Senior Director People & Culture

Remote (United States)

Job Details

Job Type: Full-time

Department: People & Culture

Reports To: Chief Executive Officer

Salary: $138,000 - $172,000 per year

Position Overview

This opportunity is with a national organization focused on expanding access to civic participation and supporting large-scale, long-term voter registration work in communities of color. The Senior Director of People & Culture will lead people strategy, strengthen core People & Culture operations, and provide steady leadership during a period of growth and organizational change.

This role partners closely with the Chief Executive Officer and senior leadership team to improve performance, accountability, employee relations, culture, and organizational structure. The Senior Director of People & Culture serves as the senior People & Culture authority, helping the function evolve from primarily compliance-driven support into a credible, transparent, and trusted strategic partner for staff and leadership.

The role requires sound judgment, strong executive presence, and the ability to lead complex organizational initiatives with minimal oversight in an environment that is growing in complexity, visibility, and risk.

What You’ll Do

Strategic People & Culture Leadership

• Shape and drive long-term People & Culture strategy in alignment with organizational values, priorities, and goals.
• Consistently deliver results despite obstacles and changing organizational needs.
• Serve as a senior advisor to the Chief Executive Officer and leadership team on people-related strategy, risk, and decision-making.
• Establish clear decision-making frameworks that reduce bottlenecks and over-centralization.
• Champion diversity and inclusion at a strategic level by supporting equitable practices and collaboration across diverse groups.
• Prepare for and present to the Board of Directors as needed.

Employee Relations, Investigations, and Accountability

• Own employee relations strategy, including intake, triage, investigation, and resolution of workplace concerns.
• Design and implement standardized investigation protocols.
• Design and implement standardized corrective action protocols.
• Serve as the escalation point for sensitive employee matters, leadership conduct issues, and compliance risk.
• Ensure bi-directional accountability across staff, managers, and leadership.

Equity, Performance, and Culture

• Lead the design and implementation of equitable performance management systems.
• Lead the design and implementation of equitable promotion and compensation systems.
• Reduce subjectivity by establishing clear rubrics, documentation standards, and timelines.
• Partner with leadership to address systemic inequities and rebuild psychological safety and trust.
• Translate workplace culture assessment findings into actionable and measurable improvements.
• Foster a culture of continuous improvement and resilience.
• Lead by example in receiving, applying, and embracing feedback.

Systems, Policies, Compliance, and Team Leadership

• Own People & Culture policy architecture, standard operating procedures, and governance.
• Serve as the system owner for HRIS governance and data integrity.
• Ensure compliance with employment law, union requirements, and internal standards.
• Directly manage and mentor the People & Culture team.
• Own the budget for the People & Culture function.

Core Competencies

• Growth Mindset: Demonstrated ability to give and receive feedback professionally and gracefully from peers, staff, and supervisors.
• Goal Orientation: Enjoys working toward ambitious goals and has a proven record of creating and managing comprehensive strategic goals.
• Resilience: Willing to overcome obstacles in order to meet goals and drive progress.
• Cultural Competency: Able to build relationships and collaborate with colleagues, partners, and stakeholders across multiple lines of identity difference.
• Problem Solving: Able to stay focused on solutions while balancing multiple priorities in a constantly evolving political environment.

Qualifications

Required Background and Experience

• Progressive HR or People & Culture leadership experience at the senior or executive level.
• Demonstrated success leading HR in complex, high-accountability environments, such as rapid change, high employee relations volume, or labor and employee relations intensity.
• Significant experience in employee relations and workplace investigations.
• Experience handling complex workplace issues and building strong, defensible processes.
• Proven ability to shape and drive strategic people initiatives across an organization with minimal oversight.
• Experience leading People & Culture functions in complex or unionized environments.
• Experience with budget ownership for a People & Culture function.
• SHRM-SCP, SPHR, JD, or an equivalent credential is strongly preferred.

Required Skills and Qualifications

• Strong judgment and executive presence.
• Ability to advise and influence leaders at all levels, including the Board of Directors.
• Proven ability to rebuild trust in low-trust organizational contexts.
• Ability to strengthen performance, accountability, employee relations, and workplace culture.
• Ability to bring structure, sound judgment, and steady leadership in a complex environment.
• Ability to oversee and improve organizational operations connected to People & Culture.
• Ability to drive organization-wide initiatives from start to finish with minimal oversight.
• Ability to support a credible, transparent, and trusted People & Culture function as organizational complexity, visibility, and risk increase.

Benefits and Culture

• Flexible remote work.
• Flexible paid time off.
• 100% coverage of employee health benefit premiums.
• Dedicated weekly Flex Day.
• 401(k) plan with an automatic employer contribution regardless of employee contribution level.
• $1,000 per year toward professional development.
• Free virtual therapy.
• Stipend for ergonomic office setup.
• Generous extended medical and personal leave.