Principal HR Business Partner (Chicago)

At Agoda, we bridge the world through travel. Our story began in 2005, when two lifelong friends and entrepreneurs, driven by their passion for travel, launched Agoda to make it easier for everyone to explore the world.  

Today, we are part of Booking Holdings [NASDAQ: BKNG], with a diverse team of over 7,000 people from 90 countries, working together in offices around the globe. Every day, we connect people to destinations and experiences, with our great deals across our millions of hotels and holiday properties, flights, and experiences worldwide.

No two days are the same at Agoda. Data and technology are at the heart of our culture, fueling our curiosity and innovation. If you’re ready to begin your best journey and help build travel for the world, join us.

The People Team is a purveyor of opportunity, searching the globe for the most talented individuals and offering them an open, collaborative workplace. By prioritizing skill and potential, we have cultivated a powerful assembly of professionals through our drive for equal opportunity and diversity. We make the move to Agoda a breeze with assisted onboarding programs, and we continue to support and enrich our thousands of Agoda employees through individual growth with outstanding learning programs and various means of assistance. Our development of incredible benefits has ensured everyone can stay strong, healthy, and happy during their time at Agoda. Leading ambitious changes and making a positive impact in the lives of our employees, the People Team is a crucial and rewarding part of Agoda.

We’re looking for a Senior Manager or Principal, HR Business Partner (HRBP) to lead the People agenda for our North America Region. In this high-impact role, you’ll be a trusted advisor to Agoda’s Commercial teams, helping drive revenue growth by building high-performing, customer-focused teams and strengthening key B2B partnerships.

You’ll spend about 40% of your time on strategic partnering and talent management, with the remainder focused on performance management, employee relations, people operations, and learning & development. You’ll work hands-on with leaders and employees, balancing big-picture thinking with practical day-to-day support.

• Partner as a senior advisor to regional leaders and managers, shaping business and people strategies through a deep understanding of goals, team culture, and talent needs to drive commercial success.
• Shape and deliver a People Roadmap that aligns with both company-wide and local business priorities.
• Lead and influence cross-functional initiatives that support business transformation and organizational growth.
• Anticipate business needs and implement proactive, scalable HR solutions that add long-term value.
• Use data and insights to inform decisions, measure impact, and provide actionable recommendations (e.g., retention, engagement, performance trends).
• Lead talent identification, development, and succession planning to build a strong leadership pipeline.
• Support organizational design, workforce planning, and change management to keep Agoda agile and competitive.
• Drive effective change management and communication for key business initiatives, ensuring smooth transitions and high engagement.
• Manage, in partnership with People Centre of Expertise, employee relations cases, ensuring fair and timely resolution, and provide guidance on complex or sensitive matters.
• Oversee people operations, including onboarding, policy guidance, and compliance with local labor laws.
• Drive learning and development initiatives to build skills and support career growth.
• Mentor and coach HR colleagues and business leaders, building people leadership capability across the region.
• Champion a culture of feedback, continuous learning, and high performance.
• Ensure strong governance, compliance, and risk management in all people practices.

This is a hands-on, high-impact role for someone who enjoys both strategic work and rolling up their sleeves to get things done.

• Bachelor’s Degree in Human Resources or a related field is required.
• 8–10 years of progressive HR experience, including 3–5 years in a senior HRBP/HR leadership role, and a minimum of 5 years operating across North America (United States, Canada, LATAM) with demonstrated familiarity with federal, state/provincial labour laws, cross‑border employment practices, and compliance obligations.
• Demonstrated experience embedding People and culture into business leadership, ideally at scale and in a fast-paced, global environment.
• Ability to flex between company-wide strategy and tailored solutions for specific region, with a strong business partnership mindset.
• Skilled at aligning and connecting HR functions, building strong relationships, and driving collaboration across teams.
• Expertise in leadership effectiveness, engagement, talent management, rewards, succession planning, and organizational design.
• Experience in workforce planning, organisational agility, and leading large-scale change/transformation initiatives across multiple markets.
• Outstanding ability to communicate with influence, use data to inform decisions, and engage stakeholders at all levels.
• Ability to cope well with ambiguity and change.
• Willingness to get hands-on and tackle operational HR tasks as needed. Especially during transformation. You’re not afraid to roll up your sleeves and support the team wherever needed to drive results.

• Fluency in written and spoken English, with strong communication skills to effectively convey complex information.

• Curiosity, ready to challenge current practices and perspectives.
• Experience creating and rolling out people programs or ways of working that make the company a better place to work and help teams perform at their best.
• Great sense of ownership and reliability.
• Multicultural or International Experience.
• Humility, flexibility, good interpersonal skills.

There are a variety of factors that go into determining a salary range, including but not limited to external market benchmark data, geographic location, and years of experience sought/required. In addition to a competitive base salary, roles are eligible to be considered for an annual bonus.

The range for  the Chicago area is 141,000-166,000.

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At Agoda, we pride ourselves on being a company represented by people of all different backgrounds and orientations. We prioritize attracting diverse talent and cultivating an inclusive environment that encourages collaboration and innovation. Employment at Agoda is based solely on a person’s merit and qualifications. We are committed to providing equal employment opportunity regardless of sex, age, race, color, national origin, religion, marital status, pregnancy, sexual orientation, gender identity, disability, citizenship, veteran or military status, and other legally protected characteristics.

We will keep your application on file so that we can consider you for future vacancies and you can always ask to have your details removed from the file. For more details please read our privacy policy.

We do not accept any terms or conditions, nor do we recognize any agency’s representation of a candidate, from unsolicited third-party or agency submissions. If we receive unsolicited or speculative CVs, we reserve the right to contact and hire the candidate directly without any obligation to pay a recruitment fee.