Head of People Operations
The Patrick J. McGovern Foundation (PJMF) is a $1.5 billion philanthropy working at the intersection of artificial intelligence, data science, and the public interest. This role exists to make sure the team advancing our mission is supported, developed, and set up to do the best work of their careers.
The Head of People Operations reports to the VP, People and Culture, and leads several critical pillars of the P&C function: manager capability, performance culture, organizational and manager learning, technical and non-technical recruiting, employee relations, HR compliance, and benefits.
This is a role for someone who excels at both strategic people conversations and being in the weeds of an employee relations matter. You bring sound judgment to hard situations. You build teams and systems that hold up over time. You care about the mission, and that care shows up in how you treat your colleagues every day.
How You’ll Make An Impact
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Employee Relations: Lead employee relations responsibilities and serve as a primary point of contact for employee questions, concerns, and policy interpretation. Independently handle employee relations matters, including advising managers on performance and conduct issues and resolving workplace concerns with limited oversight. Document issues and processes with precision. Exercise judgment in identifying and escalating highly complex or high-risk matters to the VP and outside counsel with a clear written record.
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Manager Coaching and Development: Design and run a manager coaching curriculum for people managers across all functions. Coach managers through employee relations situations: performance concerns, difficult conversations, team dynamics, and conflict resolution. Maintain and refine a manager toolkit to reduce reliance on P&C for routine people-related decisions. Identify capability gaps across the management layer and build targeted development responses.
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Talent Acquisition: Lead full-cycle recruiting for technical and non-leadership roles, includingsourcing, screening, interview design, and offer coordination. Manage the ATS and ensure a consistent, well-documented candidate experience. Develop interview frameworks tied to PJMF's competency model. Support the VP on senior searches.
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Performance Management: Own the annual and mid-year review cycle end-to-end: system launch, communication, calibration preparation, timeline management, and quality review. Maintain and improve our performance management infrastructure on our 3rd party platform. Support managers in writing evidence-based assessments. Flag patterns across team ratings and bring a calibration perspective to the VP.
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Learning and Development: Build an annual L&D calendar aligned to organizational competency needs. Design onboarding that accelerates time-to-contribution for new hires. Source and manage external facilitators and vendors for specific programs or organizational needs.
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HR Operations and Compliance: Own day-to-day HR operations: new hire setup, offboarding, employment verifications, and status changes. Administer benefits in partnership with our PEO. Maintain compliance with federal and multi-state employment law requirements for a remote workforce. Manage record retention and I-9 compliance. Maintain HRIS accuracy and serve as the primary system administrator for all people systems.
What We Are Looking For
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10 or more years in HR, with at least 7 years in roles focused on employee relations, manager development and coaching, or talent management. Technical recruiting experience required. Experience managing a team is preferred.
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Demonstrated experience coaching managers through performance and conduct situations effectively.
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Deep working knowledge across core HR disciplines: employee relations, talent development, performance management, full-cycle recruitment, compensation and benefits, and multi-state employment law.
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Experience designing and delivering effective learni