---
title: 'Head of People (Senior Director) at Tonal'
canonical: 'https://feeny.ai/job/head-of-people-senior-director-tonal-san-francisco-8znbb0hc47rc'
type: 'job'
last_seen: '2026-10-16'
---

# Head of People (Senior Director) at Tonal

- **Company:** Tonal
- **Location:** San Francisco, CA
- **Employment:** full-time
- **Work type:** hybrid
- **Posted:** 2026-10-13
- **Last confirmed live:** 2026-10-16
- **Apply:** https://jobs.ashbyhq.com/tonal/f29bdb8b-701f-4f91-b749-b4571f74dd4e

## Job description

The Opportunity This is a rare seat: lead People at a category-defining connected fitness company at an inflection point. As Head of People, you’ll own Tonal’s entire People & Culture function across corporate and retail teams. Reporting to the CFO and partnering directly with the CEO and executive team, you’ll shape Tonal’s talent philosophy, compensation and equity, and culture for its next phase of growth, and build the team to deliver it.

This role is hybrid in San Francisco (primary), open to candidates based in Austin or New York, and fully remote candidates.

## What You Will Do

- People strategy & org design. Own Tonal's People strategy and roadmap with the CFO and executive team, and lead org design and workforce planning in step with the budget and headcount plan.
- Talent. Lead talent acquisition, employer brand, performance management, and manager and leadership development. Build the pipeline of leaders Tonal needs next.
- Total rewards. Own Tonal's compensation, benefits, and equity philosophy and programs across corporate and retail populations. Partner closely with Finance and support the board on executive compensation and equity.
- Culture & communications. Shape a high-performance, values-driven culture, measure and act on employee sentiment, and own people communications.
- People operations & compliance. Run scalable, compliant People operations in the US and Canada, covering HRIS and people systems modernization, people analytics, policy, and employee relations, including wage-and-hour for the hourly workforce.
- Workplace. Own the workplace experience across Tonal's hubs, including facilities, offsites and events, and physical safety.
- Lead the team. Lead and develop the ~10-person People team as a hands-on player-coach.

## Qualifications

- 10+ years in HR, including 4+ years leading a full People function.
- Experience at a venture- or PE-backed, high-growth company; consumer hardware, connected fitness, or health tech a plus.
- Has designed compensation and equity programs at a late-stage private company and worked with a board or compensation committee.
- Strong command of US federal, state, and local employment law, including multi-state wage-and-hour for hourly and retail employees, and Canadian employment law.
- Has modernized HR systems and uses people analytics.
- Bachelor’s preferred; MBA or MS in HR a plus.

Personal Characteristics

- A business leader first: understands how Tonal makes money, brings a point of view on talent, cost, and organization to the executive table, and pushes back when it matters.
- Raises the bar on talent and holds leaders accountable, with the judgment and discretion to handle hard people situations well.
- Hands-on and data-driven: rolls up their sleeves and uses data to make decisions and measure what works.
- Earns trust quickly and unifies teams, with drive and urgency balanced by humility and humor.

At Tonal, we believe that the unique and varied lived experiences of our teammates contribute to our overall strength. We don’t just appreciate differences, we celebrate them, and we always seek people that represent a wide variety of backgrounds. We’re dedicated to adding new perspectives to the team and designing employee experiences that contribute to your growth as much as you do to ours. If your experience aligns with what we’re looking for (even if you don’t check every single box), send us your application. We would love to hear from you!

Tonal is committed to meeting the diverse needs of people with disabilities in a timely manner that is consistent with the principles of independence, dignity, integration, and equality of opportunity. Should you have any accommodation requests, please reach out to us via our confidential email, accessibility@tonal.com. All requests will be addressed and responded to in accordance with Tonal’s Accessibility Policy and local legislation.

