Vice President, People Operations & Human Resources

THE POSITION:

Kokua is seeking a VP of People Operations and HR to join our dynamic and growing team. 

Kokua was founded in Chicago in 2011 and has since grown out to service 600 schools across 14 cities. We are in a rapid growth period, looking for a dynamic People Leader who will instill strategy and tactics to outpace market demand. We are looking for a People leader who has successfully scaled organizations through mid-stage growth (60 to 150+ FT employees).

This leadership role will develop and execute strategic goals that increase our impact in the classroom through hiring, onboarding and offboarding, learning and development, organizational development and design, compensation and benefits, DEI, HR and legal and employee engagement.

This role will deliver on Kokua’s promise to empower and support our people by creating an environment where every individual can thrive and contribute to the success of our organization.

This role reports to the COO and is a remote opportunity. Limited travel will be required.

THE COMPANY

Teacher absences result in massive amounts of lost learning time for students, particularly in underresourced schools. Kokua solves this problem by bringing together a growing network of passionate guest teachers who are dedicated to leveraging this time with students. We believe that proximity is power, and one role model can change a life forever.

Kokua began in Chicago in 2011 and has since grown across the country. We serve many of the highest-performing public schools in the country, and we’re consistently recognized as an organization that provides best-in-class quality and service to our school providers.

We are a diverse and mission-driven culture, focused on connecting students with positive influences who create an environment where they feel free to explore possibilities they didn’t even know existed. Join a dynamic, driven team looking to make a lasting impact for future generations.

WHAT YOU DO EACH DAY:

Learning and Development

• Develop world-class training, development and coaching to cultivate and develop talent and capacity on the internal team.
• Work with managers to establish clear career paths and development plans for employees at all levels.
• Design and train leadership development programs to enhance the skills and capabilities on current and future leaders. Provide coaching and mentoring to senior executives to strengthen
• leadership effectiveness.
• Design and implement career development frameworks to guide employees in their professional growth within the organization.

Hiring, Onboarding and Offboarding

• Fill 100% roles on org chart with individuals who achieve annual scorecard objectives (A-Players)
• Assess and improve hiring and onboarding processes, increasing time to productivity and speed to culture.
• Ensure hiring, onboarding and offboarding processes are standardized across teams with performance metrics in place to understand improvement opportunities.
• 30/60/90 day plans in place for all new starters.

Organizational Development and Design

• Build a high-performing, mission-aligned team driven to deliver the Kokua Promise to end stakeholders
• Ensure all roles within Kokua have a defined talent map with associated competencies, effective performance management feedback, and a clear understanding of career pathways and development opportunities.
• Design and Implement Internal Hiring and Onboarding playbooks resulting in more productive Kokua teams.
• Review and revise performance management review process to increase effectiveness and value

Compensation and Benefits

• Ensure compensation is market competitive and equitable. Design banding system with compensation bands as well as bonus structure.
• Design and continually improve Kokua’s employee benefits package to ensure market competitiveness and employee support.

Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Belonging

• Drive and lead DEIB strategy and initiatives across Kokua
• Engage Kokua team members in DEIB initiatives

HR and Legal

• Manage Kokua’s time-off policies, including leaves of absence, FMLA, workers compensation cases, and return to work plans.
• Develop, implement, and enforce Kokua policies ensuring Kokua remains in compliance in each state where we operate.

Employee Engagement and Culture

• Review and revise remote work policies and strategy. Improve sense of belonging and effectiveness at Kokua
• Design a successful Employee Engagement process including ongoing professional development and employee recognition to improve culture, morale and increase employee retention.
• Conduct regular assessments and implement strategies to address areas for improvement.
• Develop and implement strategies to instill and maintain a high-performance culture aligned with the organization's values and goals. Foster an environment that encourages continuous improvement, innovation, and accountability.

WHAT WE OFFER:

• Competitive base salary and uncapped commission.
• Competitive benefits.
• Generous time off.
• Limitless growth and learning opportunity.

WHAT YOU’LL NEED:

• Building Effective Teams

You participate in hiring and onboarding team members and work to develop and grow people over time. You will act with team members who are not performing or not aligned to Kokua values.

• Motivating Others

You create an environment where others feel inspired, valued and driven to contribute their skills and efforts toward the success of Kokua.

• Interpersonal Savvy

You navigate social situations, build positive relationships, and effectively communicate with others. You relate well to all kinds of people, build appropriate rapport, and use diplomacy and tact. You can diffuse even high-tension situations comfortably.

• Decision Quality

You analyze existing organizational challenges and opportunities and formulate hypotheses based on evidence. You coach the team to understand the root cause, obstacles, and solutions. You drive the team to deliver outcomes.

• Organizational Agility

You know how organizations work, and how to get things done through formal and informal channels. You are proactive, adaptable, collaborative, and resilient, and enable the organization to adapt quickly to changing circumstances.

• Hiring & Staffing

You have a strong understanding of recruitment principles, the organization’s hiring needs, and have a commitment to adding and developing high-quality talent to our team.

• Functional / Technical Skills

You have expertise in HR processes and policies, laws, and regulations to ensure compliance and mitigate risk. You have knowledge of compensation and benefits programs and salary structures and can conduct market research to ensure competitive programs.

QUALIFICATIONS AND SKILLS:

• Bachelor’s Degree in Human Resources or a related field
• Minimum of 10 years of progressive leadership experience in Human Resources.
• Experience successfully scaling a rapidly growing organization from 50 to 150+ employees
• Excellent communication, leadership, strategic and planning skills
• Strong critical thinking and business acumen.
• Highly computer literate with capability in email, MS Office and other business and communication tools.
• Work Authorization: Permanent work authorization in the U.S. is required.