People and Talent Partner

Job Description

Job Description

Job Title: People and Talent Partner Pay Information: Exempt E15 - $100,000 - $120,000 per year Location: Remote first work environment with occasional travel and in office meetings.

Who we are:
The California Dental Association is a membership organization that represents 27,000 of the state’s best and brightest dental professionals and champions the oral health of the communities they serve. As the largest state dental association in the U.S., CDA delivers remarkable advocacy initiatives, fierce protection, innovative education and expert guidance to our members. Founded in 1870, CDA has innovated and grown into a family of companies that includes the association, The Dentists Insurance Company (TDIC), TDIC Insurance Solutions, Rotunda Partners and the CDA Foundation.

We’re a mission-driven organization that’s here to empower our members and support their practices, dental teams, profession and patients. By making today easier and tomorrow better for dentists, our employees make a meaningful and direct impact on the health of others.

At CDA we seek out, welcome and invest in talented individuals across unique specialties and prioritize diversity in our hiring practices. We know our employees are integral to our success, and we value their individual talents while encouraging a collaborative, inclusive, respectful and forward-thinking culture. We’re proud to be recognized as a Best Place to Work for factors like our people practices, work environment and trust in senior leaders.

If you’re excited to share your talents at a dynamic organization that’s leading the way in oral health, we invite you to apply to join us.

Company Benefits:
At CDA, we offer a robust benefits package that enhances overall employee well-being and provides options to meet the needs of our diverse workforce. We listen to our employees on matters of wellness and devote time and resources to continuously evaluate our benefits to ensure we can best support their work-life goals.

• Remote and hybrid flexibility and technology to support remote work
• Generous time off program starting at 22 days of PTO and13 paid holidays (includes a floating holiday and winter closure)
• Highly competitive medical, dental and vision plans, including FSA and HSA account options
• 401(k) plans, with a generous match and safe harbor contributions upon eligibility
• Paid parental leave
• Wellness programs, including incentives and an In-Shape Family Fitness discount
• Opportunities for professional development, training and leadership skill-building
• Critical illness, accident, life, pet, short term and long-term disability insurance options
• Employee Assistance Program (EAP) for support navigating day-to-day challenges

Universal Competencies:

• Collaboration: Proactively engages with an iterative mindset to enhance ideas and achieve organizational results; Cultivates relationships, builds partnerships, shares and learns without boundaries.
• Service: Focusing on meeting needs and exceeding expectations for those served inside and outside the organization.
• Respect: Embracing others for their true authentic self; nurture and promote an environment that values diversity of thought, input, experience and expertise. 

Role Specific Competencies:

• Problem Solving: Applies analysis, creativity, resilience and logic to reach optimal outcomes; develops and implements solutions.
• Approachability: Is consistently approachable, open to feedback and truthful; builds trust and authentic professional relationships.
• Adaptability: Appropriately adjusts behavior to changing conditions and business needs; modifies approach to succeed with new situations and timelines.

Job Purpose:

As a trusted advisor, the People and Talent Partner builds strong relationships, operates with humility, and thrives in a dynamic, fast-paced environment. This role demonstrates curiosity, critical thinking, and an experimental mindset, using data and sound judgment to address people-related challenges and opportunities. The People and Talent Partner serves as a steady partner during periods of change, helping leaders and employees navigate organizational complexity while maintaining engagement, performance, and alignment with business objectives.

Minimum Qualifications:

• Bachelor’s degree in human resources, business management or equivalent job and education experience required.
• Minimum of five (5) years of progressive experience blending full-cycle recruiting with foundational HR or People responsibilities
• Proven ability to manage the complete recruitment lifecycle independently, including complete comfort with managing your own interview scheduling, panel coordination, and daily administrative tracking
• You genuinely enjoy switching contexts between database-driven talent selection, sensitive conversations, and meticulous operational logistics
• Experience with and working knowledge of current HR laws, practices, policies and models. 
• Must be able to perform job duties independently, exercising good judgment, diplomacy and professionalism. 
• Requires computer skills, including ability to use Outlook, Word, Excel and PowerPoint.

Preferred Qualifications:

• PHR/SPHR/SHRM-CP certification preferred
• Project management skills
• Must be highly organized and detail-oriented
• Requires excellent interpersonal, verbal and written communication skills
• Ability to confidently advocate ideas when needed to drive the best outcomes for the enterprise.
• Experience developing partnerships and collaborating with other business and functional areas.
• Analytical skills to rationalize business concepts and rapidly translate them into usable data.
• Critical thinking skills to identify alternative solutions, conclusions or approaches to problems.
• Active listening skills to understand the work and needs of the client.
• Solid experience writing job descriptions and working with behavioral competencies
• Ability to keep multiple projects, people relations, and candidate pipelines moving forward autonomously
• Experience supporting regulatory businesses (i.e. insurance, healthcare, finance)
• Experience working in a matrixed environment

Essential Functions – must be able to perform with or without a reasonable accommodation:

• Own the full cycle recruitment process for a steady pipeline of strategic year-round roles, acting as a trusted partner to hiring managers from initial intake to offer generation.
• Facilitate intake meetings with hiring managers to align candidate profiles and expectations for an open role. Partner with hiring managers to develop purposeful, evaluable job descriptions.
• Provide candid, data-driven counsel on people, organizational, and leadership decisions, and navigate ambiguity to influence outcomes without reliance on heavy process or structure.

• Act as a change ambassador– guide staff and managers through periods of growth, transformation, and evolving business needs.
• Regularly partner with managers and employees to increase productivity, build morale, and retain talent. Leverage data and qualitative insights to assess organizational health across engagement, performance, attrition, and diversity.

• Utilize independent judgement and subject matter expertise to provide People guidance and constructive feedback.

• Advise and manage complex workplace issues, resolving conflicts and ensuring a positive, equitable, and high-trust culture.
• Manage the day-to-day logistics of the interview lifecycle, including coordinating panel availability and scheduling meetings across staff calendars to ensure a seamless internal and external experience.
• Serve as the hands-on subject matter expert for our Applicant Tracking System, optimizing workflows, maintaining data integrity, and training hiring teams on best practices.
• In close collaboration with the People Operations and Benefits Partner, help own and architect the onboarding process.
• Create an environment of positive employee relations by keeping confidentiality, establishing trust and credibility, being seen by managers and employees as approachable and fair, balancing business needs with employee needs, and spending significant time interfacing directly with managers to gain a sound understanding of their business and People challenges.
• Drive a performance management culture that supports business improvement by ensuring clear objectives and feedback are aligned with our core values. Proactively partner and guide managers on employee performance and engagement strategies (e.g., coaching, counseling, career development, disciplinary actions). 
• Conduct exit interviews, analyze data and provide trend reports and collaborate with People Operations team on recommendations for continuous improvement and retention efforts.
• Support and provide training, as required. 

Non-Essential Functions:

• Performs other duties as assigned.

Working Conditions: Occasionally (1-33%) Frequently (34-66%) Constantly (67-100%)

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