Head Of People And Culture

About Foundation for a Just Society

Foundation for a Just Society (FJS) envisions a world where all people are equally valued and lead self-determined lives. FJS advances the rights of women, girls, and LGBTQI people and promotes gender and racial justice by ensuring those most affected by injustice have the resources they need to cultivate the leadership and solutions that transform our world.

FJS makes grants to local, national, regional, and global organizations and networks with an emphasis on Francophone West Africa, Mesoamerica, South and Southeast Asia, and the US Southeast. FJS supports efforts that advance long-term, structural change and meet immediate needs that enable women, girls, and LGBTQI people most affected by injustice to be leaders, strategists, and agents of change.

Please visit www.fjs.org for more information about FJS’s history, impact and leadership.

About the Opportunity

The position reports to the Chief Executive Officer, closely advises and partners with FJS’s management team, and supervises the HR Generalist and the Events and Library Associate. This individual will be responsible for overseeing all aspects of the Human Resources (HR) function and providing leadership and support to ensure that FJS’s internal practices and protocols reflect the values of the organization and center antiracism, gender justice, and individual and collective care. The Head of People and Culture works collaboratively across all levels of the organization to develop and implement plans to attract, develop, and retain a qualified and diverse staff across the Foundation.

The selected candidate has a strategic and positive mindset with a demonstrated passion for people development and building a positive, engaged, and equitable work culture that centers racial and gender justice values. They are proactive, transparent, and skilled at building authentic relationships, as well as a thoughtful leader with demonstrated experience collecting and synthesizing input from stakeholders, identifying opportunities for improvement, proposing creative and pragmatic solutions, and thoughtfully designing process rollouts through a change management lens. They have experience with and a commitment to working with people from a variety of backgrounds, including different ethnic, racial, and socio-economic backgrounds and the LGBTQI community.

Successful candidates have a degree or equivalent work experience that demonstrates people- centered culture expertise, as well as exceptional communication, coaching, facilitation, project management, and relationship building skills. They are excited about applying all of these skills in a fast-growing, mission-based organization that is committed to diversity, equity, inclusion, justice, and catalyzing action to advance the rights of women, girls, and LGBTQI people and promotes gender and racial justice.

Areas of Leadership

Passion for Mission and Values Alignment

• Ground the organization’s people and culture functions in the mission and vision of a social justice-focused foundation
• Lead by example with empathy and a focus on the future, consistently prioritizing how to best adapt the organization to its changing environment
• Demonstrate authenticity, openness to embrace radical candor, strong collaboration, and listening skills

Key Qualifications:

• Passion for FJS’s mission and vision, demonstrated through an understanding of what motivates talented staff to bring their best to what they do
• Ability to motivate and engage team members by ensuring that HR practices and internal cultures are aligned with and reflect its core values and mission
• Understanding of social-justice focused philanthropy and private foundation landscapes and nuances and experience working with global teams is an asset
• Understanding of racial and gender justice and experience applying these equity practices to organizational development, including a demonstrated ability and commitment to an equitable and inclusive work environment

People and Relationship Leadership

• Advise and partner with the CEO to develop and implement progressive policies and
• Lead and partner with the management team on all HR and culture-related internal
• Create spaces, platforms, and active listening for staff to share needs, concerns, and ideas
• Solicit feedback from team members on a regular basis and maintain a pulse on the team’s
• Feelings and needs
• Practices in diverse contexts
• Communications

Key Qualifications:

• Demonstrated ability to navigate ambiguity and take initiative to work through problems and issues in a collaborative, proactive, and creative manner
• Record of building and sustaining open, collaborative relationships with a diverse range of internal and external stakeholders by leading with compassion, respect, and professional maturity
• Focused on learning and consistently open to ideas of others while taking active steps to improve on and enhance professional skills - your own and others’
• Proven ability to establish and implement progressive systems and structures that are designed to support the development and engagement of staff and overall organizational goals
• Has led the creation of structures and spaces for difficult employee relations-related conversations by developing an atmosphere of trust and confidentiality
• Experience as a strategic partner to senior leaders, proactively identifying opportunities for improvement and designing and implementing solutions across all HR areas in order to build engagement and employee satisfaction

Culture and Change Leadership

• Develop and facilitate HR, culture, and learning initiatives that reflect the organization’s mission, values, and strategic priorities, including through participation in organization-wide working groups (e.g., the culture committee)
• Bring an intersectional lens to the work being done internally and externally
• Lead the work and processes to better define and communicate the organization’s decision making structures and internal communication structures to help minimize and mitigate siloing across FJS
• Develop (or update) and implement values based policies and practices (the onboarding process, the professional development policy, etc)
• Create training programs (and refine existing ones) to grow and develop the Foundation’s team in ways that are inclusive, engaging, empowering, and creative
• Lead cross-team work to sharpen values definition and build structure for practical applications
• Promote diversity, equity, inclusion, and justice by ensuring a safe and inclusive working environment, infusing these values throughout the people-centered culture work, partnering with managers to champion the same efforts

Key Qualifications:

• Experience developing an environment of collaboration, transparency, and respect by strengthening working relationships between departments as well as team members
• Previous experience as an organization’s people-focused culture leader
• Track record of restorative and effective conflict resolution
• Ability to inspire a culture of innovation, execution, collaboration, accountability, possibility, and fun
• Ability to establish and implement progressive systems and structures designed to support the development and engagement of staff and overall organizational goals

Human Resources and Team Leadership

• In collaboration with the HR generalist, provide advice, guidance, coaching, and mentorship to managers and employees to cultivate effective employee relationships and performance management, supporting managers in creating development plans and growth opportunities for employees at all levels
• Provide strategic leadership and hands-on solutions in response to human resources needs throughout the organization
• Provide HR advice and counsel to the management team, including support with prioritizing potential initiatives and projects, and centering individual and collective care
• Remain knowledgeable and current on HR trends and best practices
• Support ongoing processes around gender and racial equity as well as disability inclusion and provide guidance on the application of the FJS’s compensation philosophy
• Advise on resolution of staffing issues, compensation, and benefits questions, concerns, an issues
• Provide guidance and leadership to the HR Generalist and the Events and Library Associate to build a strong People and Culture function and HR team

Key Qualifications:

• Experienced hands-on generalist, capable of leading the function individually
• Track record in multiple aspects of human resources, including staff development and talent management strategies, as well as a successful track record of building, leading, and/or executing a progressive human resources function
• Certifications such as PHR, SHRM-CP, or SHRM-SCP will be recognized but are not required
• Known for developing progressive policies and practices and tracking HR trends
• Experience developing, implementing, and continuously evaluating HR policies and systems that adhere to all relevant legal and regulatory requirements

Compensation, Benefits, and Location

The starting salary range for this role is $154,453 - $193,066, depending upon experience. Foundation for Just Society offers comprehensive benefits, including: 100% employer-paid medical insurance for all eligible employees and their spouses, domestic partners, and eligible dependents; paid vacation days, and closed Christmas Eve through New Year’s Day; 401(k) retirement plan (with employer match); generous parental leave with full salary continuation; educational support benefits – tuition reimbursement, student loan repayment, dependent tuition assistance; and supplemental benefits for adoption, reproductive health, surrogacy, and transgender and intersex health. This role is based out of FJS’s New York City office with the option to work remotely from a local home office 2-3 times per week. Candidates should have eligibility to work in the United States. Candidates should be fully vaccinated against COVID-19 virus.