Director Of People Strategy

About Nava

Nava is a consultancy and public benefit corporation working to make government services simple, effective, and accessible to all. Since 2013, federal, state, and local government agencies have trusted Nava to build transformative digital services to help people access public benefits. Meeting our mission is an opportunity to restore trust between people and public institutions. We focus on populations that are the least protected because the stakes are higher.

As a client services company, we work with government agencies to improve how people apply for benefits, navigate their health care, and more. We bill for our time, selling our expertise and problem-solving methodology to government clients. Our clients hire us to help improve their products and services so that their users and beneficiaries have a better customer experience.

These end-users—the humans who benefit from our work—are at the core of everything we do. We research beneficiaries’ needs to help our government clients better deliver on their missions, providing everyone at Nava opportunities to do meaningful, impactful work.

Position Summary

Nava is seeking an experienced and strategic leader to assume the role of Director of People Strategy. This role reports to the Vice President of People Operations. In this pivotal position, you will be responsible for developing and executing comprehensive People Operations strategies while overseeing the total rewards, performance management, engagement surveys, professional development, and compensation functions.

In this position, your primary focus will be aligning our People programs with our organizational goals and objectives to attract, retain, and engage a talented workforce. The ideal candidate will possess a strong background in People Operations strategies, total rewards management, and compensation practices, along with exceptional leadership, analytical skills, and the ability to build strong partnerships with our Delivery and other organizations.

Nava provides the opportunity to do meaningful, impactful, mission-oriented work. As a public benefit corporation, the people who work at Nava have a fiduciary duty to our stated mission: to improve the accessibility, effectiveness, and simplicity of government services. When identifying and pursuing opportunities we must ensure that we are well suited to win and deliver successfully, but also evaluate the work against our mission and values. This is a high bar, but it's why we're here, and it informs what we do and how we operate across all phases of the business.

You will work as part of a remote-first team to deliver the highest quality internal support and solutions to employees at scale in a fast-growing company.

In the Director of People Strategy role, you will be integral to helping Nava approximately double in size over the next several years and become a more mature delivery and consulting firm. You will be expected to continuously enhance people operations strategies and services and play an instrumental role in developing our employees’ experience, skills, and sense of well-being.

As a leader, you will bring joy to your team’s work and the work of all at Nava, building trust through all interactions. You will elevate your team and company employees, serve as a role model for others, and understand the challenges and business realities of our industry. You will be able to recognize, balance, and double down on what makes Nava different from competitors, while being able to mature our company and team with sound decisions, practices, and techniques.

We are seeking “T-shaped” candidates – people with vertical depth of expertise in People Operations who are strong horizontal leaders and communicators across organizational boundaries. In particular, we are looking for an individual who will deeply understand our goals, business, delivery approach, and mission, before bringing their expertise to the table to help us get there.

What You'll Do

• Stay current on industry trends, best practices, and emerging technologies in total rewards, performance management, and professional development to drive continuous improvement.
• Drive employee engagement initiatives, including surveys, feedback mechanisms, and recognition programs, to foster a positive work environment and enhance employee satisfaction.
• Collaborate with leaders across the company to drive, co-design, deploy, and improve People Operations projects and initiatives, including organizational change management, People Operations policy development, and People Operations systems implementation.
• Ensure the effective utilization and management of HRIS systems and tools, leveraging data and analytics to drive insights, process improvements, and informed decision-making. Bring a self-service and user-centered approach to setting up tooling and solutions that multiple user types depend on.
• Provide strategic guidance and expertise in the areas of people operations strategy, performance management, compensation, total rewards, training, professional development, employee engagement, and HRIS. Build trust and partner across organizational boundaries to co-conceive, co-design, and intentionally roll out initiatives end to end using intentional change management.
• Lead and manage a team of HR professionals, including Training Lead and Compensation Generalist, ensuring their growth, development, and alignment with organizational objectives.
• Lead the design and delivery of effective training and professional development programs that align with organizational needs and promote employee growth and career advancement.
• Oversee the design and administration of compensation and total rewards programs to attract, retain, and motivate top talent, ensuring market competitiveness and internal equity.
• Collaborate closely with our Delivery organization to ensure training and staff development programs are effective in practice at skill improvement and behavior change.
• In collaboration with the Vice President of People Operations, other senior executives across the company, and your People Operations colleagues, develop and execute a comprehensive People Strategythat aligns with the organization's goals and drives employee engagement, satisfaction, and retention.
• Ensure compliance with applicable laws and regulations related to compensation and benefits, and make recommendations for updates or changes as necessary.
• Partner with VP of People Operations, finance, and other stakeholders to develop and manage the People Operations budget, monitor expenses, and provide recommendations for cost-effective initiatives.

