Talent Coaching Specialist at Toptal | HR Career in Columbus
Career & Market Insight
Work-life balance signals are positive: Fully remote with no stated fixed hours and a distributed team culture suggests reasonable autonomy. The role is individual-contributor focused (not managerial), which can mean less meeting overhead and more focused deep work.
Career development value: This role sits at the intersection of HR, talent operations, and professional coaching — a growing niche as more companies build remote talent networks. Skills you'll develop include:
- Performance management and remediation at scale
- Coaching methodology (1:1, group, asynchronous formats)
- Data-informed decision-making in people operations
- Cross-functional collaboration in a fast-paced, distributed environment
Market positioning: HR Business Partner and talent coaching roles typically command $60,000–$90,000 USD at this experience level in the US market. Toptal's lack of salary disclosure is a mild yellow flag — clarify compensation early. On the other hand, Toptal's brand recognition in the tech freelance space is strong, which is a meaningful resume asset.
Culture signals: The structured 30/60/90-day onboarding plan is a green flag — it indicates a mature, process-driven team. The emphasis on "entrepreneurial" and "continuous improvement" suggests a growth-stage culture within an established company. The explicit call for individual contributors who don't "just tell others what to do" signals a lean, high-ownership team.
One watch-out: Limited upward mobility is implied — the one-year milestone is becoming a subject matter expert, not a team lead. Discuss career ladder clarity in your interview.
Toptal is a global network of top talent in business, design, and technology that enables companies to scale their teams, on-demand. With $200+ million in annual revenue and team members based around the globe, Toptal is the world's largest fully remote workforce.
We take the best elements of virtual teams and combine them with a support structure that encourages innovation, social interaction, and fun. We see no borders, move at a fast pace, and are never afraid to break the mold.
The Toptal network includes thousands of top Engineers, Designers, Finance experts, Project Managers, and more from over 100 countries, working with leading companies on mission-critical projects.
The mission of the Talent Coaching team is to ensure the Toptal talent network is performing at its highest level and delivering the highest-quality client service. In joining this team, you will have the opportunity to coach world-class talent from around the globe. You will play a critical role in meeting a clearly established business need, and you'll grow with our team as we develop and hone our operating processes, measure results, and scale to serve thousands of talents.
You will join an entrepreneurial team of career and professional coaches. You will coach talent who have demonstrated performance issues, with the goal of returning each one to good standing. You'll also deliver workshops and individual coaching sessions to prevent performance and communication issues.
This is a remote position. We do not offer visa sponsorship or assistance. Resumes and communication must be submitted in English.
Responsibilities
The following information is intended to describe the general nature and level of work being performed. It is not intended to be an exhaustive list of all duties, responsibilities, or required skills.
- Provide ongoing coaching support for our talent, along with actionable advice on their project management skills, communication, and professionalism.
- Work with talent on a one-on-one basis to address and remediate performance issues with coaching and well-curated resources.
- Investigate talent's past performance to determine their status within the network.
- Review interview recordings to make sure the talent complies with the platform's terms.
- Help design and execute live webinars or associated group coaching sessions.
- Evaluate inbound coaching requests; prioritize and determine which coaching method (e.g., face-to-face, technical, group, online learning, etc.) is most appropriate based on strategic guidelines and available data.
- Document coaching activities to help us measure impact and scale programs in an ROI-positive manner.
- Monitor existing and emerging processes, identifying creative opportunities for increased efficiency and effectiveness of Talent Coaching team operations.
In the first week, expect to:
- Onboard and integrate into Toptal.
- Develop an understanding of the talent's journey on the platform.
- Become familiar with the various platforms and systems Talent Coaching utilizes to offer timely and exceptional support to Toptal talent.
- Learn the structures and capabilities of the talent-facing teams at Toptal, with a particular focus on understanding the goals, processes, and ongoing projects within the Talent Coaching team.
In the first month, expect to:
- Internalize best practices and common pitfalls for talent as they execute projects.
- Learn the various data points available to help Talent Coaching assess a coaching need, prioritize the case, and determine the optimal support.
- Shadow coaching conversations with talent to become familiar with our talent, their needs, and coaching techniques to support talent development.
- Provide performance feedback and coaching to talent face-to-face over Zoom and via email and Slack.
In the first three months, expect to:
- Provide front-line coaching support on common coaching needs.
- Collaborate with cross-functional teams to provide specialized coaching support, when appropriate.
- Review interview recordings to ensure the talent complies with the platform rules, and coach them on the rules.
- Curate and enhance existing resources to share with talent.
- Prepare talent for interviews.
- Help process and prioritize requests for coaching.
In the first six months, expect to:
- Provide coaching support for complex productivity issues.
In the first year, expect to:
- Act as a subject matter expert on the Talent Coaching role.
Requirements
- Bachelor's Degree is required.
- 3+ years of experience in performance management, in-house coaching, or HR business partner roles. Experience working with technical talent (e.g. Developers, Designers, etc.) or an understanding of technical skill sets is a bonus.
- Customer-centric communication: must be an exceptional communicator with outstanding video chat, Slack, and email etiquette, and serve as an advocate for talent.
- Ability to handle feedback sessions while staying objective and steering talent towards productive action.
- Action-oriented coaching style: ability to distill numerous feedback data points and a detailed talent response down to a clear, actionable plan for talent to execute.
- Decision-making with limited data: able to expertly follow a process and, when faced with limited data, make decisions that align with team goals and priorities.
- Resourcefulness: self-starter who thrives on the freedom and accountability that comes with being part of a distributed workforce.
- Adaptability: able to learn and adapt to rapidly evolving processes and priorities.
- Passion for changing the way organizations build teams and how the world's top talent finds opportunities.
- Commitment to continuous improvement and openness to receiving challenging feedback.
- Must be a world-class individual contributor — you will not be here just to tell other people what to do.