SMD, People Partner (Business Partner)

TEAM: People Team
REPORTS TO: Vice President, People & Performance
LOCATION: Flexible

WHAT YOU’LL DO

At Teach For America, we are inspired by a single mission – one day, all children will have access to an excellent education. In pursuit of that mission, we have to evolve our ways of working, being and doing that will allow our People Team to become the agile HR shop that is sustainably set up to support an ever-evolving organization that seeks to work in more agile and nimble ways and that fosters the growth and development of talented staff who are prepared to thrive and drive impact. We are looking for a Senior Managing Director, People Support Partner (Business Partner) to provide strategic partnership to executives and team leaders to ensure that Teach For America maximizes each person’s and team’s contribution so that we have the most talented and diverse teams across all roles, ultimately fueling the movement to eliminate educational inequity. The People Support Partner plays a pivotal role in fueling Teach For America’s growth and success by providing top-tier, people-centered, equity-oriented staff support and strategic partnership.

WHAT YOU’LL BE RESPONSIBLE FOR

Portfolio Management (50%)

• Provide proactive, strategic partnership in the specific areas of talent management, people development, and staff experience to team leaders and managers across the enterprise.

• Support leaders in developing an understanding of the current and historical cultural conditions on the team that can accelerate or hinder their ability to attract, develop and retain top talent.

• Consultation on People strategy and structural alignment to operational strategy

• Support with high level identification of redundancies in skills/capabilities

• Thought partner and give guidance to support the implementation of systems and processes (hiring, performance reviews, performance improvement processes, change management, total rewards administration, etc.)

• Inform the design of and facilitate learning engagements with executives and team leaders in partnership with other People team functional units in order to build capacity for talent management (eg: change management sessions, use of talent development tools, orienting leaders to broader talent practices, etc.)

• Serve as the primary point of contact and internal team portfolio manager for all People team business units, services, and supports

Employee Relations Matter Management (20%)

• Provide consultation, coaching, and guidance to team leaders who are leveraging a PIP as a performance development tool

• Consult with leaders on breaches of our policies, Core Values, or commitment to People Community & Opportunity for All

• Provide coaching and guidance to team leaders to support their staff members who experience culture breaches, determining the appropriate intervention

• Escalate complex/sensitive issues to Employee Relations team for partnership and support

Steward Talent System & Org-Wide Talent Initiatives (20%)

• Provide critical strategic insight into the development, maintenance, and support of the talent system (including but not limited to; performance development, onboarding, standards of conduct, total rewards), foundational supports (Annual Planning, key policy applications) and org-wide talent initiatives based on your deep knowledge of staff member experiences

• Collaborate across the People Team to provide critical leadership and implementation on components of talent system and org-wide talent initiatives

• Serve as a two-way feedback loop to the field by representing the needs of the field to the People Team and positively champion the work of the People Team in the field.

• Develop strategies to measure and evaluate effectiveness of leaders and managers to deliver on key talent practices and codify trends and correlation of efficacy to key talent metrics

Maintain agile working habits that allow for the emergent needs across Teach For America (10%)

• Manage ad-hoc and special projects as they arise, providing project-management capacity to the Talent and Administration portfolio

• Engage in admission and selection of incoming corps members

• Flow to support Talent Management teammates when capacity needs present (eg. unexpected vacancy, leave, urgent needs that arise)

• Demonstrate strong flexibility and prioritization when assessing team needs and supporting decisions about your work and time allocations, assessing and adjusting as needed

• Flow to support other org-wide agile needs where appropriate

A WEEK IN THE LIFE

Over the course of any week, the Senior Managing Director, People Partner (Business Partner) will spend time partnering with team leaders to understand the current state of their people and talent needs while also reviewing and receiving staff grievances for escalation to the appropriate teams and/or individuals for support. With the implementation of standardized talent routines, each day as a Senior Managing Director, People Support Partner might look a little different, but through further adoption, days should start to follow the seasons of the work. Some days, you might spend time developing succession plans in partnership with our Talent Acquisition Partners and team leaders or you might be supporting team leaders with the implementation of our performance development system (Elevate) to drive critical outcomes for their team. Other days, you might be engaging with team leaders to identify critical skills needed on their teams to achieve their strategic goals or reviewing CultureAmp and key talent (retention, attrition, promotions, exit survey) data to prepare for a quarterly stepback to support in understanding the state of staff experience.

