Director of Human Resources
About One Million Degrees:
THE CHALLENGE: 65% of Illinois public college students attend community college, but only one in five of them will graduate with a degree within three years. One Million Degrees (OMD) changes that.
THE SOLUTION: OMD is the only organization in Illinois and one of few in the country dedicated to providing comprehensive supports to low-income, highly motivated community college students to help them succeed in school, in work, and in life.
From individualized support staff and career mentors to financial assistance and professional development workshops, OMD provides services that support Scholars in making decisions and taking action toward their ultimate life/career goals, supporting them as they transform their lives and those around them for generations. OMD Scholars graduate at twice the state average with the skills and experiences necessary to launch economically mobile careers.
After nearly 20 years of programming, OMD continues to expand the number of Scholars it supports to be a catalyst for change in Chicago. OMD currently partners with 10 Chicago-area community colleges, serving 1,000 scholars and apprentices across the region and in 2022 expanded its partnership with the City Colleges of Chicago which is projected to lead to over 3,000 students served across Chicago in the next 3 years.
OMD Core Values and Mission
One Million Degrees is deeply committed to our core values of equity, excellence, community, learning, and to amplify our mission to accelerate community college students’ progress on career pathways to economic mobility.
Position Summary:
To support our remarkable growth trajectory, One Million Degrees is seeking a strategic, creative, and collaborative Director of Human Resources. We are looking for exceptional judgment, interpersonal skills, and a desire to make OMD an employer of choice. This role will play a key role in helping recruitment and retaining talent required to achieve our ambitious goals.
Reporting to the Chief Operating Officer, this is an exceptional opportunity to design and implement a robust talent philosophy, and lead strategies to recruit, develop, and retain top talent for an innovative and transformative model for supporting and accelerating career pathways for community college students. The Director of HR will supervise a team of human resources team who support OMD’s people functions.
The ideal candidate will be a confident leader with demonstrated experience collecting and synthesizing input from stakeholders, identifying opportunities for improvement, proposing creative and pragmatic solutions, and thoughtful be experienced in employment law, compliance, and labor relations.
Specific duties and responsibilities include but are not limited to:
People Strategy Development and HRIS Implementation Lead
- Forecast current and future talent and recruitment needs; gain an in-depth understanding of organizational priorities and translates that into workforce planning for the group
- Maintain knowledge of industry trends and best practices in workforce development and change management
- Review and make recommendations to the COO and CEO for improvement of the organization’s policies, procedures, and practices in workforce management; propose strategies for organizational development and effective talent management
- Develop and implement new processes and systems for efficient HR management, including Optimize HRIS processes and integrating new software
Recruitment, Hiring, Onboarding, and Offboarding
- Build on OMD’s current recruitment and hiring processes to attract quality diverse employees at every level
- Develop talent pipelines with higher education and community partners
- Define, create, and execute the communications strategy and branding for recruitment and talent acquisition, providing an exciting and accurate preview to candidates who are considering working at OMD
- Build and maintain systems to track and communicate with candidates
- Implement and continually improve OMD’s onboarding and new hire training process, making sure that employees feel welcomed, informed about their benefits, and prepared to excel in their roles
- Build OMD’s processes to seamlessly offboard employees
- Support recruitment processes as needed
Develop Talent and Drive Performance Management
- Help ensure that OMD is an equitable and inclusive workplace where all employees feel valued and can thrive through trainings, and coaching.
- Define and create HR strategies for OMD’s organizational culture goals, working to make OMD an employer of choice
- Continue to build and evolve OMD’s talent development processes including organizational core competencies, goal-setting, performance metrics, 360 degree feedback, coaching, semi-annual reviews, and succession planning.
- Manage OMD’s professional development programming, identifying and implementing training and development opportunities for individuals and teams
Build and Manage Strong Employee and Labor Relations
- Manage the implementation of OMD’s collective bargaining agreement and provide ongoing interpretation and administration of the final contract
- Advise leadership and supervisors of unionized employees on policy and practice to ensure compliance with the contract
- Manage and continuously build OMD’s relationship with Union representatives
Administer Benefits, Compensation, and Ensure Compliance
- Oversee all benefits at OMD
- Stay abreast of benefit and policy trends and best-practices
- Oversee OMD’s compliance with all labor and employment laws keeping current on changes in local, state, and federal law
- Work with Chief Operating Officer, and operations team on the creation, implementation, and management of OMD policies
- Provide direct support with benefits administration as needed
Additionally, there may be other duties/projects assigned by the Chief Operating Officer
Qualifications and Requirements:
Education – bachelor’s degree required; MBA or related Master’s degree and/or HR certification is preferred but not required
Experience
- 5-7 years Human Capital or Human Resources experience, non-profit, civic sector, or school district experience a plus
- Job experience or coursework relating to legal compliance
- Experience in a unionized environment is a strong plus
Skills
- Highly skilled communicator; exceptional interpersonal and relationship-building skills
- Highly skilled at project management; proven success working in a fast-paced environment and delivering against multiple work streams
- Fluent in change management strategies and best practice; proven success in implementing change across an organization
- Data-driven and results-oriented; proven ability to manage data/metrics and make data-informed decisions
Traits
- People person who takes pride and pleasure in developing talent and creating engaging workplace cultures and environments for staff at all levels and from varied backgrounds
- Team player who enjoys building, creating, and executing new strategies
- Trustworthy in managing sensitive situations and information; you are discrete, professional, and possess excellent judgment
- Collaborative; you enjoy gathering stakeholder input to create innovative shared solutions that meet the needs of the organization
- Detail-oriented and compliance-minded; you enjoy dotting i’s and crossing t’s
- Comfort with the uncertain; you are motivated to move forward, make decisions, and finalize details quickly once information is available
- Committed to equitable and inclusive practices in all phases of your work You believe in the talent and potential of community college students to change the world
Compensation and Benefits
- Salary: $85,000-$92,000
- Full Health Benefits –Provided for all full-time employees, including medical, dental, and vision. OMD pays 100% of individual’s basic monthly health premium and 80% dependent coverage.
- Employee assistance program, which offers confidential emotional support, work-life solutions, legal guidance, financial resources, and more
- Retirement Benefits – For full-time employees, OMD offers a 401k plan and matches retirement contributions up to 3% of total salary
- Generous Paid Time Off Policy– OMD has 12 paid holidays and offers up to 15 days PTO in year one
- Monthly cell phone and internet reimbursement up to $50/month
- 12 weeks of paid parental leave for birthing and non-birthing parents
- Professional Learning Opportunities – OMD supports employee development in areas relevant to professional and organizational goals and will pay for training such as workshops and conferences as agreed upon by employee and supervisor
- COVID-19 Remote Work Policy: One in-office day required a week, other days can be remote (in-person day set by you and your manager)
- To allow OMD to set salaries based on market data and internal equity and ensure fair and equal pay for every role we offer our best offer first.
One Million Degrees is an equal opportunity employer. We encourage applications from all individuals regardless of age, gender, race, ethnicity, religion, or sexual orientation, and evaluate all candidates based on merit.
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