Alena Reva

Total Rewards • People Operations • Talent • Org Design • M&A | Biotech • Tech • Climate Tech

Contact Me Newton, MA (Greater Boston)  •  linkedin.com/in/alenareva  •  alenareva.com

Executive Summary

Total Rewards, Talent and People Operations executive with 20+ years in HR and 15+ years as a people manager across biotech, tech, and climate tech. Expert in scaling HR and Talent through hypergrowth, M&A integration, and organizational restructuring, with deep executive compensation and Board Compensation Committee experience. Proven track record of implementing data-driven HR solutions that reduce costs, increase revenue, and build high-performing cultures across multicultural teams.

Core Differentiators

• Pre-commercial biotech: Deliver competitive Total Rewards and employee experience under sustained budget pressure. Board Compensation Committee partnership; annual org strategy reviews with proposals on leveling and compression.
• Hypergrowth scaling: Built HR infrastructure through 300% YoY growth at XL Fleet post-SPAC, including SOX compliance, equity program redesign, and ITAR for federal contracts.
• Global scale and complex geography: Led HR across 15 countries and $15M+ budget at a leading global cybersecurity firm. Diagnosed and fixed a recruitment crisis — slow hiring, low offer acceptance, high attrition — through redesigned employee experience, benefits, and employer brand; reduced attrition by 27%. Delivered 11% regional budget reduction via compensation and benefits redesign.
• Cross-stage capabilities: M&A integration across 20+ countries and three industries; org design through growth and contraction; hands-on AI implementation across People Operations.

Areas of Expertise

Total Rewards & Analytics: Total Rewards Strategy • Executive Compensation • Board Comp Committee • Equity Programs • Benefits Design • People Analytics • Predictive Modeling

Org Design & Transformation: Organizational Design • Workforce Strategy • Hypergrowth Scaling • M&A Integration • Restructuring • Change Management

Technology & AI: HR Tech Architecture • Process Automation • AI Implementation • Data-Driven Decision Making • HRIS Integration

Talent & Culture: Executive Search • Talent Acquisition • Performance Management • Employee Experience • Leadership Development • Cross-Cultural Teams

Professional Experience (last 12 years)

Foghorn Therapeutics  •  Cambridge, MA

Public biotechnology company developing precision medicines for patients with genetically defined cancers.

Report to Chief People Officer. Team of 6 (including 3 TAs) at start; 1 direct report post-restructuring.

Partner with CEO and Leadership Team on org design and workforce strategy through both growth (100 to 170 employees) and a 2023 restructuring that eliminated approximately 60 positions following clinical trial closures. Conduct annual org strategy reviews with proposals on leveling and salary compression.

Total Rewards & Board Compensation Committee

• Own Board Compensation Committee prep: work directly with the Board compensation advisor, design analysis narrative, and orchestrate communication.
• Oversee complete compensation function: grade systems, salary surveys, executive compensation, annual compensation review within budget.
• Achieved full automation of compensation calculations, analysis, and budgeting processes.
• Secured Board approval for company 401(k) match through data analysis and structured presentation.
• Manage benefits strategy in pre-commercial biotech: stay within budget annually while maintaining strong employee satisfaction. Support Leadership Team decisions with multi-scenario proposals that model both financial and employee satisfaction impact using historical data. Example: for 2026 renewal amid industry-wide premium spikes, delivered 4 scenarios with cost and satisfaction projections.

People Operations, HR Technology & AI

• Rebuilt People Operations, Total Rewards, and Talent Acquisition infrastructure, cutting functional operating costs by ~9% ($200–250K annually) through improved efficiencies and reduced reliance on external agencies.
• Evaluating and implementing AI tools for recruiting, performance, learning, and org analytics. Prototyped internal HR dashboards, candidate-screening workflows, and employee-experience tools using AI-assisted development (Claude Code, Claude, ChatGPT).
• Member of company AI Committee, driving innovation in People Operations.
• Built HR technology stack (Workable, LinkedIn Recruiter, BetterComp, Lattice) supporting data-driven decision making.
• Created HR dashboards in Power BI and SharePoint for leadership team decision-making.
• Established SOPs ensuring operational excellence and compliance.

