Vice President, People & Organizational Effectiveness

Position: Vice President, People & Organizational Effectiveness Location: Chicago, IL Job Id: 191 # of Openings: 1 Job Description Job Title: Vice President, People & Organizational Effectiveness Department: Administration Reports To: President & Chief Executive Officer FLSA Status: Full-time , exempt Location: Chicago, IL | Hybrid, with regular on-site presence across CPA locations Pay Range : $115,000 - $125,000 The Executive Opportunity Children's Place Association is redesigning its executive leadership model to support the next stage of organizational growth, sustainability, and impact. The Vice President, People & Organizational Effectiveness will serve as the President & CEO's principal partner in building the people, leadership, culture, structure, and accountability systems required to deliver CPA's Forward to 40 strategy and beyond. This is not a traditional human resources role . The Vice President will lead a high- performing, compliant, and service-oriented people function while also strengthening organizational effectiveness across the enterprise. The role is accountable for ensuring CPA is not only staffed with exceptional talent, but also organized, led, and equipped to execute with greater clarity, discipline, adaptability, and shared accountability. Mandate Build a resilient, accountable organization capable of executing CPA's strategy and scaling sustainably. Key Responsibilities Lead the full human resources portfolio, including talent acquisition, employee relations, labor relations, compensation, benefits, payroll oversight, performance management, HR systems, compliance, policy, and employee lifecycle operations. Develop and execute an integrated people strategy aligned with CPA's mission, strategic priorities, financial realities, and anticipated growth. Ensure consistent, equitable, and legally sound employment practices across programs, locations, and employee groups. Provide high-quality counsel to the CEO, executives, and managers on complex people, performance, culture, and employment matters. Strengthen HR service delivery, operating procedures, data integrity, technology, and responsiveness. Organizational Effectiveness & Design Assess organizational health and recommend improvements to structure, role clarity, decision rights, spans of control, workflows, and cross-functional coordination. Partner with the CEO and Executive Leadership Team to design an operating model capable of supporting CPA's evolving scale and complexity. Lead organizational change initiatives, including change strategy, stakeholder engagement, implementation planning, adoption, and reinforcement. Identify systemic barriers to execution and lead practical interventions that strengthen accountability, collaboration, speed, and organizational learning. Build repeatable organizational practices that allow CPA to adapt without relying on perpetual crisis management. Leadership Development, Culture & Succession Build an integrated leadership development framework for executives, directors, managers, and emerging leaders. Coach leaders to manage performance, lead change, navigate conflict, develop talent, and operate with an enterprise mindset. Facilitate executive and leadership team retreats, planning sessions, and organizational alignment processes. Create succession and talent review processes that strengthen leadership continuity and internal mobility. Serve as an executive steward of a culture grounded in dignity, trust, accountability, inclusion, learning, and mission-centered performance. Enterprise Performance & Strategy Execution Partner with the CEO and Executive Leadership Team to establish organization-wide KPIs, operating cadences, and performance review practices. Translate strategic priorities into clear organizational expectations, leadership accountabilities, and people implications. Monitor workforce health, organizational performance, leadership effectiveness, and strategic execution through actionable dashboards and analysis. Support annual enterprise planning and, over time, begin framing and facilitating development of CPA's next strategic plan. Lead selected cross-functional initiatives designated by the CEO and represent the CEO in internal leadership settings when delegated. Risk, Compliance & Governance Ensure compliance with federal, state, and local employment laws, regulatory requirements, accreditation standards, and internal policies. Partner with legal counsel, insurance partners, auditors, and other advisors on employment risk and organizational matters. Provide the CEO and Board with clear reporting on workforce trends, organizational health, succession, executive compensation, and material people risks. Balance employee advocacy, organizational stewardship, legal compliance, and mission delivery with sound executive judgment. First 18-Month Priorities Stabilize HR operations and ensure reliable delivery of payroll, benefits, employee relations, recruitment, compliance, and core people processes. Complete an organizational effectiveness assessment and present a sequenced improvement roadmap to the CEO and Executive Leadership Team. Establish an enterprise KPI framework and recurring organizational performance cadence. Clarify leadership expectations, decision