Senior Director of HR & People Operations

Position Title: Senior Director Human Resources and People Operations Location: This position requires three days per week of on-site work in the Atlanta, GA HQ office Reports To: Chief Operating Officer Salary Range - $150 - $160K About The CDC Foundation The CDC Foundation helps the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) save and improve lives by unleashing the power of collaboration between CDC, philanthropies, corporations, organizations, communities and individuals to protect the health, safety and security of America and the world. The CDC Foundation is the go-to nonprofit authorized by Congress to mobilize philanthropic partners and private-sector resources to support CDC’s critical health protection mission. Since 1995, the CDC Foundation has raised over $1.9 billion and launched more than 1,300 programs impacting a variety of health threats from chronic disease conditions including cardiovascular disease and cancer, to infectious diseases like rotavirus and HIV, to emergency responses, including COVID-19 and Ebola. The CDC Foundation managed hundreds of programs in the United States and in more than 90 countries last year. Visit for more information. Overview The Senior Director of Human Resources serves as the senior leader responsible for guiding, strengthening, and advancing the organization’s Human Resources function. This role provides strategic and operational leadership across employee relations, HR operations, compliance, risk mitigation, performance management, compensation and benefits, employee engagement, and people analytics. The Senior Director will serve as a trusted advisor to senior leadership, a coach to managers, a builder of HR team capability, and a steward of consistent, compliant, people-centered practices across the enterprise. The role requires the ability to support a geographically dispersed workforce, including headquarters-based, hybrid, remote, field-based, and program-based employees performing a wide range of job functions. Reporting directly to the Chief Operating Officer, the Senior Director of HR plays a pivotal role in how organizational decisions are made. Your voice will shape how this organization treats its people, structures its work, and sustains its culture through a period of meaningful growth and change. Duties And Responsibilities Executive HR Leadership and People Strategy Provide strategic leadership for the Human Resources function in alignment with the organization’s mission, values, operating model, and enterprise priorities. Serve as a strategic advisor to executive leadership on employee relations, talent needs, organizational risk mitigation, culture, compliance, and people-related business decisions. Lead the development and execution of HR goals, initiatives, and performance indicators that advance operational excellence and mission delivery. Represent HR as an enterprise partner that supports both people-centered leadership and disciplined operational execution. Partner with senior leaders and managers to cultivate a positive, respectful, inclusive, high-accountability workplace culture. HR Function Leadership, Team Development, and Operational Oversight Strengthen HR operations across the employee lifecycle, from hiring and onboarding through development, retention, transition, and offboarding. Ensure that the function delivers timely, consistent, responsive, and high-quality support across the organization. Provide direction, coaching, performance feedback, and professional development for HR team members while clarifying roles, decision rights, escalation paths, and standard operating procedures. Establish consistent HR workflows, service levels, and intake processes to reduce duplication, improve prioritization, and ensure appropriate follow-through. Foster a team culture within HR that reflects professionalism, confidentiality, change management discipline, accountability, responsiveness, continuous learning, and partnership. Facilitate organizational design initiatives, including defining team structures, reporting lines, and role alignment across the organization. Establish and maintain a scalable job architecture framework, including job families, levels, and standardized role definitions. Partner with leadership in designing roles and team structures that support performance, clarity, and long-term organizational growth. Employee Relations, Risk Management, and Manager Advisory Serve as a senior advisor on complex employee relations matters, including investigations, workplace concerns, conflict resolution, performance issues, disciplinary actions, and separations. Assess incoming matters for urgency, complexity, legal risk, reputational risk, and required escalation. Partner with legal counsel, compliance, finance, operations, and senior leadership. Design, implement, and oversee robust fraud-prevention protocols, including advanced identity verification and skills-based assessments to protect the organization from resume fraud, AI-generated deepfakes, and candidate impersonation during the hiring process. Identify recurring employee relations themes and recommend proactive interventions, training, policy clarification, or manager support. Provide regular anti-fraud and ethics training to hiring managers, recruiters, and the broader workforce to maintain vigilance against modern social engineering and identity scams. Performance Management, Talent Development, and Leadership Capability Lead the design, implementation, and continuous improvement of performance management processes, including goal setting, performance evaluations, feedback cycles, performance improvement plans, and development planning. Partner with managers to improve consistency, clarity, and quality in performance expectations and feedback, integrating training programs and other learning opportunities where appropriate. Design and implement employee training and development programs to support leadership development, professional growth, and organizational effectiveness. Work closely with management to identify and implement development plans and succession planning strategies. Compensation, Benefits, And Total Rewards Provide leadership for compensation, benefits, and workforce planning practices to ensure they are