Director, Culture and Engagement

Crinetics is a pharmaceutical company based in San Diego, California, developing much-needed therapies for people with endocrine diseases and endocrine-related tumors. We were founded by a dedicated team of scientists with the simple belief that better therapies developed from rigorous innovation can lead to better lives. Our work continues to make a real difference in the lives of patients. We have a prolific discovery engine and a robust preclinical and clinical development pipeline. We are driven by science with a patient-centric and team-oriented culture. Crinetics is known for its inclusive workplace culture. We are also a dog-friendly workplace. This is an exciting time to join Crinetics as we shape our organization into the world’s premier fully-integrated endocrine company from discovery to patients. Join our team as we transform the lives of others.

Position Summary

The Director of Culture and Engagement role involves shaping, promoting, and maintaining the organization's workplace culture to align with its mission, values, and business goals. This role is pivotal in ensuring that the company fosters an environment where employees are motivated, aligned with the organization’s mission, and empowered to contribute to its success. This role requires a combination of deep expertise in Engagement principles, data-driven insights, and practical experience driving cultural change. The Director of Culture and Engagement will report directly to the Vice President of People and Culture. This role offers the opportunity to shape the engagement and inclusion strategy at a global scale, ensuring alignment to culture and values while enabling strong business performance.

Essential Job Functions And Responsibilities

These may include but are not limited to:

Culture Development and Strategy

• Collaborate with leadership to define the desired organizational culture and align it with the company's strategic objectives.
• Design, implement, and maintain programs that promote and reinforce a strong, values-based company culture aligned with the organization’s mission to improve patient lives.
• Build and scale new programs and processes, identifying best practices, sharing insights, and upskilling HR and business partners.
• Identify and address culture-related challenges and opportunities, using data and employee feedback to inform action plans.
• Ensure seamless integration of culture across all departments or significant organizational changes.
• Embed the company’s mission and values into daily operations, decision-making processes, and employee behavior.
  
  

Employee Engagement and Experience

• Develop and execute an enterprise-wide engagement strategy that fosters a sense of belonging, collaboration, and motivation.
• Lead initiatives, such as pulse surveys, focus groups, and listening sessions, to measure and improve employee engagement and satisfaction.
• Partner with HR and business leaders to implement action plans based on engagement survey results.
• Partner with Total Rewards to create programs to celebrate employee achievements and reinforce desired cultural attributes.
• Develop and oversee initiatives to enhance employee engagement, morale, and retention.
  
  

Inclusion and Belonging

• Drive efforts to drive and enhance a welcoming and inclusive workplace.
• Lead the development of strategies that drive innovation and align with business goals.
• Collaborate with Talent Acquisition, Talent Development, and HR Business Partners to integrate culture and inclusion throughout the employee lifecycle—from hiring to promotions to talent development.
• Organize training sessions to promote awareness of unconscious bias, cultural sensitivity, and other topics that drive inclusion and innovation.
  
  

Metrics and Evaluation

• Establish and monitor key performance indicators (KPIs) for culture-related goals, such as employee satisfaction, turnover rates, and engagement scores.
• Use data insights to refine and improve culture initiatives over time.
• Recognize and support the unique challenges of a biotech workforce, such as high-stress research environments or fast-paced innovation cycles.
• Other duties as assigned.
  
  

Required

Education and Experience:

• 12 years of experience in human resources or a related field, with a focus on culture and engagement related strategies and implementation.
• Bachelor's degree in business, Organizational Development, HR Management, or a related field.
• Experience interfacing with senior executives and influencing business leaders to adopt inclusion initiatives.
• Proven experience in program strategy and delivery, with the ability to measure and communicate results to leadership.
• Experience leading change management initiatives and driving continuous improvement.
• Analytical mindset with the ability to interpret data and translate insights into actionable plans.
• Ability to lead organizations through ambiguity and driving change in a dynamic environment.
• Ability to influence and collaborate with leaders at all levels of the organization.
• Strong cross functional collaboration
• Proven track record of using Engagement and HR data to develop strategies that drive change and improvement.
• Client-facing experience with excellent communication and listening skills, both verbal and written, to present sophisticated data to diverse audiences.
• Excellent communication skills, with the ability to convey complex data and concepts in an accessible manner.
• High level of organizational and program management skills with a focus on execution.
• Passion for fostering inclusion and developing diverse talent pipelines.
• Strong understanding of DEI principles and the ability to integrate these into business strategies.
• Experience working globally
  
  

Preferred

• MBA or advanced degree preferred – years of experience will take into consideration advanced degree.
• Industry Certifications such as HCI Strategic DEI, HCI Strategic HR Business Partner, SHRM-SCP, SPHR, SHRM-CP, PHR, PMI Agile, PROSCI Change Management Certification, or other related certifications (a minimum of one)
  
  

Physical Demands And Work Environment

Physical Activities: On a continuous basis, sit at desk for a long period of time; intermittently answer telephone and write or use a keyboard to communicate through written means. Some walking and lifting up to 25 lbs. may be required. The noise level in the work environment is typically low to moderate. The physical demands described above are representative of those that must be met by an employee to successfully perform the essential functions and responsibilities of this job. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions and responsibilities.

Travel

You may be required to travel for up to 10% of your time.

The Anticipated Base Salary Range: $186,000 - $233,000

In addition to your base pay, our total rewards program consists of a discretionary annual target bonus, stock options, ESPP, and 401k match. We also provide top-notch health insurance plans for employees (and their families) to include medical, dental, vision and basic life insurance, 20 days of PTO, 10 paid holidays, and a winter company shutdown.

The final salary offered to a successful candidate will be dependent on several factors that may include but are not limited to the type and length of experience and education. Crinetics Pharmaceuticals is a multi-state employer, and this salary range may not reflect positions that work in other states. Your recruiter can share more about the specific salary range during the hiring process.

Equal Opportunity Employer

Crinetics is proud to be an Equal Opportunity Employer. We provide equal employment opportunities to all employees and employment applicants without regard to unlawful considerations of sex, sexual orientation, gender (including gender identity and/or expression), pregnancy, race, color, creed, national or ethnic origin, citizenship status, religion or similar philosophical beliefs, disability, marital and civil union status, age, genetic information, veteran status or any personal attribute or characteristic that is protected by applicable local, state or federal laws.

Vaccination Requirement

Following extensive monitoring, research, consideration of business implications, and advice from internal and external experts, Crinetics requires that all employees and contractors be fully vaccinated and have received the COVID-19 vaccines as a condition of employment. “Full vaccination” is defined as two weeks after both doses of a two-dose vaccine or two weeks since a single-dose vaccine has been administered. Anyone unable to be vaccinated, either because of a sincerely held religious belief or a medical condition or disability that prevents them from being vaccinated, can request a reasonable accommodation.