Talent, Performance & Employee Relations

• Designed talent acquisition processes for both hypergrowth and optimization periods, adjusting pipeline strategy to labor market conditions.
• Manage comprehensive performance management including annual reviews and semi-annual talent cycles.
• Manage employee relations and HR compliance in partnership with Legal team.
• Lead executive search for VP-level roles, partnering directly with hiring executives and the Board where applicable.

Spruce Power (formerly XL Fleet)  •  Boston, MA

Public electric vehicle technology startup focused on fleet electrification solutions.

• Led People Operations, Technology, M&A integration, and change management during 300% YoY headcount growth (200 to 600+ employees in 18 months) across 5 state locations. Team of 3 direct reports.
• Led HR side of SOX compliance implementation following SPAC merger, establishing audit-ready processes and controls.
• Led M&A due diligence and integration analysis for acquisition targets; developed org design strategy and scalable HR infrastructure for 3–5 year growth trajectory.
• Led comprehensive Total Rewards strategy including compensation structure redesign and equity program overhaul; redesigned equity program and implemented Fidelity as provider.
• Led benefits broker transition, improving employee satisfaction through eNPS methodology.
• Built headcount budgeting and workforce planning with predictive analytics.
• Managed HR compliance with ITAR regulations for federal contracts; served on COVID-19 Response Team.
• Temporarily led IT/Cybersecurity operations and built business case for in-house IT department.
• Led executive search for VP- and Director-level roles during rapid scaling.

Kaspersky Lab  •  Woburn, MA  •  2013 – 2021

Private global cybersecurity firm, $700M+ revenue, 4,000+ employees across 30+ countries.

Progressed through regional HR leadership with expanding scope. Final role covered 800+ employees across 15 countries with $15M+ payroll and benefits budget.

• Led comprehensive compensation and benefits redesign across European organization, standardizing programs and rationalizing vendors; delivered ~11% reduction in regional C&B budget (€200K annually).
• Led org design and workforce strategy for Digital Business Unit, increasing revenue while reducing workforce costs.
• Developed and maintained multi-year org design strategy across expanding regional scope.
• Led executive search for senior leadership roles across multiple geographies.
• Created Female Empowerment Initiative: increased senior leadership diversity by 40% and women's representation in technical/cybersecurity roles by 15%.
• Diagnosed and fixed regional recruitment crisis — slow hiring, low offer acceptance, high attrition — through redesigned employee experience, benefits, and employer brand; reduced attrition by 27%.
• Established permanent HR Technology department, championing data-driven HR practices.

• Principal HRBP to Chief Business Officer for $200M global business.
• Led M&A due diligence and integration across 20+ countries.
• Implemented new sales compensation structure supporting growth and productivity.

Past employers: Heineken, Renaissance Capital, Societe Generale.

Professional Recognition & Industry Leadership

• Conference Speaker: CompCon — thought leader on compensation strategy and analytics.
• WorldAtWork Total Rewards Conference — presenter on total rewards transformation and technology.
• LinkedIn influencer with 12,000+ followers on HR technology, total rewards, and organizational transformation.

Technical Competencies

HRIS & People Systems: SuccessFactors • ADP • SAP • Taleo • PeopleSoft • Lattice

Analytics & Reporting: Power BI • Tableau • Python • SharePoint • Excel Advanced

AI & Development: Claude Code • Claude • ChatGPT • Prompt Engineering

Talent Acquisition: Ashby • Greenhouse • Lever • LinkedIn Recruiter • Workable

Compensation & Benefits: Payfactors • Payscale • BetterComp • Fidelity (Equity)

Education & Certifications

M.S., International Industrial Management | Baltic State Technical University, St. Petersburg, Russia | 2004

Professional Certifications: Agile Organization Certification, McKinsey & Company • Strategy Development Certification, Boston Consulting Group • Design Thinking Certification, Treehouse Innovation

Specialized Training: California Employment Law • European Employee Relations • Employment Law: Israel & UAE