Vice President of People

The Organization: Merit America

The American economy is broken. Today 53 million working adults–nearly half of the U.S. workforce–do not earn a living wage. And these talented workers have few options to advance: college is too long and expensive, full-time bootcamp programs don't offer enough flexibility, and online courses don't have the structure or support to translate learning into a new career. The result? Talented workers, disproportionately people of color and women, get stuck in low-wage roles with no way to build a better life for themselves and their families.

Merit America is a national nonprofit that creates pathways to family-sustaining careers for Americans stuck in low-wage work. Our fast, flexible solutions are built for working adults: we start by analyzing tens of millions of job postings to identify in-demand, high-paying tech careers and then work with industry-recognized partners to train for these roles with part-time programs that combine flexible online learning with best-in-class coaching. Finally, we work with a broad constellation of local and national employers like JPMorgan Chase and Infosys to place learners into higher-earning, family-sustaining jobs, driving an average wage gain of $24k three months or more after completing the program. Merit America is on a mission to build a scalable pathway for workers to join the middle class through merit, not money. We're on track to generate $1B in wage gains by 2025.



Role Overview

To achieve that ambitious mission, the Vice President of People is an exempt role and will play a critical role in supporting our 220 employees while driving significant team growth in the coming years. You will also work to strengthen and maintain the organization's culture while overseeing the strategy and implementation of the team's core programs, processes, and systems. Top priorities in 2024 include: redesigning the organization's approach to titling and compensation, implementing a career pathway pilot for the coaching function, and developing an organization-wide promotion policy.

Partnering with Merit America's leadership team and your broader team, you will continually improve on existing systems and processes and experiment with new ones, with the ultimate goal of finding, supporting, and developing our A+ team and operations.

Ideal candidates will be out-of-the-box, strategic, outcomes-focused thinkers excited to bring one of the country's fastest-growing nonprofits to scale. You will report to the Chief Operating Officer, Lal Jones-Bey, and will directly manage the Directors of Learning and People Experience, People Operations (including HRBPs), and Talent Acquisition. This is a fully remote role based in the US and is expected to start in Q2 2024.

Responsibilities

Leadership and Management - 40%

• Partner with the Chief Operating Officer to lead and further develop a best-in-class People function that is strategically aligned with and unique to Merit America's mission and objectives
• Build upon and lead processes and routines to drive effective People team-wide communication, planning and collaboration; processes and routines include but are not limited to leadership team meetings, team-wide meetings and goal-setting
• Directly manage the Directors of Learning and People Experience, People Operations (including HRBPs) and Talent Acquisition
• Partner with the Chief Operating Officer to manage the People department budget
  
  

Strategy - 25%

• Identify opportunities for improvement across the People function's scope of responsibility; recommend and implement solutions in areas including but not limited to the redesign and execution of comprehensive performance management, titling, promotion and compensation strategy in partnership with an emphasis on equity and scalable, efficient processes
• Partner with and support the Directors of Learning and People Experience, Talent Acquisition and People Operations to develop Merit America's function-specific strategies
• Collect, monitor, analyze and report on data pertaining to all facets of the employee life cycle
  
  

Organizational Development - 35%

• Partner with the Director of Talent Acquisition to oversee the implementation of a talent acquisition strategy that allows us to continue growing rapidly in order to meet organizational growth targets, with an emphasis on identifying and recruiting best-in-class teammates nationwide, employer branding as a choice employer and establishing incredibly diverse pipelines and hires
• Oversee the design and implementation of scalable, measurable ways to surprise and delight our employees from first application to onboarding, growth, and departures
• Ensure Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion flow through every aspect of the employee lifecycle in partnership with the Managing Director of DEIJ and the broader People team
• Oversee our onboarding strategy, resulting in best-in-class, constantly evolving onboarding experiences that will allow us to quickly, effectively, and reliably onboard hundreds of employees per year
• In partnership with the Director of Learning and People Experience, continually innovate around our organizational approach to growth, constantly search for new ways to empower our employees and invest in their development aligned to topline organizational goals and vision
• Spur career growth across racial and socioeconomic lines to ensure equity flows through everything we do
• Ensure continued compliance with relevant HR laws and regulations in partnership with our People Operations Director
• Serve as the People function subject matter expert, supporting senior leaders across the organization with issues including but not limited to employee relations, compensation, organizational structure, career pathways and promotion policies
  
