Mara Steinberga
Riga
Summary
Highly accomplished Global Strategic People Business Partner with over 7 years of leadership experience in HR and Operations. Expertise includes leading complex HR functions, designing scalable people strategies, and leveraging analytics to improve business outcomes across multi-country settings. Mara combines deep operational knowledge with strategic HR leadership, having successfully scaled organizations, significantly reduced attrition, and modernized HR infrastructure.
Overview
16
16
years of professional experience
1
1
Certification
Work History
Global People Business Partner
Bolt
11.2022 - Current
- Managed global people strategy and executed large-scale HR projects for a fast-paced, multi-country technology business, reporting directly to the Head of People Business Partnering with a dotted line to VP-level business leaders.
- Strategic & Organizational Design: Dedicated a substantial portion of time (35%) to leading people strategy and organizational design projects. This included operating in a matrixed environment with 20+ dotted-line HR partners and leading project-based HR squads for global program launches.
- Performance and Engagement Transformation: Focused 25% on talent management and performance programs. This resulted in significant operational improvements, elevating Performance Review Completion from 0% to 78% for frontliners and 100% for office staff. Achieved substantial Engagement Uplift (51% for frontliners, 81% for office staff). Launched a Top Talent Development Program aimed at reducing attrition.
- Data-Driven Attrition Reduction: Utilized workforce analytics (15% focus) to execute targeted, data-driven interventions, successfully reduced Attrition by 25 percentage points (pp) for frontliners and 12pp for office staff in two years.
- Key Projects: Introduced global people programs for the frontline workforce, rebuilt the performance cycle and competency framework, and implemented Job Architecture for all roles in 2025.
- HR Influence: Elevated HR influence through analytics-driven decision-making and cross-functional collaboration with VPs and Directors in Ops, Finance, and Legal (15% leadership advisory).
Chief of People & Culture
SmartLynx Airlines
10.2020 - 09.2022
- Provided HR strategy and leadership (40% of time) for this international aviation company, leading a team of 19 HR professionals and reporting directly to the CEO.
- High-Growth Scaling: Led the HR strategy that enabled the scaling of the workforce from 65 to 300 in under 12 months during major post-Covid-19 expansion.
- Operational Efficiency: Focused 20% on Recruitment, Onboarding, and HR operations. Deployed HireVue, cutting recruitment cycles dramatically (Time-to-Hire reduced by 18%).
- Culture & Talent Infrastructure: Dedicated 20% to Culture, Engagement, and Internal Communications, achieving a 7% YoY Engagement increase and establishing a Talent Academy (10% L&D focus).
Safety Manager Roles
SmartLynx Airlines Group
12.2017 - 10.2020
- Safety Manager (Malta): Established safety and emergency frameworks for a new subsidiary and successfully guided the IOSA audit (Apr 2019 – Oct 2020).
- Safety Manager (Riga): Implemented Fatigue Risk Management System (FRMS), enhanced Safety Management System (SMS) processes, and directed Emergency Response Organisation (ERO).
Earlier Operational & Support Roles
SmartLynx Airlines, airBaltic
01.2010 - 01.2017
- Progressed through various operational, safety, security, and management roles, providing a deep, foundational understanding of core business needs and crisis leadership.
- Safety & Security Specialist, SmartLynx Airlines (2014-2017).
- Station Manager (Interim), SmartLynx Airlines, Madrid (2015).
- Crew Support Specialist, airBaltic (2012-2013).
Education
MBA - Organisational Psychology & HR Management
Turība University
01.2022
Master's - Public Relations
Turība University
01.2018
Bachelor's - Business Administration
BA School of Business and Finance
01.2012
Skills
- Strategic HR Leadership
- People Operations & Systems
- Talent & Organizational Development
- Digital HR Transformation
- Workforce Analytics
- Full Employee Lifecycle Management
Certification
- Advanced AI Tools for Business and Daily use, Latvian University, 2025
- Project Management with Practicum, Komercizglītības Centrs, 2018
- Human Factors in Aviation, AERTI TAMO, 2018
Language Proficiency
Latvian: Mother tongue
English: Fluent (Writing: 5/5, Verbal: 5/5)
Russian: Average (Writing: 1/5, Verbal: 3/5)
Timeline
Global People Business Partner
Bolt
11.2022 - Current
Chief of People & Culture
SmartLynx Airlines
10.2020 - 09.2022
Safety Manager Roles
SmartLynx Airlines Group
12.2017 - 10.2020
Earlier Operational & Support Roles
SmartLynx Airlines, airBaltic
01.2010 - 01.2017
Master's - Public Relations
Turība University
Bachelor's - Business Administration
BA School of Business and Finance
MBA - Organisational Psychology & HR Management
Turība University
https://www.linkedin.com/in/mara-steinberga-93199894/
Leadership & Personal Qualities
- Strategic Advisor: Empathetic, influential, and a trusted advisor to senior leadership, translating business strategy into effective people solutions.
- Analytical & Structured: Highly analytical and structured, utilizing data to inform strategy and possessing a strong problem-solving orientation.
- Adaptable: Able to navigate complexity and ambiguity with confidence in fast-paced, high-growth, multi-country environments.
- Collaborative Leader: Excellent communicator with strong stakeholder-management capability; inspiring alignment across diverse teams.
Tech Stack
- HRIS: Workday
- Recruitment (ATS): Greenhouse, HireVue, SageHR, Brighthire
- Performance Mgmt: Leapsome, Lattice
- Data Analytics: OneModel, Excel/Google Sheets
- L&D Platforms: Seismic Learning, Docebo, Moodle
- Project Management: Jira, Monday
- Communication: Slack, Confluence