Preferred application deadline: March 7, 2025
Location: Remote, Louisiana, Philadelphia, New Jersey, Los Angeles preferred

About Us

Our country's education and workforce systems are inequitable, failing to meet the needs of our most marginalized citizens. Historically, workforce education has led to low-wage jobs disconnected from ongoing higher education, which has created significant barriers for career advancement. At the same time, traditional higher education has increasingly become unaffordable for Americans from lower-income backgrounds while also lacking direct connection to the labor market. The consequences of these systemic failures are dire.

At Propel America, we believe a better system should and can exist. We believe high school graduates shouldn’t have to choose between forestalling income and accruing significant debt while pursuing a traditional college degree or forestalling education and mobility for low-wage, entry-level work with few opportunities for advancement. Propel is building that better system - a Jobs-First Higher Education - that allows young adults from low-income backgrounds to access an affordable and efficient pathway to a good job that serves as a springboard to a choice-filled life.

By working backward from the needs of established employer partners, Propel America:

Partners with employers to assess talent needs, create relevant training programs, and hire diverse, local talent for their in-demand roles.
Recruits, guides, and supports young adults (18-24 years old), particularly those from low-income backgrounds, through a blended, technology-enabled career accelerator inclusive of a suite of products and supports (including career exploration, cohort learning, one-on-one coaching, etc) to ensure fellows have what they need to be successful in their job interview, persist in the workforce, and a plan for ongoing education and career advancement.
Partners with training and higher education organizations to offer in-demand credentials that allow young adults to earn college credits

To learn more about Propel America, please visit https://www.propelamerica.org.

The Opportunity:

We seek an equity-focused Senior Director, People and Culture, who will play a critical role in implementing and refining people operations, talent acquisition, and workforce planning. This is a highly operational role, ensuring that HR processes and systems function seamlessly while contributing to organizational strategy. The Senior Director, People and Culture will play a significant role in enhancing our organizational culture to reflect our core values including equity and supporting the acquisition and development of our talent. The Senior Director will lead the following:

People Operations & Compliance: Manage end-to-end HR operations and compliance, ensuring alignment with employment laws, policies, and best practices. Oversee key people processes that enable an effective and compliant workplace while driving operational efficiency, including facilitating talent discussions, succession planning, development of talent pools, managing PEO, implementation of HR processes and policies and hiring process execution.
Talent Acquisition & Workforce Planning: Develop and execute strategies to attract, hire, and retain skilled and mission-aligned team members while building a strong talent pipeline and talent pools that support workforce planning and long-term organizational growth.
Performance Management & Leadership Development: In partnership with the COO and (Executive /Management) Team, establish and manage the strategies, initiatives, tools, and processes that drive talent performance, leadership growth, and organizational effectiveness efforts.

Employee Experience, Engagement and Culture: In partnership with the people managers, deploy effective engagement and development strategies to build a high-performing, values-driven workplace culture.

The Senior Director will report to the Chief Operating Officer and will be part of a broader operations department who is tasked with providing the essential capabilities and support for the organization to excel. They will be a key member of the management team and will partner with people managers as a trusted advisor for all people-related matters. The ideal candidate is a talent strategist and executor – possessing impeccable judgment, professional maturity, high comfort in ambiguous situations, and will be energized by partnering with others in sustaining and building a best-in-class team at an entrepreneurial organization.

The Senior Director responsibilities include, but are not limited to the following:

People Operations & Compliance

Establish and refine HR policies, working with our PEO to ensure compliance with local, state, and federal labor laws.
Partner with Professional Employer Organizations (PEO) to ensure compliance with HR policies, optimize HR systems, and minimize organizational risk.
Ensure seamless structured, and scalable onboarding and offboarding processes, maintaining a consistent and equitable employee experience.
Serve as a key HR business partner to managers, providing guidance and support on employee relations and compliance matters to foster a positive work environment.
Manage functional budget for talent and assess hiring needs for budgeting process

Talent Acquisition & Workplace Planning

Facilitate talent discussions, succession planning, and development of talent pipelines to ensure organizational continuity and a strategic approach to workforce planning.
Manager contractors as necessary to support hiring processes
Design and implement hiring strategies for new and backfilled roles, ensuring equitable and effective recruitment processes.
Collaborate with managers to co-design hiring processes, set clear expectations, and maintain hiring consistency.
Partner with leadership to align workforce planning with organizational needs, supporting strategic talent forecasting.
Oversee compensation strategies, including salary benchmarking, pay equity analysis, and benefits optimization and administration.

Performance Management and Leadership Development

Lead the design and execution of the performance management framework, incorporating goal-setting, feedback cycles, and evaluation tools (e.g., CultureAmp)
Oversee and implement leadership development and manager training programs, equipping leaders with the skills to coach and grow their teams.
Ensure a consistent and actionable performance feedback process, integrating scorecards, 2x2 feedback, and continuous improvement practices.
Drive career progression frameworks, providing employees with clear pathways for growth and development.
Utilize HR systems and analytics to track performance trends and inform talent strategies.

Employee Experience, Engagement, and Culture

Facilitate engagement activities: Organize and facilitate staff meetings, retreats, and events to promote team building and organizational cohesion.
Champion change management efforts to support organizational transitions and new initiatives.
Serve as a culture steward, driving initiatives that enhance employee engagement and inclusion.
Conduct employee pulse surveys and feedback initiatives, using data-driven insights to enhance the employee experience.
Support retention efforts by focusing on the growth and engagement of high performers, high potentials, and key contributors.

Skills/Experience:

Commitment to Propel America’s mission and core values
Experience working with senior leaders to develop and implement HR strategies and initiatives
Experience building talent structures and processes for growing organizations
Knowledge of human resource policies and procedures; familiar with federal and state laws
Familiarity with HR information systems, and track record of setting and meeting ambitious HR performance metrics
Entrepreneurial mindset and willingness to do whatever it takes to get the job done
Ability and desire to develop deep relationships, with impeccable judgment and professional maturity;
Demonstrated ability to provide sound advice on sensitive matters
Strong facilitation and strategic thinking skills, with the demonstrated ability to lead in complex, ambiguous, and entrepreneurial environments
Effective written and verbal communication skills that are impactful with leaders and people managers
Proven ability to prioritize, handle multiple responsibilities, and meet deadlines
Strong consultation and collaboration skills, with high emotional intelligence
Strong attention to detail with experience in collecting, reporting, and leveraging data to drive improvements in talent and culture

Preferred Qualifications:

7-10 years of HR experience, including talent development and acquisition, organizational development, employee relations
Education credentials highly valued by industry are preferred, including but not limited to a bachelor’s degree
Experience leading or supporting diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives

Compensation

Propel offers a competitive total rewards package. We cover 90% of premiums, unlimited vacation and a flexible work environment. The salary range for this position is $120K-160K. We consider candidate experience and location when determining where a candidate may fall within that range. Location: Remote, Louisiana, Los Angeles, Philadelphia, New Jersey preferred.

Interested in Applying?

Please submit your application here. The application deadline to apply for this position is March 7, 2024. After this date we do not guarantee review of submissions.

Propel America is an equal-opportunity employer and does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, religion, age, sex, national origin, disability status, genetics, protected veteran status, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, or any other characteristic protected by federal, state or local laws.

We encourage candidates from historically underrepresented backgrounds to apply.