, a willingness to learn, and sound judgment in applying AI responsibly to improve efficiency and impact.

What you can expect as a Vanta’n:

• Industry-competitive salary and equity
• Comprehensive medical, dental, and vision coverage, with 100% of employee-only benefit premiums covered for most medical plans
• 16 weeks fully-paid Parental Leave for all new parents
• Health & wellness stipend
• Remote workspace, internet, and cellphone stipend
• Commuter benefits for team members who report to the SF and NYC office
• Family planning benefits
• Matching 401(k) contribution with immediate vesting
• Flexible PTO policy, plus 80 hours of Sick Time
• 11 company-paid holidays
• Virtual team building activities, lunch and learns, and other company-wide events!
• Offices in SF, NYC, London, Dublin, Tel Aviv, and Sydney

Key skills/competency:

• People Programs
• Talent Management
• Performance Management
• Program Execution
• Project Management
• Data Analysis
• Employee Engagement
• HR Operations
• Feedback Systems
• AI Tools (for HR)