Chief People Officer

Position: Chief People Officer

Reports To: CEO

Location: US, remote

Position Type: Full time

ORGANIZATIONAL PROFILE:

For more than 43 million people, blindness is a daily reality; another 295 million suffer from moderate to severe vision impairment. 90% of these people live in low- and middle-income countries where access to eye care is limited and the challenges for those who can’t see are severe. But there is hope: 80% of this burden is treatable or preventable. For example, 17 million blind people could be cured with a 10-minute cataract surgery. Millions more suffer from corneal blindness, which is often preventable or treatable. At Cure Blindness Project, we believe avoidable blindness can – and must – be overcome. For more than 30 years, we have worked alongside a capable network of collaborators to help people around the world retain and regain their sight by developing high-quality, cost-effective eye care systems in underserved areas of the world. With the help of partners in more than 30 countries, Cure Blindness Project has provided more than 2 million sight-restoring surgeries and screened more than 20 million people to provide care and basic treatments. We’ve trained more than 25,200 eye health professionals and have established 6 eye hospitals. There is more work left to do, but we can overcome the mountain of global blindness together.

Cure Blindness Project is expanding its team to meet new challenges, scale its work, and broaden its reach. We are seeking individuals who are passionate about changing lives and want to be a part of a team that works together to reach new heights. We want leaders who can aim high, make things happen, and are invested in building a positive team dynamic to bring the work to life.

VISION: A world where no one is needlessly blind.

MISSION: We enable countries to cure avoidable blindness by developing high quality, cost-effective eye care in underserved areas of the world.

SCOPE OF WORK

The Chief People Officer (CPO) is a strategic executive responsible for shaping Cure Blindness Project's global People strategy and building the leadership, culture, and organizational capabilities that enable the organization to achieve its mission. As a member of the executive Leadership Team, the CPO serves as a trusted advisor to the CEO, Board of Directors, and senior leaders, providing strategic counsel on organizational effectiveness, talent, leadership development, workforce planning, culture, and change management.

The CPO develops and executes a global People strategy that ensures Cure Blindness Project attracts, develops, and retains exceptional talent across its global workforce. The role partners closely with leaders across the organization to align People strategies with business priorities while ensuring operational excellence and compliance.

Reporting directly to the CEO, the CPO leads the global People function, directly managing a U.S.-based People team and providing dotted-line management and strategic guidance to People staff across country offices in Asia and Africa.

ESSENTIAL JOB FUNCTIONS

Executive Leadership & Organizational Strategy

• Serve as a strategic member of the executive Leadership Team, contributing to organizational strategy, annual planning, and budgeting for the global People function.
• Advise and partner with the CEO and Leadership Team to align talent strategy with organizational priorities and future growth.
• Lead org-wide change initiatives that strengthen organizational effectiveness and improve the organization's ability to scale globally.
• Use workforce analytics to guide strategic decisions and measure organizational performance.

Talent & Culture

• Develop and execute a global talent strategy encompassing workforce planning, talent acquisition, leadership development, performance management, succession planning, employee engagement, and career development.
• Foster an inclusive, collaborative, and high-performing culture where employees are empowered to achieve meaningful impact.
• Champion employee engagement and retention strategies that strengthen organizational performance and employee experience.
• Build leadership capability through coaching, development, and organizational learning initiatives.
• Serve as the organization's leader on complex employee relations matters and organizational risk.

Global People Operations

• Provide strategic oversight of global People operations, ensuring consistent, efficient, and compliant practices across all countries where Cure Blindness Project operates.
• Lead the organization's global Total Rewards philosophy and programs, ensuring external competitiveness, internal equity, and compliance.
• Oversee development and implementation of global People policies, programs, and processes that balance global consistency with local requirements.
• Ensure compliance with all applicable employment laws and regulations across multiple international jurisdictions.
• Lead the organization's People technology strategy, leveraging HR systems to improve decision-making, employee experience, and operational efficiency and effectiveness.

People Team Leadership

• Lead, develop, and inspire a high-performing global People team through coaching and mentoring.
• Build organizational capability within the People function while fostering collaboration across regions and functions.
• Establish clear priorities, accountability, and continuous improvement across the global People organization.

QUALIFICATIONS

The ideal candidate is an experienced executive People leader with a demonstrated ability to lead teams in complex, mission-driven, global environments.

• 15+ years of progressive People leadership experience, including experience serving as a senior HR leader in a complex global organization
• Minimum of 5+ years’ experience managing dispersed teams in a global context
• Bachelor’s degree or equivalent
• Demonstrated passion for our mission of curing avoidable blindness
• Extensive experience across the full range of the employee lifecycle, including talent acquisition, Total Rewards, employee relations, workforce planning, organizational development, learning and development, and performance management
• In-depth knowledge of global People practices, employment laws, and compliance requirements
• Demonstrated success in change management, organizational development, and driving cultural change
• Experience managing and coaching geographically dispersed teams across multiple countries and cultures
• Excellent communication, relationship-building, and influencing skills, with demonstrated success collaborating across cultures and organizational levels
• Strong business acumen with the ability to translate organizational priorities into People strategies that drive measurable outcomes
• A sense of discretion and a high degree of professionalism, including the ability to maintain confidentiality of highly sensitive information
• Detail-oriented and able to efficiently prioritize tasks and demonstrate follow-through
• Excellent computer skills and technical aptitude, including prior experience using HRIS systems
• Commitment to advancing diversity, equity, and inclusion
• Ability to travel domestically and internationally (approximately 10-15%) to support global teams and attend leadership meetings
• Willingness and ability to work across multiple time zones, including participating in morning and evening calls

Preferred qualifications:

• Previous experience working in an international development organization
• Master's degree in Human Resources, Organizational Development, Business Administration, or a related field
• SHRM-SCP or SPHR certification

Physical requirements:

• Prolonged periods of sitting at a desk and working on a computer
• Must be able to lift up to 15 pounds at a time

Cure Blindness Project encourages applications from people of all races, religions, national origins, genders, sexual orientations, gender identities, gender expressions, and ages, as well as veterans and individuals with disabilities.