Kristen Suess in

Kristen Suess

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Personal goal pursuit at Career Break
📍 North Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada

Kristen is a seasoned HR Business Partner known for scaling high-growth startups. She was instrumental in growing Slack from 300 to 3, 000 employees through its IPO and acquisition and built foundational people programs at Apollo GraphQL. People who have worked with her describe her as thoughtful, compassionate, and proactive.

During a recent career break, Kristen pursued personal goals, including gravel biking adventures. She also dedicated her time to environmental conservation by leading a public pollinator re-wilding project in partnership with the David Suzuki Foundation.

Unique fact: Kristen founded People Up, a consultancy offering resources and services to help job seekers, employees, and employers thrive at work.

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Experience
12 Years
Current Role
Personal goal pursuit
Location
North Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
Personality Overview

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Communication Style
Decision Approach
Work Preference

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Priorities

Topics Kristen cares about

Scaling Startups
She has extensive experience in hyper-growth environments, notably scaling Slack's team tenfold and building pre-IPO people programs at Apollo GraphQL.
Leadership Development
At Apollo GraphQL, she launched the company's first leadership framework and delivered manager training programs, demonstrating a focus on elevating leadership capability.
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Career

Work history

3-2025
Personal goal pursuit
Career Break
8-2023 - 3-2025
Sr Director, People Business Partner
Apollo GraphQL
11-2022 - 8-2023
Principal People Business Partner
Apollo GraphQL
6-2022 - 12-2022
Founder & Consultant
People Up
2-2020 - 2-2022
Director, People (HRBP)
Slack
In the press

Media appearances

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Education
2000 - 2004
Bachelor of Commerce
University of Victoria
2018 - 2018
Graduate Certificate in Executive Coaching
Royal Roads University
Social presence
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Behavioral profile

DISC profile (public)

DISC behavioral profile

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