## About Tonal

## Company Overview
- **One-liner**: Tonal develops a smart home gym system that uses digital resistance, electromagnets, and AI to provide personalized strength training.
- **Entity Type**: Private (Venture Capital-backed; Series F completed in 2023; latest debt round in March 2026)
- **Headquarters**: San Francisco, California, USA
- **Founded**: 2015
- **Founders**: Aly Orady (Founder & Advisor; former CEO and CTO)

## Core Business
- **Primary industry**: Smart fitness equipment / Recreational goods (connected home gym hardware & subscription software)
- **Target customers**: B2C – individuals and households seeking home strength training
- **Mission / purpose statement**: “Help everyone find their inner strength” and “make strength training accessible to all”

## Products & Services
- **Tonal Smart Home Gym**: A wall-mounted unit with digital weight resistance (up to 200+ lbs), touchscreen display, sensors, and AI-powered coaching. Replaces free weights, barbells, and cable machines.
- **Tonal Membership**: $59.95/month (12-month commitment) – includes personalized workout programs, automatic weight adjustment, advanced lifting modes (e.g., Drop Sets), form feedback, progress tracking, and unlimited user profiles per household.

## Market Standing
- **Valuation / Market Cap**: Not publicly disclosed. Post-money valuation from earlier rounds is unknown; the latest round (Debt – $20M in March 2026) carries no valuation.
- **Key Metric (Private)**: Total funding raised ≈ **$678M** as of March 2026 (includes Series A through Series F and debt).
- **Notable Investors**: L Catterton (operating partner Todd Bartee joined as CEO), Sapphire Ventures, Team Builder Ventures, NextEquity Partners, Skip Capital, Big Loud Capital, and over 55 total investors.
- **Growth Signals**: 
  - New CEO Todd Bartee (Feb 2026) brings scaling expertise from L Catterton portfolio companies.
  - New CFO Hayden Tollas (Sept 2025) from Gap Inc. / Old Navy.
  - Debt financing of $20M in March 2026 indicates continued capital to support operations or growth.
  - Headcount of ~393 employees (as of mid-2026).
  - Active patent filings (e.g., drop set mode, form feedback, reserve estimates).

## Competitive Advantages
- **Digital resistance technology**: Uses electromagnets and real-time algorithms to adjust weight in 1‑lb increments, eliminating physical plates and racks.
- **AI‑driven personalization**: Automatically learns user strength and recommends adjustments; advanced modes (e.g., drop sets) that would require manual intervention in traditional gyms.
- **Compact, all-in-one design**: Fits in a home environment while delivering a full strength-training gym experience.
- **Proprietary IP**: Dozens of active patents covering digital exercise devices, form feedback, and resistance control.

## Strategic Focus
- **Scaling the consumer brand**: New CEO Todd Bartee aims to drive profitable growth and expand market reach, leveraging his DTC and consumer goods experience.
- **Product & content innovation**: Continued investment in software features (form feedback, new lifting modes) and content (workout programs, coaching).
- **Financial discipline**: Bringing in a CFO with retail/omni-channel background suggests focus on unit economics, profitability, and possible retail expansion.

## Why Work Here
- **Mission-driven culture**: “Tight-knit group of builders, thinkers, coaches, creators” dedicated to transforming fitness.
- **Work environment**: Hybrid/office presence in San Francisco HQ, New York Studio, and Toronto office. Bi-weekly catered team lunches, stocked kitchens, and a Tonal loaner program for employees.
- **Benefits**: Competitive salary, top-tier health care, commuter benefits, parental leave, mental health support, retirement savings, flexible time off, and Tonal discounts for employees and their families.
- **Inclusive atmosphere**: Emphasis on diversity and belonging; “welcome talented people with unique perspectives.”
- **Engineering & product focus**: Opportunities across hardware, software, data, and content teams; exposure to cutting-edge AI/ML and IoT.

## Sources
1. [tonal.com](https://tonal.com/pages/about) – Company overview, leadership, mission
2. [tonal.com](https://tonal.com/pages/careers) – Culture, perks, benefits
3. [pitchbook.com](https://pitchbook.com/profiles/company/125615-62) – Funding history, headcount, investor list
4. [tonal.com](https://tonal.com/) – Product details, membership pricing
5. [jobs.ashbyhq.com](https://jobs.ashbyhq.com/tonal) – Current job openings

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