Jennifer Jaffe

Jen Jaffe is a results-driven Global Chief People Officer with over two decades of experience delivering transformative people and organizational strategies across diverse sectors, including hospitality, e-commerce, consumer goods, and technology for companies up to $1.4B in revenue. She has shaped high-performing cultures in public and private organizations, ranging from multinational to disruptive high-growth brands. Jen is a business-oriented leader who architects integrated people strategies that propel growth, and she consistently aligns culture, executive talent, and compensation with business objectives while leading HR, facilities, IT, and large-scale operational shifts. Jen regularly partners with boards to align human capital strategies and long-term value creation and has stood up and advised Comp and Nom/Gov Committees at public companies. She is the CPO of BJ’s Restaurants and Brewhouse (Nasdaq: BJRI), a 22,000-employee, national, growth-focused casual dining brand. Prior, she joined FIGS as its first CPO after their IPO. She scaled the business by over 30%, delivered $1.7M revenue per employee, launched global expansion into 20+ countries, and reduced turnover by 21%. Before FIGS, she transformed El Pollo Loco’s people strategy during a pivotal turnaround, lowered turnover by 25%, and rebuilt the leadership team, which catalysed same-store sales growth. She worked closely with the board during COVID-19 and supported executive compensation and talent planning. Jen also held executive roles at Estée Lauder’s Too Faced Cosmetics, where she helped lead its $1.45B acquisition and scale the business across 22 countries. She led executive transitions, built equity programs, and professionalized board-level governance processes. At AT&T, post-acquisition of DIRECTV, she directed talent strategy and organizational design for 13,000 employees. Jen serves as an HR Venture Advisory Board Member for SemperVirens Venture Capital, a strategic venture firm that manages $300M in assets, has raised $177M over two funds, and backs early- and growth-stage B2B technology companies. She also serves on the board of Girls Inc. Orange County, a nonprofit that enables 10,000 girls, from kindergarten through college. Jen is an adjunct professor at Claremont Graduate University, where she has instructed graduate and doctoral students in HR and organizational psychology. She is a frequent presenter on leadership development, M&A, and transformation. Jen is an avid tennis player, has run 12 half-marathons, and spends her free time designing jewelry and painting.