  

Skills and Competencies

We recognize that individuals from marginalized backgrounds, including women, people of color, and those with disabilities, are often less likely to apply when they don't meet 100% of the job qualifications. Don't let that be the reason you miss out on this opportunity! We want to emphasize that your unique skills, experiences, and perspectives are valuable, and we encourage you to apply if you can demonstrate many of the skills and competencies. Below are the skills that are relevant for thriving in this role:

Must Haves:

• Demonstrated passion for our organizational mission and impact
• Phenomenal strategic thinking and analytical skills
• Phenomenal project management skills, able to empower and grow an extremely talented, committed, mission-driven, and experienced team that currently includes 3 direct reports and a broader team of 13
• Deep human resources expertise; ability to serve as the lead subject matter expert for a rapidly growing organization
• Strong background in managing organizational change while quickly establishing credibility to develop and manage productive relationships with internal and external individuals
• Superb communication skills, both written and verbal, and strong diplomacy skills with the ability to build a robust network of partnerships across the organization and community
• Ability to analyze data and communicate findings and recommendations to a diverse set of stakeholders. Passionate about fostering a strong data culture
• Ability to create and operationalize new, organization-wide systems/processes for fast-scaling organizations, and to thrive in a rapidly-changing environment
• Champion the organization's values: Think Big & Act with Conviction, Deliver Results, Win and Lose Together, Learn Constantly, Care Deeply, Enjoy the Ride
  
  

Nice to Haves:

• Experience leading human resources in a rapidly growing organization
• Experience managing a mid-sized team
• Non-profit management experience
  
  

Other Logistics:

• This position is full-time: 4-day work week (Fridays are an operating day if there is a holiday closure during the week)
• Location: Remote
• Salary: $212,500
  
  

Our goal is to have competitive and equitable compensation. We have a market-based compensation approach, which means we benchmark each role from reputable data sources. We compare our benchmarks against similarly sized non-profit organizations with comparable annual budgets and geographical areas. We pay the same rate for the same roles and adjust to comply with statutory mandates.

We take care of our employees by providing the following perks and benefits:

• 4-day work week (Fridays are an operating day if there is a holiday closure during the week)
• Medical, Dental and Vision insurance (100% Paid Employee Only Coverage)
• Flexible Spending Account and Health Savings Account
• Dependent care Flexible Spending Account
• Health Reimbursement Account fully funded by Merit
• Education reimbursement & personal development stipend
• Short and long-term disability
• Unlimited vacation (after a 90-day introductory period)
• Paid Parental Leave and Adoption benefits (after 1 year of employment)
• 11 federally recognized holidays
• 1 week office closure in July (week of July 4th)
• 2 week holiday office closure in December/January
• 401(k) retirement plan with automatic Merit contribution
• Wellness Benefits/Wellness Resources
• Discount perks at work program
• Phone/technology stipend
• Home office setup stipend
  
  

Remote Work & Sponsorship

Candidates must reside within the 50 states or District of Columbia and have full authorization to work in the 50 U.S. states & the District of Columbia (international work abroad, including the U.S. territories (Puerto Rico, Guam, U.S. Virgin Islands, and other islands are excluded). In addition, Merit America doesn't offer employment visa sponsorship.

Equal Opportunity Statement

Building an inclusive, high-performing team that is diverse across lines of personal identity is integral to our success and we are proud to be an equal opportunity employer.

This means we do not discriminate against any job applicant or employee because of their race, ethnicity, color, religion, national origin, sex, disability status, genetics, protected veteran status, gender identity or expression, sexual orientation, age or any other characteristic protected by federal, state or local laws. This applies to all terms and conditions of employment.

We actively strive and evolve to develop and maintain workspaces that are fully inclusive. We encourage candidates from underrepresented groups to apply.

Still excited about our work? You can learn more about our work in this video we made with our founding partner, Google.

E-Verify Statement

This employer participates in E-Verify and will provide the federal government with your Form I-9 information to confirm that you are authorized to work in the U.S. If E-Verify cannot confirm that you are authorized to work, this employer is required to give you written instructions and an opportunity to contact Department of Homeland Security (DHS) or Social Security Administration (SSA) so you can begin to resolve the issue before the employer can take any action against you, including terminating your employment. Employers can only use E-Verify once you have accepted a job offer and completed the I-9 Form.