Chief People Officer

LEARN Charter School is an Illinois 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization and a proven provider of a Pre-K-8th grade college preparatory education for traditionally underserved students. Since opening its first school in 2001, LEARN has grown from one school serving 110 students to a thriving network of 11 charter schools and 4 pre-schools serving over 4,400 students in four cities — Chicago, North Chicago, Waukegan, IL and Washington, D.C.

LEARN was recognized by the Center for Research on Education Outcomes at Stanford University as one of the top “Gap Busting” charter school networks in the country for closing the academic achievement gap between its low-income minority students and their higher-income peers. LEARN scholars achieve proficiency rates that are 2-3X higher than comparable schools and its alumni earn a four-year college degree at double the national average for low-income students.

Our mission is to provide children, especially those who have been historically underserved, with the academic foundation and ambition to earn a college degree. We believe that the commitment and passion of the adults in our buildings is our greatest asset and the single most important determinant in student performance.

We are seeking an exceptional leader to support our 600 employees while helping to attract high performing professionals who share a commitment to excellence.

The Opportunity

The Chief People Officer (CPO) will lead the design and implementation of talent management strategies across the network and support the employee relations and human resource functions of the network. Reporting directly to the CEO, the CPO will manage the HR and Talent team and also serve as a member of LEARN’s senior leadership team playing a key role in leading its strategic direction. The successful candidate will have broad responsibilities, including:

• Collaborate with senior leadership to align the human capital strategy with growth targets, including staff retention, recruitment, and succession planning.
• Design and promote internal growth opportunities and professional development programs.
• Lead organizational culture initiatives that ensure a high-performing organization, including putting systems in place that value and leverage skill and expertise across the organization.

Talent Recruitment

• Create a best-in-class talent recruitment program, retention systems and hiring processes.
• Implement innovative, competitive and cost-effective strategies for recruiting and selecting diverse, high-quality talent.
• Use data to inform best practices for application and selection processes while ensuring that candidates have a consistent, positive experience with LEARN

Leadership & Management Coaching

• Work with the senior leadership team on key organizational,management, and staff development strategies and issues.
• Mentor and coach managers across the organization – including School Principals and leadership team members – to develop their skills as effective leaders and people managers
• Set high expectations for accountability and delivering targeted, candid feedback to direct reports in order to drive top performance across the network and schools.

Employee Relations & Benefits

• Collaborate with the finance department to ensure effective administration of all employee benefits.
• Play a proactive role in resolving employee concerns, investigating employee issues and developing positive employee relations.
• Research and evaluate compensation levels across the sector and benchmark against similar organizations,
• Develop and manage systems to gather feedback on employee satisfaction; based on the results, share feedback with senior leaders, develop and monitor the network response.

Qualifications

• 8-10 years of leadership experience in Human Resource and Talent management roles, coupled with a strong track record of data driven results.
• Ability to serve as an effective thought partner to the CEO and other C‑Suite leaders.
• Demonstrated results building and or improving an organization’s culture.
• Deep understanding of people management, with the ability to coach and mentor direct reports, peers, and executives on sound talent and HR management practices.
• Experience with being responsible for the general human resources function, including: compensation, employee relations, benefits, payroll, labor relations, legal etc.
• Proven leadership success, including the ability to motivate, address conflict, team build, mentor, coach, set goals, prioritize and plan.
• Previous experience in a fast‑paced, rapidly growing entrepreneurial organization.

Compensation and Benefits Summary

Salary : The compensation for this position includes a base salary with a budgeted range of $210-$225K plus bonus potential.

Benefits : We offer a comprehensive and competitive benefits package for all full time employees, including:

• Medical, Dental and Vision Insurance
• Paid vacation, personal time, & paid holidays
• Short and long term disability
• Paid life insurance
• Pet Insurance
• 403(b) Contribution of 4.5% + 4.5% matching with a 2-year vesting period

Working Conditions

The position is hybrid with an expectation of 4 days per week in office while schools are in session and 2 days per week in office when schools are on break. Some travel required.

This job description is not intended to be a complete list of all responsibilities, duties or skills required for the job and is subject to review and change at any time, with or without notice, in accordance with the needs of LEARN Charter School Network. Since no job description can detail all the duties and responsibilities that may be required from time to time in the performance of a job, duties and responsibilities that may be inherent in a job, reasonably required for its performance, or required due to the changing nature of the job shall also be considered part of the jobholder’s responsibility.

All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex (including pregnancy, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, age, family medical history, disability or veteran status)