UK 
United States
There’s no other way to describe Niki Armstrong as anything other than a whirlwind of positivity.
As she strides over to where HR Grapevine is waiting to meet her (she has a spare 30 minute window in-between a packed schedule hosting sessions at a special UK get-together in Woolwich for staff and customers), she’s beaming from ear to ear and bounces along full of energy. Recently, this Chief Legal & HR Officer celebrated eight years with US-headquartered cloud storage company, Pure Storage, but you could mistake the spring in her step as belonging to a person who’d only just joined. “I get to do all the fun stuff,” is her perfectly summarised response as she settles down to start our interview.
We’re meeting because there’s something specific the company is announcing. Nor are there any big milestones or big initiatives being launched. It’s simply because this normally Californian-based HR head is ‘in town’ and expressed an interest to meet – and HR Grapevine is rather glad she did, because quite quickly our talk naturally took on a very different complexion – simply about being a celebration of HR (and why not?)
In some ways, (beyond her just being a bubbly person), this statement is a surprise. Armstrong is a lawyer by background, formerly acting as an in-house legal counsel for the likes of eBay, PayPal and Auction.com. She was even a clerk to a District Chief Judge at the US Department of Labor, and has dealt with more than her fair share of the problems employees create for employers. But when Pure’s former CPO left in 2024, HR responsibilities were given to her (as chief legal officer) – initially on an interim basis, and latterly full-time. But her spin on this is that her legal upbringing is the perfect grounding to be a success in HR. “I’ve always been in employment,” she expertly summarises again, “even as a chief legal clerk I was working with employment teams.” She adds: “In everything I’ve done, my ‘client’ has always been HR. I now just see myself as having 6,100 ‘clients’ [i.e. employees],” she says proudly.
Properly applying process
In previous interviews she’s done with US HR titles, Armstrong says she has confronted all of the many reasons that tend to get companies in trouble. At the root of most of them though, is her observation that problems occur “when [company] processes are not applied fairly or appropriately.” Put the right processes in place, she says, and the culture organisations want will naturally follow.
Taking this to its natural progression, she says it’s her job to lead on this every day, and really ensure that the right working conditions are there in the first place.
In everything I’ve done, my ‘client’ has always been HR. I now just see myself as having 6,100 ‘clients’ [i.e. employees]
“I think the intersection of employment law and HR is a natural one,” she says. “I’m actually seeing a big trend in the US for ‘more’ chief legal officers leaning into taking the HR function too.” She adds: “This is happening particularly in the tech sector. I don’t see legal as an overlay; we serve everyone; all of our employees.”
