Head of People Operations

Job Description

The Patrick J. McGovern Foundation (PJMF) is a $1.5 billion philanthropy working at the intersection of artificial intelligence, data science, and the public interest. This role exists to make sure the team advancing our mission is supported, developed, and set up to do the best work of their careers.

The Head of People Operations reports to the VP, People and Culture, and leads several critical pillars of the P&C function: manager capability, performance culture, organizational and manager learning, technical and non-technical recruiting, employee relations, HR compliance, and benefits.

This is a role for someone who excels at both strategic people conversations and being in the weeds of an employee relations matter. You bring sound judgment to hard situations. You build teams and systems that hold up over time. You care about the mission, and that care shows up in how you treat your colleagues every day.

How You’ll Make An Impact

• Employee Relations: Lead employee relations responsibilities and serve as a primary point of contact for employee questions, concerns, and policy interpretation. Independently handle employee relations matters, including advising managers on performance and conduct issues and resolving workplace concerns with limited oversight. Document issues and processes with precision. Exercise judgment in identifying and escalating highly complex or high-risk matters to the VP and outside counsel with a clear written record.
• Manager Coaching and Development: Design and run a manager coaching curriculum for people managers across all functions. Coach managers through employee relations situations: performance concerns, difficult conversations, team dynamics, and conflict resolution. Maintain and refine a manager toolkit to reduce reliance on P&C for routine people-related decisions. Identify capability gaps across the management layer and build targeted development responses.
• Talent Acquisition: Lead full-cycle recruiting for technical and non-leadership roles, including sourcing, screening, interview design, and offer coordination. Manage the ATS and ensure a consistent, well-documented candidate experience. Develop interview frameworks tied to PJMF's competency model. Support the VP on senior searches.
• Performance Management: Own the annual and mid-year review cycle end-to-end: system launch, communication, calibration preparation, timeline management, and quality review. Maintain and improve our performance management infrastructure on our 3rd party platform. Support managers in writing evidence-based assessments. Flag patterns across team ratings and bring a calibration perspective to the VP.
• Learning and Development: Build an annual L&D calendar aligned to organizational competency needs. Design onboarding that accelerates time-to-contribution for new hires. Source and manage external facilitators and vendors for specific programs or organizational needs.
• HR Operations and Compliance: Own day-to-day HR operations: new hire setup, offboarding, employment verifications, and status changes. Administer benefits in partnership with our PEO. Maintain compliance with federal and multi-state employment law requirements for a remote workforce. Manage record retention and I-9 compliance. Maintain HRIS accuracy and serve as the primary system administrator for all people systems.

What We Are Looking For

• 10 or more years in HR, with at least 7 years in roles focused on employee relations, manager development and coaching, or talent management. Technical recruiting experience required. Experience managing a team is preferred.
• Demonstrated experience coaching managers through performance and conduct situations effectively.
• Deep working knowledge across core HR disciplines: employee relations, talent development, performance management, full-cycle recruitment, compensation and benefits, and multi-state employment law.
• Experience designing and delivering effective learning programs that drive behavior change. Demonstrated ability to deliver coaching conversations and group facilitation sessions for managers at all levels. You can build a persuasive argument verbally and in writing. Stakeholders leave your sessions clear on what matters and what to do next.
• Hands-on experience with Google Workspace, Asana, Culture Amp, or a comparable performance platform, an ATS, and LinkedIn Recruiter. Demonstrated use of AI tools in an HR context, with enough working knowledge to evaluate new tools, spot limitations, and advise the team on practical applications.
• Hands-on experience with HRIS platforms, benefits administration, and multi-state compliance in a remote workforce.
• Bachelor's degree in Human Resources, Business Administration, or a related field, or equivalent experience. HR certification is strongly preferred.

Skills and Competencies

• Communication and influence. You read the room and adjust. With a skeptical manager, you are direct and concrete. With senior leadership, you lead with the implication. Your documentation stands on its own. Managers come to you before situations escalate because your advice works.
• Sound judgment. You know when a decision is not yours to make alone, and you say so clearly. You are analytical when data is available and decisive when it is not. You see trends in people data and name them to leadership without being asked.
• Execution. You bring structure to ambiguous work. You take a program from concept to rollout and track what is working without being prompted. When you own something, it gets done.
• Process and people in balance. You hold the line on process without losing sight of the person in front of you. You are consistent without being rigid.
• Equity in practice. You have changed a hiring, performance, or development outcome through this lens. You can point to the specific decision you made differently and what happened as a result.
• AI fluency. You have used AI tools in HR work, whether in recruiting, performance, or people analytics. You understand where these tools add value and where human judgment cannot be replaced. You can help the team think through adoption decisions with that context in hand.
• Comfort with start-up-like environments. You have worked in a place where strategic and administrative work land in the same space. You treat operational tasks with equal urgency as larger initiatives. You understand that credibility at this scale is built through consistent execution.
• Remote-first effectiveness. You thrive in a 100% remote environment and can build connections to work and people without having to share physical space. You communicate proactively in writing. You build relationships without relying on proximity. You stay visible without being performative.
• Work eligibility: Applicants must be authorized to work for any employer in the U.S. (No visa sponsorship available)

What We Offer

The salary range for this is $130,000-$150,000. Starting salaries are typically placed in the lower half of the range, with flexibility based on the experience you bring. Beyond career-defining work, we offer a comprehensive benefits package to support you along the way:

All application questions are required. Incomplete applications will not be considered.

• Coverage includes family planning support, a One Medical subscription, and begins on the date of hire.
• Employer-paid group term life insurance and short-term and long-term disability insurance.
• PTO & Leave Options – Paid time off, which allows team members to take the time they need for vacation, illness, volunteer time, bereavement, medical leave, so they can return to work able to contribute fully to our mission. The foundation recognizes 11 paid national holidays per year and also hosts a winter break at the end of the year.
• Parental Leave – Up to 6 months of gender-neutral paid leave for parents and caregivers when they have a new addition to their families
• Remote Work Environment - Ability to work 100% remotely within the USA, but not alone, with mature, socially minded professionals. Annual all staff summit in the Summer. Remote work stipend to support remote working needs.
• Wellness Support – Employee Assistance Programs, access to Ginger, Headspace, and SmartSpend Plus, along with financial well-being providers
• Learning Reimbursements – Foundation policy encouraging employees to explore development opportunities such as peer learning, internal training, and external activities; savings on student loans (available via insurance provider)
• Philanthropic Gift Matching – opportunity for team members to support nonprofits in their community, reflecting PJMF’s commitment to social impact