Job Description

KIPP North Carolina seeks a dynamic and strategic leader to serve as its founding Chief Talent Officer (CTO). Reporting to the Executive Director, the Chief Talent Officer will set the vision and direction for attracting, engaging, developing, and retaining KIPP North Carolina's 450+ person team. The CTO will manage a two-person Director team (Director of Talent and Director of HR), who in turn oversees a 2-person team each. This critical role and their teammates will partner and collaborate closely with school leaders across the organization to build exceptional people management practices and ensure a strong, inclusive, and talent-focused culture.

This is an ideal opportunity for a dynamic and visionary organizational leader to play a critical role in building and shaping a premier K-12 charter management organization committed to supporting all our students to graduate college and succeed in school and life.

Specific responsibilities include:

LEADERSHIP, CULTURE, & ENGAGEMENT

• In collaboration with school leaders and Central Office colleagues, builds and implements the vision for the Talent function at KIPP NC
• Serves as true culture builder and carrier; helps KIPP NC define and realize its optimal culture tied to its commitment to excellence, diversity, inclusivity, and anti-racism
• Recruits, manages, and develops a diverse and exceptional team of professionals; diligently seeks opportunities for professional development, acting as a coach and thought partner, and serving as an organizational role model
• Leads the team to ensure a culture of high expectations and continual improvement and feedback; establishes clear expectations and promotes exemplary team member support
• Drives processes for gathering employee feedback and addressing employee concerns
• Holds the leadership team accountable for high rates of employee satisfaction and retention as a leading indicator for establishing KIPP NC as an 'employer of choice'

RECRUITMENT & RETENTION

• Partners with the Director of Staff Recruitment and Director of Human Resources to establish an overarching vision for talent acquisition and a best-in-class recruitment and retention strategies
• Partners with the Chief of External Affairs to ensure compelling outreach efforts to diverse pools of candidates that position KIPP NC as an 'employer of choice' for strong, diverse, mission-aligned candidates
• Builds and systematizes recruitment and selection processes and tools to support effective and equitable hiring across the organization; runs those processes year-round to ensure schools and the organization are filled with top talent
• Partners with the Director of Staff Recruitment and Director of Human Resources to build the organization's onboarding program to ensure new hires have a smooth and productive initial experience
• Leverages technology to maximize the efficiency of the recruitment needs of the organization, including part of the organization's HR information system.
• Analyzes retention data and utilizes insights to drive retention of high-performing team members through rewards, recognition, and other data-informed incentives

PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT & PERFORMANCE MANAGEMENT

• Establishes a cohesive vision for career pathing, succession, and workforce planning at KIPP NC
• Designs KIPP NC's professional development, promotion, and retention philosophy, factoring in key elements such as rewards, recognition, engagement and satisfaction
• Develops a robust performance management strategy tied to quantitative and qualitative organizational goals, building upon the organization's current annual review process
• In partnership with the Talent Team and school leaders, ensures KIPP NC delivers best-in-class professional development with a particular focus on developing exceptional people management skills across KIPP NC's team

HR OPERATIONS

• Works closely with the Executive Director and Chief Financial Officer to ensure KIPP NC's compliance with federal, state, and local laws
• Stays abreast of HR law/policy trends that could impact KIPP NC's ability to execute on its mission
• Ensures KIPP NC's compensation and position architecture remains aligned and competitive with the broader market; partners with the Executive Director and the Chief Equity Officer to ensure that salary scales are equitable
• Develops differentiated licensure support in partnership with school leaders, external agencies, teachers, and school-based Directors of Operations to comply with state laws and strengthen teacher retention
• Serves as a senior resource for high-stakes conflict resolution and HR mediation matters.
• Partners with the team to continually optimize HR systems (e.g., HRIS, leave management, learning management, credential tracking) to deliver exceptional results and meet the needs of a new organization

Qualifications

CANDIDATE REQUIREMENTS:

The successful candidate will possess the following skills and attributes:

• A deep commitment to the mission of KIPP NC and an unwavering belief in the potential of all our students
• An unwavering commitment to anti-racism, diversity, equity, and inclusion, with an ability to serve as an exemplar for the organization's values and foster an inclusive and respectful workplace
• A strong desire to collaborate with school leaders and Central Office teammates in service to a new KIPP region growing out of two exceptionally strong ones
• 10+ years of professional experience, including 5+ years in a senior talent leadership role, preferably in a growing and dynamic multi-site organization with at least 500+ employees
  • Track record of success in implementing high-quality talent practices at a high-performing organization
  • Broad knowledge of the Talent function, ideally including deep expertise in recruitment, learning & development, and/or HR operations
• Exceptional strategic thinking and problem-solving skills; ability to set vision and direction across large, complex sets of work
• Exceptional people management skills; holds high standards while coaching and developing others; empowers team members to proactively and creatively solve problems
• Track record of coaching and developing management skills in others
• Nuanced relationship building skills; possesses a high level of emotional intelligence and self-awareness and the ability to relate/influence across a diverse range of stakeholders
• Demonstrated ability to lead HR system implementations strongly preferred
• Proven project management skills as it relates to the creation of different systems and structures
• Excellent communication skills and ability to work collaboratively across teams across the organization
• Demonstrates integrity, both in words and actions, and encourages ethical behavior and decision making
• Possess a deep commitment to both racial equity and improving the lives of kids from low-income communities; experience working within predominantly Black, Brown, and/or low-income communities
• Understanding and willingness to work in both rural and urban communities, including exhibiting resourcefulness and willingness to travel up to five hours within North Carolina multiple days per week based on need
• Collaborative approach to executive leadership, and the ability to work effectively with cross functional teams to meet goals and improve organizational performance

LOCATION: Must live in North Carolina; Raleigh-Durham-Chapel Hill, ideal, given the area's equal distance from our schools in Charlotte, Gaston, and Halifax

Additional Information

COMPENSATION

Compensation is commensurate with experience and includes a generous benefits package.

KIPP North Carolina does not and shall not discriminate on the race, color, religion, creed, national or ethnic origin, age, sex, gender identity, sexual orientation, marital or parental status, disability, source of income, or status as a veteran in any of its activities or operations.

All your information will be kept confidential according to EEO guidelines.