Compass, the nation’s fastest-growing real estate brokerage, on Thursday said Sara Patterson joined the company as chief people officer.
Patterson was vice president of human resources at Walmart for almost two years before joining New York-based Compass. Prior to Walmart, Patterson was chief people officer at Bonobos, a menswear site Walmart bought in 2017 for $310 million.
“Sara’s experience building and scaling great cultures at some of today’s most recognizable brands uniquely equips her to help Compass deliver a world-class employee experience,” said Compass CEO Robert Reffkin. “I’m excited to partner with her as we look to provide the Compass team with the best and most innovative HR and development strategies.”
Patterson’s hire follows a year in which Compass tripled its product and engineering team in New York City, Washington D.C., Seattle, and Hyderabad, India. There are also some ongoing layoffs: Last month Compass said it was shedding about 40 people, about 1.6% of its 2,500 full-time staff.
Patterson will start on February 10th and become a member of the leadership team.
Compass has made a splash in the last seven years, raising hundreds of millions of dollars from investors such as Fidelity and SoftBank while billing itself as the “first modern real estate platform.”
In late July, Compass announced it raised $370 million in a Series G funding round that included SoftBank and the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board. The investments valued the company at $6.4 billion and sparked speculation it was nearing an initial public offering.
