Head Of Talent Jobs in USA with Visa Sponsorship
Head of Talent roles qualify for H-1B visa and O-1 visa sponsorship when the position requires a bachelor's degree or higher in human resources, organizational psychology, or a related field. Employers in tech, consulting, and high-growth startups sponsor most frequently. For detailed occupation requirements, see the O*NET profile.
Find Head Of Talent JobsOverview
Showing 5 of 31+ Head Of Talent jobs
See all 31+ Head Of Talent Jobs
Sign up for free to unlock all listings, filter by visa type, and get alerts for new Head Of Talent roles.
Get Access To All JobsINTRODUCTION
Our mission at Duolingo is to develop the best education in the world and make it universally available. It's a big mission, and that's where you come in!
At Duolingo, you'll join a team that cares about educating our users, experimenting with big ideas, making fact-based decisions, and finding innovative solutions to complex problems. You'll have limitless learning opportunities and daily collaborations with world-class minds — while doing work that's both meaningful and fun.
Join our life-changing mission to develop education for our half a billion (and growing!) learners around the world.
ABOUT THE ROLE
We're hiring a Head of Talent Management Programs & PMO to architect, run, and continuously improve Duolingo's most critical talent systems. Reporting to the Head of Talent Management & Rewards, you will translate people strategy into intuitive, scalable programs and a disciplined operating cadence—spanning performance and promotion frameworks, talent reviews and succession, manager enablement, and the portfolio governance that keeps everything on time and high-quality. You'll build the "through line" across Talent Management and Rewards, with clear metrics and crisp execution that match Duolingo's clock speed.
YOU WILL...
Talent Program Architecture & Strategy
- End-to-End Program Design: Lead the evolution of core talent cycles, including performance management, 360-degree feedback, and promotion frameworks, ensuring they align with a high-performance culture.
- Competency & Career Mapping: Architect standardized competency models and career ladders that provide clear, transparent growth trajectories for all global functions.
- Succession & Talent Readiness: Design and facilitate the talent review process, identifying high-potential leaders and building a data-backed succession pipeline to future-proof the organization.
- Manager Enablement: Partner with cross-functional partners to ensure talent programs provide managers with the tools and insights needed to lead high-performing teams.
Portfolio Leadership & PMO Governance
- Strategic Roadmap Management: Own the TMR integrated roadmap, maintaining centralized visibility into project health, dependencies, and resource allocation to ensure on-time delivery.
- Operational Excellence: Establish and iterate on a "lean" project management methodology that prioritizes speed and impact over administrative overhead.
- Cross-Functional Orchestration: Act as the primary connector between Total Rewards, Talent Acquisition, and Business Leadership to ensure talent initiatives are integrated and cohesive.
Performance Analytics & Insights
- The Talent Dashboard: Develop an enterprise performance framework using key metrics (e.g., promotion velocity, retention, talent density) to measure the ROI of our people programs.
- First-Principles Analysis: Leverage data to conduct root-cause analysis on organizational trends, providing executive leadership with actionable insights to inform policy and resource decisions.
BASIC QUALIFICATIONS
- 8+ years in Talent Management, People Operations and portfolio/program management, including senior-level ownership of company-wide talent programs in fast-paced, product-led or high-growth environments.
- Comfort and curiosity with AI tools as applied to talent program design, analytics, and portfolio management, with a clear sense of where automation accelerates the work and where human judgment remains irreplaceable.
- A proven track record building or leading a PMO, with clear outcomes shipping complex, multi-stakeholder programs on time.
- Depth in modern talent practices: performance systems, org design, competency/career frameworks, succession planning, and manager effectiveness.
- Expert operational rigor with program/project management frameworks and process improvement (e.g., PMP/PgMP/Agile, Lean principles) applied pragmatically.
- Strong data fluency and a product mindset for people analytics—able to design dashboards that tell a story, inform trade-offs, and drive accountability.
- Excellent executive communication and influence; you simplify complexity, align stakeholders, and make crisp, well-reasoned recommendations.
PREFERRED QUALIFICATIONS
- Talent Subject Matter Expertise: Deep understanding of modern talent management theories, including performance psychology, organizational design, and succession modeling.
- Operational Rigor: Expert-level proficiency in project management frameworks (PMP, PgMP, or Agile) and process improvement methodologies (Lean Six Sigma).
- Strategic Influence: Exceptional communication skills with the ability to simplify complex operational challenges for executive stakeholders.
- Data Fluency: A "product mindset" regarding HR data capable of building dashboards that tell a story and drive accountability.
Take a peek at how we care for our employees' holistic well-being with our benefits here.
We will do everything we can within reason to make sure that your interview takes place in an environment that fairly and accurately assesses your skills. If you need assistance or accommodation, please contact accommodations@duolingo.com.