rights, and accountability across the executive and director levels. Launch a leadership development framework, incorporating the existing CPAmbassadors group. Strengthen succession, workforce planning, and talent review practices. Build trust in the people function through consistency, discretion, transparency, and timely follow-through. Measures of Success HR operations are reliable, compliant, timely, and trusted by employees and leaders. CPA has a clear, regularly used set of enterprise KPIs linked to strategy and organizational performance. Executive and management teams demonstrate stronger role clarity, accountability, and cross- functional leadership. Leadership development, succession, and workforce planning are embedded as ongoing management disciplines. Organizational structure and systems evolve in step with CPA's strategy rather than lagging behind it. By year two, the Vice President can independently lead executive retreats, guide organization- wide KPI development, and frame the next strategic planning process. Required Qualifications & Experience Bachelor's degree in human resources, organizational development, business, public administration, psychology, or a related field; equivalent relevant experience will be considered. At least 10 years of progressively responsible leadership experience across human resources, organizational development, people strategy, or organizational effectiveness, including at least five years at a senior or executive level. Demonstrated command of employee relations, employment law, compensation, benefits, performance management, workforce planning, HR operations, and organizational risk. Proven success leading organizational change, redesign, leadership development, culture, or enterprise performance initiatives. Experience advising a CEO and executive team on complex, high-stakes organizational and people decisions. Demonstrated ability to facilitate senior teams, structure ambiguous problems, establish performance frameworks, and convert strategy into coordinated action. Strong business and financial acumen, including the ability to connect workforce decisions to operating realities and mission outcomes. Exceptional judgment, discretion, written and verbal communication, and executive presence. Preferred Qualifications Master's degree in organizational development, human resources, business administration, public administration, or a related discipline. SHRM-SCP, SPHR, or comparable senior-level professional certification. Experience in nonprofit human services, behavioral health, education, or another highly regulated, mission-driven environment. Experience supporting a multi-site, diverse, and operationally complex workforce. Experience with labor relations, HRIS implementation or optimization, executive compensation, Board reporting, and strategic planning. Leadership Profile Enterprise thinker who sees people, structure, culture, and performance as interconnected systems. Credible HR executive who can protect the organization while remaining humane, fair, and accessible. Builder who creates durable systems rather than becoming the system. Facilitator and coach who can strengthen leaders without avoiding difficult accountability. Change leader who balances urgency with thoughtful sequencing and genuine engagement. Data-informed decision-maker who can convert patterns into clear choices and action. Low-ego, high-courage partner who will challenge the CEO and executive team in service of the institution. Equal Opportunity & Workplace Culture Children's Place Association is an equal opportunity employer. CPA does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, pregnancy, gender identity or expression, sexual orientation, national origin, age, disability, marital status, veteran status, genetic information, or any other characteristic protected by applicable law. CPA strives to cultivate a workplace that honors the voices, dignity, and lived experiences of every staff member. All employees share responsibility for creating a welcoming, accountable, inclusive, and supportive work environment. Physical Demands & Work Environment The physical demands are consistent with those of a professional office environment. The employee is regularly required to sit, communicate verbally, and operate standard office equipment. The role may occasionally require standing, walking, reaching, bending, and lifting or moving items weighing up to 25 pounds. The employee must be able to travel between agency locations and attend meetings, events, and training as needed. Reasonable accommodations may be provided to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions of the position. Both roles operate in a hybrid environment combining regular on-site leadership with designated remote work, as appropriate. Frequent interaction with employees, executives, Board members, community partners, public agencies, funders, vendors, and other external stakeholders is expected. Disclaimer The statements in these profiles describe the general nature and level of work expected. They are not intended to be an exhaustive list of all responsibilities, duties, qualifications, or working conditions. Responsibilities may evolve as CPA's strategy, scale, and operating needs change. #J-18808-Ljbffr Children’s Place Association