YOUR EXPERIENCE

Your areas of knowledge and expertise that matter most for this role (minimum qualifications):

• You have Minimum of 10 years of related senior level Human Resources experience, preferably within Business Partnering, Consulting or HR Generalist role

• Track record of building senior-level relationships

• Expertise in various HR programs and functions including, but not limited to business partnership, employee relations, compensation, benefits, performance management, leadership development, and organizational development

• You operate with a high level of personal responsibility and thrive in a context of ambiguity, complexity, and change.

• You use good judgment and decision making, strong initiative, and an adept learning orientation

• You thrive in a goal-oriented, fast-paced, and entrepreneurial environment, including the ability to be flexible in project execution and scope of work

• You have a demonstrated ability to manage multiple responsibilities and consistently meet ambitious deadlines and goals

• You have a deep commitment to TFA’s mission, core values, and our commitment to diversity and inclusiveness and pride for the organization and our mission

• You have excellent organizational and time management abilities

• You can handle a high volume of time-sensitive responsibilities

• You are detail-oriented with accuracy

BONUS (preferred qualifications)

• 3+ years previous team management and coaching experience preferred

• SHRM, PHR, HCM certification

• Experience in utilizing Workday HRIS or other digital tools to maximize efficiency in talent management processes

• You build rapport quickly, get your energy from seeking to understand the perspectives of your clients and leverage those insights to connect them to people and experiences aligned with their interests and needs;

• You communicate clearly and you are comfortable working across lines of difference.

• You are an exceptional project manager and excel at adapting existing systems and/or creating new ones.

• You are a curious problem solver. You are comfortable and nimble in backwards planning, assessing progress and course correcting as the road map changes.

• You are hungry to learn and grow.

• You seek strategic opportunities for your own professional development and encourage others to do the same.

• You exemplify our core values and you know better work is done when informed by a range of perspectives.

• You take personal responsibility for your work and are solutions-oriented.

• You have set and reached ambitious goals in your current role.

• You have exceptional judgment and integrity in your work with all of your current stakeholders.

• You are an innovator who anticipates and seizes opportunities to refine strategies and processes.

YOUR FUTURE TEAM

The People Team exists to attract, develop, and support high impact, equity-oriented staff so they can transform education and expand opportunity for children. To have the impact our students and communities deserve, our staff must be on fire for our mission, clear on how they contribute to our collective impact, feel supported, and willing to learn and evolve continuously given our dynamic context. With this understanding of what is required from our staff, we aspire to make the following People Commitments to all of our staff.

At TFA, we promise you that you will have unparalleled opportunities to:

• Be seen and valued for who you are and what you bring to the table

• Grow every year through essential development opportunities

• Join a high performing team led by an effective and people-centered manager

• Receive an equitable and competitive total rewards package

Which make Teach For America a place where:

• People want to work

• People want to stay

• People feel impactful

• People feel like they belong

The People Team sees ourselves as the utmost guardians of staff culture, core values, and our organization’s constant pursuit of impact. Our team fosters an organizational culture of leadership, innovation, respect, and teamwork. We ensure that the core HR functions (such as talent acquisition & recruitment, learning & development, performance management, total rewards, employee relations) run smoothly, and we ensure unparalleled opportunities for learning and growth for our 1,000+ full time, part-time, seasonal, and temporary employees.

This role will sit on the Talent Management wing of the People team, whose charge is to provide top-tier, people-centered, equity-oriented staff support and strategic partnership. We do so by ensuring that every staff member and team has the information and access to standardized policies, processes and systems of support that maximize their unique impact, strengthen their wellbeing, and allow them to be deeply rooted at TFA.

YOUR COMPENSATION

The applicable salary range for each U.S.-based role is based on where the employee works and is aligned to one of 3 tiers according to a cost of labor index in that geographic area. Starting pay for the successful applicant will depend on a variety of job-related factors, which may include education, training, experience, location, business needs, or market demands. New hires are typically brought into the organization at a salary between the range minimum and the salary range midpoint depending on qualifications, internal equity, and the budgeted amount for the role. The expected salary ranges for this role are set forth below. These ranges may be modified in the future.

• Tier A: $108,900 - $145,700

• Tier B: $118,700 - $158,700

• Tier C: $128,500 - $171,900

You can view which tier applies to where you plan to work here. If your location is not listed, please click here for additional total rewards information.