Duolingo is proud to be an Equal Employment Opportunity employer. We do not discriminate based upon race, religion, color, national origin, gender (including pregnancy, childbirth, or related medical conditions), sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, age, status as a protected veteran, status as an individual with a disability, or other applicable legally protected characteristics.
By applying for this position your data will be processed as per the Duolingo Applicant Privacy Notice.
Unfortunately, there is a rise in scammers pretending to be real Duolingo employees. Duolingo and our employees will never ask for your Social Security number, bank details, or passport info, and we'll never ask you to deposit a check, purchase equipment, or exchange money during the interview process. Real Duolingo employees always use an email that ends in @duolingo.com or @recruiting.duolingo.com. Stay alert and double-check these details before sharing any information.
Sign up for job alerts here.
INTRODUCTION
Our mission at Duolingo is to develop the best education in the world and make it universally available. It's a big mission, and that's where you come in!
At Duolingo, you'll join a team that cares about educating our users, experimenting with big ideas, making fact-based decisions, and finding innovative solutions to complex problems. You'll have limitless learning opportunities and daily collaborations with world-class minds — while doing work that's both meaningful and fun.
Join our life-changing mission to develop education for our half a billion (and growing!) learners around the world.
ABOUT THE ROLE
We're hiring a Head of Talent Management Programs & PMO to architect, run, and continuously improve Duolingo's most critical talent systems. Reporting to the Head of Talent Management & Rewards, you will translate people strategy into intuitive, scalable programs and a disciplined operating cadence—spanning performance and promotion frameworks, talent reviews and succession, manager enablement, and the portfolio governance that keeps everything on time and high-quality. You'll build the "through line" across Talent Management and Rewards, with clear metrics and crisp execution that match Duolingo's clock speed.
YOU WILL...
Talent Program Architecture & Strategy
- End-to-End Program Design: Lead the evolution of core talent cycles, including performance management, 360-degree feedback, and promotion frameworks, ensuring they align with a high-performance culture.
- Competency & Career Mapping: Architect standardized competency models and career ladders that provide clear, transparent growth trajectories for all global functions.
- Succession & Talent Readiness: Design and facilitate the talent review process, identifying high-potential leaders and building a data-backed succession pipeline to future-proof the organization.
- Manager Enablement: Partner with cross-functional partners to ensure talent programs provide managers with the tools and insights needed to lead high-performing teams.
Portfolio Leadership & PMO Governance
- Strategic Roadmap Management: Own the TMR integrated roadmap, maintaining centralized visibility into project health, dependencies, and resource allocation to ensure on-time delivery.
- Operational Excellence: Establish and iterate on a "lean" project management methodology that prioritizes speed and impact over administrative overhead.
- Cross-Functional Orchestration: Act as the primary connector between Total Rewards, Talent Acquisition, and Business Leadership to ensure talent initiatives are integrated and cohesive.
Performance Analytics & Insights
- The Talent Dashboard: Develop an enterprise performance framework using key metrics (e.g., promotion velocity, retention, talent density) to measure the ROI of our people programs.
- First-Principles Analysis: Leverage data to conduct root-cause analysis on organizational trends, providing executive leadership with actionable insights to inform policy and resource decisions.
BASIC QUALIFICATIONS
- 8+ years in Talent Management, People Operations and portfolio/program management, including senior-level ownership of company-wide talent programs in fast-paced, product-led or high-growth environments.
- Comfort and curiosity with AI tools as applied to talent program design, analytics, and portfolio management, with a clear sense of where automation accelerates the work and where human judgment remains irreplaceable.
- A proven track record building or leading a PMO, with clear outcomes shipping complex, multi-stakeholder programs on time.
- Depth in modern talent practices: performance systems, org design, competency/career frameworks, succession planning, and manager effectiveness.
- Expert operational rigor with program/project management frameworks and process improvement (e.g., PMP/PgMP/Agile, Lean principles) applied pragmatically.
- Strong data fluency and a product mindset for people analytics—able to design dashboards that tell a story, inform trade-offs, and drive accountability.
- Excellent executive communication and influence; you simplify complexity, align stakeholders, and make crisp, well-reasoned recommendations.
PREFERRED QUALIFICATIONS
- Talent Subject Matter Expertise: Deep understanding of modern talent management theories, including performance psychology, organizational design, and succession modeling.
- Operational Rigor: Expert-level proficiency in project management frameworks (PMP, PgMP, or Agile) and process improvement methodologies (Lean Six Sigma).
- Strategic Influence: Exceptional communication skills with the ability to simplify complex operational challenges for executive stakeholders.
- Data Fluency: A "product mindset" regarding HR data capable of building dashboards that tell a story and drive accountability.
Take a peek at how we care for our employees' holistic well-being with our benefits here.
