Senior Director, People and Culture

About Our Client:

Our client is a New York City-based, consumer-facing organization with a strong, established culture that is entering a new phase of strategic execution. This Senior Director, People & Culture role is hybrid, with an in-office expectation Tuesday through Thursday and periodic travel to a secondary office location (approximately once per month). The position is highly visible and partners closely with senior leadership to embed People & Culture as a true strategic driver of the business.

What You'll Do:

The Senior Director, People & Culture is a senior people leader responsible for shaping and executing an integrated people strategy that supports business growth, performance, and culture. This role will be a senior level partner to the business and oversee talent attraction, partnering closely with executive leadership to ensure the organization attracts, develops, and retains top talent. This leader will balance strategic influence with operational excellence - building scalable people practices while maintaining a strong, human-centered employee experience.

Day-to-Day Responsibilities

• Drive initiatives related to workforce planning, talent acquisition, talent development, performance management, and succession planning.
• Serve as a trusted advisor to senior and executive leaders on people strategy, organizational effectiveness, and culture.
• Translate business priorities into actionable people initiatives that drive performance, engagement, and retention.
• Champion company values and foster a culture of inclusion, accountability, and continuous improvement.
• Lead and manage a team, providing mentorship, coaching, and development opportunities.
• Own and evolve the end-to-end talent acquisition strategy, including employer branding, sourcing, hiring practices, and candidate experience.
• Partner with business leaders on workforce planning to ensure the right talent is in place to meet current and future needs.
• Build scalable, inclusive hiring practices that support growth while maintaining quality and equity.
• Lead, develop, and optimize the Talent Acquisition team and processes.
• Coach and advise leaders on performance management, employee development, and people decisions.
• Strengthen leadership capability through succession planning, talent reviews, and targeted development programs.
• Ensure People and Culture initiatives, policies, and programs align with and support the organization's strategic plan.
• Lead efforts to build a diverse and inclusive workforce.
• Establish and maintain a robust succession planning process to identify and develop future leaders.
• Foster a culture of employee engagement and satisfaction through initiatives that promote retention and well-being.
• Identify and address employee concerns and work to maintain a positive work environment.
• Stay informed of HR laws, regulations, and compliance requirements.
• Ensure all HR practices and policies adhere to legal standards.
• Use people analytics and insights to inform decisions, measure impact, and continuously improve people programs.
• Support organizational change initiatives, including restructures, scaling efforts, and business transformations.
• Other duties as assigned.

What We're Looking For

Must-Haves:

• 12+ years of progressive HR experience with a focus on talent management, talent development, and business partnering.
• Proven experience leading Talent Acquisition in a complex organization
• Strong understanding of HR best practices, industry trends, and emerging technologies.
• Background building inclusive hiring and leadership practices.
• Exceptional communication, interpersonal, and negotiation skills.
• Demonstrated ability to build effective working relationships with senior leaders and cross-functional teams.
• Strategic thinking and problem-solving abilities.
• Extensive experience leading workforce transformation initiatives, including organizational design, role clarity, and operating model evolution to support growth, scale and changing business priorities.

Nice-to-Haves:

• HR certification (e.g., SPHR, SHRM-SCP)