Reporting to the Chief Human Resource Officer, the Director, People and Place Development (Development Director) will be responsible for creating the strategy and engagement plan for key People and Place initiatives and ensuring the programmatic strategy supports the achievement of both Foundation objectives and People and Place objectives. The Development Director is a new role within the People & Place organization, and the Development function as a whole is a byproduct of a recent Foundation-wide organizational effectiveness initiative. The major outcome of the evaluation is integrating HR, facilities, events, and travel under a unified strategy, operating model, set of organization capabilities, and shared purpose. The goal is to create an environment that unleashes the potential in people to accelerate impact against the Foundation’s mission. Within the larger People and Place organization, the Development function is responsible for the end-to-end employee experience from “hire to retire,” specifically, talent acquisition and workforce planning; onboarding; talent and performance management; individual, manager, and leadership development; organizational design and development; and ultimately transition to the alumni network.
The Development Director will lead and deploy the talents of an experienced team of 25 talent professionals and work in close partnership with three other People & Place Directors and the divisionally-aligned business partners to ensure organizational objectives are achieved. As the CEO and Executive Leadership Team are making strategic shifts in how the organization operates, this individual will play a critical role in enabling the deployment of talent in new ways to accomplish the Foundation’s audacious goals.
Additionally, the Development Director will partner closely with functional and employee leaders to develop People and Place programs that drive employee accountability in regard to desired business outcomes.
- Drives the strategy and engagement plan for People and Place goals and culture initiatives
- Develops and implements strategies following programs which foster people and place development - Alumni program, Fellows & interns, Individual and leadership development, Leadership team effectiveness, Onboarding transitions, Organization design consulting, Talent acquisition, Talent review, performance partnership, Talent strategy and management, Workforce planning
- Promotes strategies and implements projects focused on creating a positive employee experience.
- Builds, develops, and leads a team of People and Place managers and subject matter experts, including managing the resourcing, budget, and overall agenda for the division.
- Leverages evidence based predictive analytics to monitor and manage key People and Place performance indicators and define strategies for improvement and management.
- Drives continuous improvement.
In terms of the performance and personal competencies required for the position, we would highlight the following:
Collaboration
- Works with others openly and transparently to create an environment where diverse view-points are valued, and information is shared with others for the purposes of achieving a shared client experience goal.
- A track record of ensuring the successful implementation of leadership and development initiatives.
- Ability to operate in a complex, matrixed organization and feel comfortable operating in ambiguous business situations.
Implementation Excellence
- Excels at delivering and continuously improving the Foundation’s global solutions in a seamless, consistent way that results in employees understanding changes and more effectively driving Foundation impact.
- Able to drive a high-performance culture by executing impeccably and leading and managing change.
Outcome-Driven
- Uses data to drive decision making.
- Determines the work to be done, assesses changes, adapts plans, measures progress, and follows-through on getting the work done in service of improving employee experience.
Functional Expertise
- Outstanding track record and experience in talent.
- Proven experience building and launching innovative learning programs.
- A track record of leading measurable programs that set the bar for engagement and impact.
Critical Thinking
- Naturally conceptualizes, applies, analyzes, synthesizes, and evaluates information from multiple sources and perspectives to reach an answer or conclusion.
- A proven ability to identify opportunities from strategic and operational perspectives, skillfully communicating and influencing stakeholders both internally as well as externally, managing trade-offs in the pursuit of solutions.
Systems Thinking
- Understands formal and informal intersections and interdependencies to be able to frame the problem, evaluate issues, see downstream affects, and identify future implications across the end-to-end system to help prioritize solutions
Key leadership capabilities
- Ability to identify, attract, mentor, develop, and retain top talent and become a leader of leaders.
- Knows how to prioritize competing priorities
- The ability to influence and motivate teams directly in her/his organization as well as those in partner teams.
- Exceptional communication skills around sharing and influencing the strategy of the business.
Additional Traits / Experience:
- Strong bias for action; ability to juggle multiple competing priorities and create a sense of urgency in a fast-paced, dynamic environment
- Ability to achieve results in a matrixed environment and influence others across reporting lines
- Experience working in a global environment
- The ability, curiosity, and willingness to learn from experiences and failures
- Excellent verbal and written communications skills; ability to synthesize and clarify through communication
- Owner and entrepreneur mentality; willingness to roll up sleeves and meet goals
- High standards of excellence – with keen attention to details
- Has the ability to identify issues and root cause; willingness to dive deep into details
- Advanced degree with 15+ years of experience, or equivalent experience.