Vice President, People & Culture

What You'll Do

The Vice President, People & Culture will lead the people and culture function, building strategies, systems, and processes that drive growth and that center Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Accessibility. Providing strategic leadership and human resources expertise, the VP, People & Culture will ensure that Public Justice has the right people, systems, and processes to meet its goals and drive impact. The VP, People & Culture will also create and execute strategies for the full suite of people and culture programs such as recruitment, retention, performance management, professional development, compensation and benefits, DEIA, and employee engagement.

Key Responsibilities

Responsibilities include, but are not limited to:

Organizational Culture

• Serve on Public Justice's leadership team, setting organization-wide strategy and develop operating plans
• Lead and promote an organizational culture that embraces Public Justice's mission and values; maintain a workplace reflective of those values with an emphasis on our commitment to Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Accessibility
• Celebrate team successes, and ensure a culture of pride and mutual accountability
• Support a culture of engagement and transparency, communicating effectively with Public Justice's CEO, leadership team, staff, and board, ensuring all stakeholders clearly understand the organization's talent and recruitment strategies
• Serve as a liaison and HR expert for the Public Justice board, providing talent, culture, and other team-related updates as deemed appropriate by the CEO
• Engage and facilitate People and Culture related decision-making processes (e.g.: hiring, promotions, and resource allocation) with team leaders
• Set and review organization-wide people and culture policies, aligning policies with values and practices
• Serve as a model of best in-class management to the Human Resources Analyst, and support managers in providing coaching, thought partnership, and accountability to staff

Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Accessibility

• Provide strategic leadership in the development and implementation of strategies to build a culture of DEIA and to enhance recruitment and retention of BIPOC team members, including but not limited to engagement with external DEIA consultants who may be retained to work with the organization
• Champion the organization's DEIA efforts in collaboration with staff, managers, and external consultants and partners
• Develop, implement, and manage programs to enhance DEIA initiatives, including working groups, affinity groups, and employee resource groups
• Partner with communications team on internal and external messaging using a race equity and diversity lens
• Recommend policies, procedures, and best practices by consulting and collaborating across the organization in the areas of hiring and onboarding of employees, recruitment and retention, advancing diverse and inclusive hiring
• Serve as an organization-wide resource for ongoing complex DEIA issues, helping to find solutions that benefit teams and Public Justice as a whole

Talent Acquisition and Staffing

• Oversee organization-wide staffing strategy, ensuring the recruitment function has clear hiring goals and varied recruitment strategies
• Develop and implement robust plans for building diverse slates, and equitable selection processes for all roles at Public Justice
• Ensure compliance with all employment laws and continually research and implement best practices for recruiting
• Lead evaluation of recruitment processes on an ongoing basis, report findings, and make recommendations for future processes based on insights and lessons learned
• Identify and track key performance indicators to assess current processes, create dashboards that enable real-time tracking and continuous improvement
• Serve as a trusted advisor to hiring managers to support them in their recruiting decisions
• Support managers in ensuring that work is assigned in a manner that promotes equity, professional growth, and maximum success for the organization

HR Administration and Employee Relations

• Manage the administration of human resource programs including, but not limited to, HRIS, compensation, benefits, and leaves
• Provide proactive leadership and professional expertise in all areas of human resources management, including benefits, payroll, employee relations, compliance, and performance across full-time employees and contractors
• Maintain knowledge of trends, best practices, regulatory changes, and new technologies in human resources, talent management, and employment law, DEIA initiatives to keep the organization in regulatory compliance
• Research, develop, and implement competitive compensation, benefits, performance appraisal, and employee incentive programs, including compensation benchmarking
• Audit, review, and refine systems and processes to track employee engagement to better understand performance, opportunities, and challenges
• Advise leaders in troubleshooting staff-related matters such as performance issues and conflict resolution

Professional Development and Performance Management

• Develop and refine performance review processes to further enable managers to provide meaningful and actionable reviews
• Work with managers throughout the organization to help define, establish, and communicate annual goals for team members, and ensure that managers are tracking progress against goals
• Develop systems and strategies that drive continuous learning; create opportunities for training, coaching, advising, and mentoring to drive performance
• Identify training opportunities, as appropriate, to drive increased impact, ensuring that team members have the opportunity to address development needs, attend conferences, and participate in other courses and convenings
• Identify rising leaders across the organization, ensuring that those leaders have the resources they need and are given appropriate mentoring

Who You'll Work With

• You will report to the Chief Executive Officer.
• You will hire and supervise a Human Resources Analyst.
• You will frequently collaborate with members of the Leadership Team, including the Vice President, Operations; Vice President, Development and Membership; Vice President, Communications, Marketing, and Branding; Vice President, Finance; and Vice President, Legal Affairs

The ideal candidate will possess the following qualifications:

• At least 15+ years of professional experience, with 5+ years leading HR strategy, organizational development, culture development, employee relations, and/or talent management function in a mission-driven setting
• Demonstrated commitment to racial equity and inclusion, with the ability to provide strategic leadership for Public Justice's commitment to Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Accessibility, and a history of success in leading organizational initiatives around the recruitment and retention of diverse talent and stewarding a culture with strong DEIA practices
• Strong business acumen and strategic thinking, with the ability to position the organization toward the future, looking beyond the present situation to conceptualize key trends and identify changing market demands
• Exceptional relationship building and influencing skills, with the ability to develop trusting relationships at all levels and across identities
• Extensive experience overseeing the full suite of people and culture programs, including talent acquisition, employee relations, human resources administration, professional development, and performance management
• Strong knowledge of best practices and trends in human resources and employment laws and regulations
• Track record of building, leading, and coaching effective, diverse high performing teams; skilled at managing/working across lines of difference across staff and boards alike
• Collaborative approach to executive leadership, and the ability to work effectively with cross-functional teams to meet goals and improve organizational performance

Public Justice is committed to a diverse, inclusive, and equitable environment where all staff, including fellows, interns, externs, and members feel respected and valued regardless of gender, gender identity or expression, age, race, ethnicity, religion, national origin, sexual orientation or identity, disability, education, veteran status or any other bias. This policy is fully supported by senior management and staff and is underpinned by an organization-wide improvement plan, progress against which is reported regularly to senior management and staff. To learn more about DEIA at Public Justice, we encourage you to review our DEIA policy.

Public Justice operates as a remote organization, embracing the flexibility and inclusivity that remote work offers. However, recognizing the value of in-person collaboration and the need for physical office space, Public Justice maintains an office in Washington, D.C. A successful candidate wishing to work remotely from another location will be provided with support as needed to ensure that they can perform their role for the organization at the highest level.

Public Justice is proud to be a leader in offering a flexible work environment. Team members' availability and responsiveness may be dependent on their location, schedule and/or family or other obligations, and we recognize others' schedules may also vary.

Compensation: Salary for this role is $190,000 – $210,000, depending on experience.