We will do everything we can within reason to make sure that your interview takes place in an environment that fairly and accurately assesses your skills. If you need assistance or accommodation, please contact accommodations@duolingo.com.
Duolingo is proud to be an Equal Employment Opportunity employer. We do not discriminate based upon race, religion, color, national origin, gender (including pregnancy, childbirth, or related medical conditions), sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, age, status as a protected veteran, status as an individual with a disability, or other applicable legally protected characteristics.
By applying for this position your data will be processed as per the Duolingo Applicant Privacy Notice.
Unfortunately, there is a rise in scammers pretending to be real Duolingo employees. Duolingo and our employees will never ask for your Social Security number, bank details, or passport info, and we'll never ask you to deposit a check, purchase equipment, or exchange money during the interview process. Real Duolingo employees always use an email that ends in @duolingo.com or @recruiting.duolingo.com. Stay alert and double-check these details before sharing any information.
Sign up for job alerts here.
See all 31+ Head Of Talent Jobs
Sign up for free to unlock all listings, filter by visa type, and get alerts for new Head Of Talent roles.
Get Access To All JobsTips for Finding Head Of Talent Jobs
Frame the role as a specialty occupation
USCIS scrutinizes HR leadership roles for specialty occupation status. Emphasize that the position requires a specific degree in human resources, industrial-organizational psychology, or business, not just any bachelor's degree, in your application materials.
Target companies with a sponsorship track record
Tech companies, management consulting firms, and venture-backed startups sponsor Head of Talent roles most consistently. Filtering by employers who have filed H-1B LCAs in prior years significantly improves your chances of landing a sponsoring offer.
Highlight measurable talent outcomes in your resume
Sponsoring employers expect senior-level impact. Quantify results: hiring velocity improved, attrition rates reduced, employer brand rankings gained. Concrete metrics make the specialty occupation argument easier for immigration counsel to support.
Understand the O-1A as a fallback pathway
If you missed the H-1B lottery, the O-1A visa is available year-round with no cap. Heads of Talent with industry recognition, publications, or board memberships may qualify, and approval timelines can be faster than the standard H-1B route.
Align your degree field to the job description
A degree in a tangentially related field, like general business, can weaken an H-1B petition for this role. Ask your prospective employer's immigration attorney to review the job description before it's posted to strengthen the specialty occupation foundation.
Negotiate sponsorship into the offer early
Sponsorship discussions are easier before an offer is extended than after. Raising it early signals professionalism, gives legal teams time to assess feasibility, and avoids delays if the employer needs to engage outside immigration counsel for the first time.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can a Head of Talent role qualify as a specialty occupation for H-1B purposes?
Yes, but it requires careful framing. USCIS expects the position to normally require a bachelor's degree in a specific field, human resources, organizational psychology, or industrial-organizational psychology, not just any degree. Generic HR leadership roles that accept any major can face RFEs. The job description and employer's recruitment history both factor into the analysis.
Which visa types do employers typically use to sponsor Heads of Talent?
H-1B visa is the most common pathway, filed by the employer and subject to the annual cap and lottery. O-1A is an alternative for candidates with demonstrated extraordinary ability, such as speaking at major HR conferences, publishing research, or holding leadership roles in professional associations. L-1A applies if you're transferring from a foreign affiliate of a U.S. company into a senior people leadership role.
What degree do I need to get sponsored as a Head of Talent?
A bachelor's degree or higher in human resources, organizational psychology, business administration with an HR concentration, or a closely related field is standard. A general business or unrelated degree can complicate the H-1B petition unless paired with substantial specialized experience. Some employers will accept equivalent experience under the 3-for-1 rule, though this adds complexity to the petition.
How do I find Head of Talent roles where employers are open to visa sponsorship?
Most job postings don't prominently flag sponsorship willingness, which makes filtering difficult on general platforms. Migrate Mate is built specifically for this, every role listed is from an employer open to visa sponsorship, so you can focus on applying rather than screening. Filtering by role seniority and industry helps narrow to the employers most likely to have immigration infrastructure already in place.
Are approval rates for H-1B petitions in HR leadership roles lower than in tech?
Historically, yes. HR and people operations roles face higher RFE rates than software engineering or quantitative fields because specialty occupation status is less straightforward to establish. Approval rates improve significantly when the petition includes a detailed explanation of why the role requires a specific degree, supported by industry wage data and the employer's internal job architecture documentation.
What is the prevailing wage requirement for sponsored Head Of Talent jobs?
U.S. employers sponsoring a visa must pay at least the prevailing wage, which is what workers in the same role, area, and experience level typically earn. The Department of Labor sets this rate to make sure companies aren't hiring foreign workers simply because they'd accept lower pay than a U.S. worker. It varies by job title, location, and experience. You can look up current prevailing wage rates for any occupation and location using the OFLC Wage Search page.