Who We Are
Applied Materials is the global leader in materials science and engineering solutions that are at the foundation of virtually every new semiconductor chip and advanced display in the world. The equipment that we create and service is essential to advancing AI and accelerating the commercialization of next-generation semiconductor chips. Join us and push the boundaries of materials science and engineering in a company at the foundation of the electronics industry. The work we do together advances the world’s technology.
What We Offer
Salary:
$200,000.00 - $275,000.00
Location:
Santa Clara,CA
You’ll benefit from a supportive work culture that encourages you to learn, develop, and grow your career as you take on challenges and drive innovative solutions for our customers. We empower our team to push the boundaries of what is possible—while learning every day in a supportive leading global company. Visit our Careers website to learn more.
At Applied Materials, we care about the health and wellbeing of our employees. We’re committed to providing programs and support that encourage personal and professional growth and care for you at work, at home, or wherever you may go. Learn more about our benefits.
We are the leader in materials engineering solutions that are at the foundation of virtually every new semiconductor and advanced display in the world. The solutions we create are essential to advancing AI and accelerating the commercialization of next-generation chips.
For more than 55 years, our innovations have improved the lives of billions of people around the globe who may never know us by name, but who rely on us every day as they interact with technology.
The world’s brightest minds—visionaries, engineers, scientists—bring their expertise in materials engineering and come together at Applied with a collection of diverse opinions, experiences and backgrounds.
We deliver material innovation that changes the world.
Role
The Senior Director, HR Business Partner leads the HR partnership for SPG’s Central Functions – Engineering, Operations, Strategy, and Corporate Quality – based in Santa Clara, CA. This role sits at the center of the SPG HR leadership agenda, partnering directly with senior executives across multiple central functions to shape organization design, talent strategy, and workforce decisions that enable current and future enterprise performance.
Given the breadth of functions supported, this role requires the ability to flex across distinct functional cultures – engineering, operations, strategy, and corporate quality – while maintaining a single, coherent enterprise-wide HR strategy. This is a senior level role requiring the leadership of a global team of HR Business Partners and HR professionals, including management of Director-level HRBPs, and the ability to operate with credibility and influence at the most senior levels of the organization
Key Responsibilities
Strategic Business Partnership
- Serve as a core, trusted member of the Central Functions leadership team’s talent agenda – proactively shaping business strategy through a people and organization lens rather than responding after decisions are made.
- Build strong, credible relationships with senior executives across Engineering, Operations, Strategy, and Corporate Quality, positioning HR as an equal contributor to business and functional planning discussions.
- Represent an enterprise-wide HR perspective across multiple central functions, aligning function-specific priorities with broader SPG and enterprise HR strategy.
- Act as the connective layer across otherwise distinct functions, ensuring consistent HR strategy and standards even as functional priorities and cultures differ.
Data, Insight & Decision Support
- Leverage enterprise-wide workforce and business data to generate insight, identify emerging risks, and anticipate organizational issues across multiple functions before they escalate.
- Bring fact-based, data-supported recommendations to executive discussions on workforce planning, organizational health, and talent decisions spanning Engineering, Operations, Strategy, and Corporate Quality.
- Synthesize cross-functional workforce trends into a coherent narrative for senior HR and business leadership.
Organization Design & Talent Strategy
- Shape org design, global workforce planning, and succession strategy to ensure Central Functions have the structure, capacity, and capability to meet current and future business goals.
- Partner with Talent Acquisition, Total Rewards, and Talent Management COEs to build integrated talent strategies aligned to the distinct needs of Engineering, Operations, Strategy, and Corporate Quality.
- Lead organizational change initiatives, including restructuring, integration, and workforce transitions, across multiple central functions with rigor and discipline.
- Ensure critical engineering, operations, and quality capability needs are reflected in enterprise workforce and succession planning.
Leadership Coaching & Influence
- Influence leadership behavior and decision-making without formal authority, building trust quickly across diverse stakeholders and adapting style to context, culture, and audience – including highly technical and quality-driven functional cultures.
- Serve as a thought partner to the most senior leaders in Central Functions on organizational and talent risk.
Execution & Team Leadership
- Convert HR and business strategy into disciplined execution plans with clear ownership, milestones, and measurable outcomes across a large, distributed, multi-function organization.
- Lead, develop, and hold accountable a global team of HR Business Partners and HR professionals – including Director-level HRBPs – supporting the Central Functions population, ensuring clear direction, strong bench strength, and consistent standards of execution.
- Remain effective and clear-headed as scope, ambiguity, and organizational complexity increase across multiple functions with differing priorities and operating rhythms.
Qualifications
Required
- Bachelor’s degree in human resources, Business, Organizational Psychology, or a related field; advanced degree (MBA or MS/MA in HR/OD) preferred.
- 15+ years of progressive HR experience, including substantial experience as a strategic HR Business Partner to senior executives in a large, global, matrixed organization, with a track record of increasing scope and seniority.
- Demonstrated experience leading and developing a global team of HR Business Partners and HR professionals, including managing Director-level HRBPs, with accountability for results across a large, multi-function employee population.
- Proven track record shaping organization design, workforce planning, and talent strategy across multiple functions (e.g., Engineering, Operations, Strategy, Quality) in a technology, semiconductor, or advanced manufacturing environment.
- Strong analytical capability, with experience using workforce and business data to drive executive-level decisions across a multi-function organization.
- Demonstrated ability to coach and influence senior executives, including experience delivering candid feedback that changes leader behavior at the most senior levels.
- Experience balancing enterprise-wide priorities against function-specific or regional interests, with sound judgment on when and how to escalate tension.
- Demonstrated ability to adapt style and approach across distinct functional cultures, including highly technical (Engineering), operationally driven (Operations), analytically-oriented (Strategy), and compliance-driven (Corporate Quality) environments.
Preferred
- Prior HR leadership experience within a global semiconductor, capital equipment, or high-tech manufacturing company.
- Experience supporting engineering, operations, or quality/compliance-oriented functions through significant growth, restructuring, or M&A integration.
- Experience operating within a shared-services or Center-of-Excellence HR model (e.g., partnering with Talent Acquisition, Total Rewards, People Analytics COEs).
- Experience supporting corporate strategy or quality functions, with an understanding of the distinct workforce and regulatory considerations each brings.
To succeed in this role requires a capacity for complexity and temperament that includes:
- Manages multiple concurrent workstreams (org design, talent reviews, restructuring, executive coaching) without losing quality or follow-through.
- Adjusts approach in real time as business priorities, org structure, or leadership shift, without becoming reactive or losing strategic focus.
- Comfortable holding multiple, sometimes competing, stakeholder perspectives (SPG leadership, enterprise HR, regional teams) simultaneously and finding workable paths forward.
- Stays composed and even-keeled under pressure, including during layoffs, escalations, or leadership conflict.
- Brings candor without defensiveness — delivers difficult messages to executives directly, then moves forward constructively.
- Shows patience with ambiguity and organizational pace, while maintaining urgency on outcomes that matter.