Required Skills

• Demonstrated end to end stewardship of strategic initiatives from conception to deployment to improvement.
• Proven experience in a senior HR leadership role, with a minimum of 8-10 years of progressive HR experience.
• Bachelor's degree in Human Resources, Business Administration, or a related field. A Master's degree is preferred.
• Strong understanding of performance management processes, including goal setting, performance reviews, and talent development.
• Proven customer-centric approach to internal and external stakeholders, and an ability to build trust and buy in across a company.
• In-depth knowledge of total rewards practices, including compensation structures, benefits programs, recognition strategies, and incentive plans.
• Strong knowledge of relevant employment laws, regulations, and compliance requirements.
• Strong ability to drive change management intentionally.
• Demonstrated expertise in designing and delivering professional development programs that align with organizational goals and employee needs.
• Proven ability to execute forward progress rapidly while building trust.
• Proven leadership and people management skills, with the ability to inspire and motivate teams.
• Excellent analytical and problem-solving skills, with the ability to leverage data to drive decision-making.
• 5+ years of experience in government contracting and professional services environments.
• Experience in managing employee engagement surveys and utilizing data to drive actionable insights and enhance employee satisfaction.

Desired Skills

• Professional certifications (e.g., CCP, GRP, SHRM-SCP) are highly desirable
• Experience in a fast-growing professional services firm and a track record of adapting risk management to the context and business of the firm.
• Technical skills: Proficiency in GSuite, Slack, Zoom, Excel, Apple computers, and other tools used to support a remote-work environment.

$160,000 - $175,000 a year

Other Requirements

The individual working in this position:

• May be subject to a government security investigation and must meet eligibility requirements for access to classified information or applicants who are eligible for security clearances.
• Candidates who are offered a job with Nava must possess work authorization that does not require sponsorship by their employer for a visa now or in the future.
• Must be legally authorized to work in the United States and meet any other requirements for government contracts for which they are hired.

Perks working with Nava

• 401k contributions match at 4% of your salary
• 16 weeks of fully paid parental leave and weekly meal deliveries during leave
• Flexible work arrangements
• Employee referral program
• Monthly partial reimbursement for utilities (where applicable)
• Sabbatical Leave
• Equity stock options
• $1,000 new home office set up budget, monthly phone allowance
• $2,000 annual tuition and professional development budget, on top of a LinkedIn Learning license
• Your well-being is important to us, so we offer highly competitive benefits for medical, dental, and vision
• 20 days of PTO accrued, 12 days paid federal holidays, 5 floating holidays, unlimited sick leave
• Short and Long-Term Disability Insurance
• Commuter Benefits
• Diverse, inclusive, highly collaborative, and vibrant culture, fostering remote work!
• Life and Accidental Death Insurance

Location

We Also Have Fully Remote Options If You Reside In One Of The Following States

You can work in a hybrid work arrangement from one of Nava’s offices in NYC, DC, or San Francisco.

Alabama, Arizona, California, Colorado, DC, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Louisiana, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, North Carolina, New Jersey, New York, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Texas, Tennessee, Virginia, Washington, Wisconsin.

• If you are not living in one of the states listed above, unfortunately, you will not be considered for a position at this time.

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Nava PBC equal opportunity employer that is deeply committed to diversity and inclusion in the workplace. We prohibit discrimination and harassment of any kind based on race, color, age, gender, religious or political beliefs, national origin or heritage, marital status, disability, sex, sexual orientation or gender identity, genetic information, pregnancy, status as a protected veteran or any characteristic protected by federal, state, or local laws. Our commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion not only reflects our values as a public benefit corporation but also enriches our ability to do our work. Learn more about where we are today and hope to be by 2025.

Please contact the recruiting team at [email protected] if you would like to request reasonable accommodation during the application or interviewing process.

We participate in E-Verify. Upon hire, we will provide the federal government with your Form I-9 information to confirm that you are authorized to work in the U.S. This role is required to work from the contiguous United States.