VP of Talent and People

We are hiring a VP of Talent & People for our client.

ntA national art education franchise with 15+ schools, six new locations signed this year, and a pipeline built for a much larger network is hiring its most senior people leade

oleThis is a people-strategy seat, reporting directly to the CEO, at the moment it matters most: right before scale. The fundamentals are covered, a two-person team runs payroll, onboarding, and HR administration, and will report to you. What the company doesn't have is the executive who designs everything above that: workforce planning that stays ahead of expansion instead of chasing it, the talent architecture a franchise network needs to grow without breaking, and the People function that future HR and recruiting hires will be built in

to.

You'll be a thought partner to the CEO and founder, and the owner of how this company hires, develops, and keeps people at every level, in every market it ente

• twork
  
  Design end-to-end recruitment playbooks for franchise schools: sourcing channels, job posting templates, structured screeners, interview guides, and audition-style teaching
• demos
  
  Advise franchise owners on hiring practices and tools (ATS platforms, assessments such as Predictive Index) - you build the system; they make the
• hires
  
  Continuously improve the playbook based on what's working across the ne
• ystems
  
  Build end-to-end recruitment playbooks franchise owners run themselves: sourcing, structured screeners, interview guides, audition-style teaching demos, and assessment tools (e.g., Predictive
• Index)
  Advise and enable franchisees on hiring - designing the system and guidelines while they make their own employment dec
• isions
  
  Evolve the playbook into a signature strength of the franchise of

• obility
  
  Create the pathway that turns high-potential part-time teachers (~250 part-timers network-wide, many promo table) into full-time
• leaders
  
  Build leadership development for school-level directors and m
• anagers
  
  Source, adapt, and deploy training curriculum across the

• adership
  
  Lead and grow the People team - starting with two direct reports, expanding as the company scales, with future HR and recruiting hires reportin
• g to you Modernize operations: automate manual processes, close ADP gaps, and build people systems th
• at scale
  
  Oversee multi-state compliance, employee relations, and performance ma

• Year One)
  Improved retention across our sch
• ool teams
  
  Faster time-to-hire at corporate and across the franchis
• e network
  
  More part-time team members promoted into full-t
• ime rolesA talent infrastructure the company can scale on - playbooks, pathways, and processes that run without you in
• the room

• ho You AreA proven people leader from a multi-unit, multi-location, or high-growth brand - you've lived the stage we'r
• e enteringA builder at heart: systems, playbooks, and programs you created are still run
• ning today
  
  Strategic and hands‑on in equal measure - comfortable setting direction Monday and fixing an onboarding workfl
• ow Tuesday Extroverted and genuinely people-oriented, and rigorously analytical - you bring objective methods to a creative, artist-heavy
• workforce
  
  Energized by ambiguity, ownership, and building a function from a strong foundation rather than inheriting a finish
• ed machine ADP Workforce Now experience strongly

• base salary
  
  Performance bonus
• eligibility
  
  Equity participation potential for the right long-term leader
• (years 2–3)
  Health, dental, and vision insurance; pa
• off Hybrid schedule: 2 days per week in our Englewood and Montclair, NJ offices (with flexibility toward 1 day per week after onboarding for candidates based farther out), plus travel to school locations a few time
• s per month
  
  Direct partnership with the CEO and founder at a defining moment in the compa