Meet Ken Sensanbaugher
Fortune 500 Experience for Growing Companies
Ken Sensanbaugher brings more than 30 years of HR leadership experience at Honeywell, Cummins, and JB Poindexter to small and medium-sized businesses. He founded KNS Associates to give leaders direct access to executive HR judgment without requiring a full-time hire.
Work directly with an experienced HR executive who understands how people decisions affect performance, risk, and growth.
Where Ken’s Experience Comes From
Every credential below was earned inside operating businesses, leading HR under real pressure.
Honeywell and Cummins
Ken built his career in top American firms like Honeywell and Cummins, leading HR across complex global workforces, demanding operating environments, and high leadership standards. He learned HR gains its seat by strengthening the business.
Global HR Transformation Leadership
Ken has redesigned organizations, modernized HR functions, and guided leadership teams through change that reached every part of the business. That work is the backbone of the transformation consulting KNS offers today.
Chief Human Resource Officer, JB Poindexter
Ken serves as CHRO and VP of HR and Administration at JB Poindexter, owning the full people agenda at the executive level. It is the view from the top of the function, where HR strategy and business strategy are the same conversation.
Master of Industrial and Labor Relations, Cornell University
Ken has a Master of Industrial and Labor Relations from Cornell University, which influences his daily work in employee relations, labor relations, and organizational design.
Why Ken Sensanbaugher Founded KNS
What Ken kept hearing from owners and CEOs was consistent: people problems were the ones they felt least equipped to handle, and the executive help they wanted did not exist in a form that made sense for their size. A full-time CHRO is out of reach for most, and going without means the CEO absorbs the people agenda on top of everything else.
The fractional model resolves that tension. Ken keeps a small number of direct client relationships and puts three decades of hard-won judgment to work for companies that could never justify it full-time.
How Ken Works With Clients
Based in the Houston area, KNS serves clients nationwide. Ken works on-site with client leadership teams when needed and remotely when appropriate.
Business First, HR Second
Each engagement begins with the company’s strategy, growth plans, and risks. The people agenda is then built around what the business needs to accomplish.
Straight Answers
Ken provides a clear executive perspective, including when the recommendation may differ from what leadership expected to hear.
Capability, Not Dependency
The work strengthens leaders, HR teams, and internal processes, enabling the organization to operate with greater confidence and independence.
What It’s Like to Work With KNS
KNS is built around direct access to an experienced HR executive, not layers of consultants or account managers.
- Direct access to Ken from the first conversation onward
- Executive presence in your leadership meetings when you want it
- Discretion on sensitive matters, from succession to employee relations
- Plain-English recommendations with a clear point of view
- On-site in the Houston area, remote nationwide, or a mix of both
- A defined scope, cadence, and set of priorities agreed up front
Talk Directly With Ken
Talk with Ken about the workforce challenges facing your business. Get an honest executive perspective and determine if KNS Associates is the right fit.
Frequently Asked Questions
Yes. KNS is built around direct access to Ken. He leads every engagement personally, from the initial conversation through ongoing executive support. Nothing is handed off to a junior team.
Both. KNS is based in the Houston area, and Ken works on site with client leadership teams as well as remotely with clients nationwide. The right mix is agreed during scoping and can change as the engagement evolves.
Small and medium-sized businesses from $1M to $500M in revenue, across industries. Most are in a season of growth, transformation or leadership change, and want executive HR judgment beside them as they navigate it.
Where to Go Next
How We Work
The engagement process, from the first conversation to ongoing executive support.
Learn MoreOur Services
Fractional and interim executive HR leadership, advisory work and defined projects.
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Bring Ken the people challenge in front of you and get an honest executive read.
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