competitive, compliant, financially responsible, and aligned with organizational needs. Partner with finance and leadership to assess workforce investments, staffing models, budget implications, and sustainability. Monitor benefits trends, employee feedback, vendor performance, and utilization data to recommend improvements. Ensure compensation and benefits practices are communicated clearly and administered consistently. Talent Acquisition and Workforce Planning Provide strategic oversight of Talent Acquisition and workforce planning efforts, partnering with organizational leaders to forecast workforce needs, identify talent gaps, and align hiring strategies with organizational priorities, growth objectives, and long-term staffing needs. Support the development and standardization of recruitment practices across the organization to promote consistency, efficiency, compliance, and a positive candidate experience while empowering Talent Acquisition leadership to manage day-to-day recruiting operations and hiring manager partnerships. HR Policy, Compliance, and Employment Practices Ensure HR policies, practices, and processes are legally compliant, clearly documented, consistently applied, and aligned with organizational values. Oversee compliance with applicable federal, state, and local employment laws and regulations, particularly for a geographically dispersed workforce. Develop, review, update, and implement HR policies, procedures, employee handbook content, and manager guidance. Support compliance with applicable requirements for federal contractors, protected veterans, individuals with disabilities, equal employment opportunities, and other employment obligations. HR Technology Utilization, Reporting, Metrics, and Data-Informed Decision-Making Exemplify and promote the use of technology systems and HRIS tools to drive efficiency, security and consistency across all HR functions. Ensure employee records, HR documentation, and HRIS data are accurate, current, secure, and appropriately maintained in core technology platforms. Develop and monitor HR metrics such as turnover, retention, vacancy rates, time-to-fill, employee relations trends, and engagement. Analyze trends and provide recommendations for improvement. Use data to identify risk areas, recurring issues, service gaps, and opportunities for proactive intervention. Ensure HR data is used responsibly, ethically, and in support of both operational decisions and employee trust. Required Qualifications Bachelor’s degree in Human Resources, Business Administration, Organizational Development, Public Administration, or a related field. Minimum of 12 years of progressive Human Resources experience, including significant experience in HR leadership, employee relations, HR operations, compliance, and manager advisory work. SPHR, SHRM-SCP, PHR, SHRM-CP, or related HR certification. Minimum of 5 years of experience leading HR professionals, teams, programs, or major HR initiatives. Demonstrated experience advising senior leaders on complex employee relations, workforce planning, organizational change, performance management, and HR risk. Strong knowledge of federal, state, and local employment laws and regulations. Experience supporting a geographically dispersed workforce, including remote, hybrid, field-based, or multi-state employees. Experience developing safeguards and mitigating risks of cybersecurity, employment fraud and other emerging threats facing the HR profession Experience with HRIS platforms, HR reporting, employee data, and process improvement. Excellent written and verbal communication skills, including the ability to communicate clearly with executive, manager, and employee audiences. Strong organizational skills with the ability to assess risk, prioritize competing demands, and drive work to completion. Preferred Qualifications Master’s degree in Human Resources, Business Administration, Organizational Leadership, Public Administration, Industrial/Organizational Psychology, or a related field. Experience in the nonprofit, healthcare, public health, public sector, philanthropy, or government contractor environment. Experience leading HR transformation, HR service delivery improvements, culture initiatives, or organizational change management. Experience supporting organizations with fewer than 5,000 employees and a nationwide or multi-state operating footprint. Measures of Success Success in this role may be measured by the Senior Director’s ability to: Establish a clear HR service delivery model with defined intake, escalation, documentation, and response practices. Strengthen employee relations practices, including more consistent documentation, risk assessment, manager coaching, and resolution tracking. Improve manager capability through practical tools, training, coaching, and performance management support. Build HR team capability, role clarity, and accountability, resulting in more consistent and responsive support to employees and managers. Advance culture cultivation efforts that reinforce trust, accountability, collaboration, inclusion, and enterprise partnership. Improve alignment between HR and other enterprise leaders on workforce planning, staffing needs, and organizational priorities. Special Notes This role is involved in a dynamic public health organization. As such, roles and responsibilities are subject to change as situations evolve. Roles and responsibilities listed above may be expanded upon or updated to match priorities and needs once written approval is received by the CDC Foundation. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment and will not be discriminated against on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, national origin, age, mental or physical disabilities, veteran status, and all other characteristics protected by law. We comply with all applicable laws, including E.O. 11246 and the Vietnam Era Readjustment Assistance Act of 1974, governing employment practices and do not discriminate on the basis of any unlawful criteria in accordance with 41 C.F.R. 60-300.5(a)(12) and 60-741.5(a)(7). As a federal government contractor, we take affirmative action on behalf of protected veterans. The CDC Foundation is a smoke-free environment. Relocation expenses are not included. #J-18808-Ljbffr CDC Foundation