Strategic Talent Programs Director

The Strategic Talent Programs Director is a senior individual contributor responsible for designing, recommending, and operationalizing One Rail’s most critical talent strategies. This role carries director-level ownership and visibility but does not include a team of direct reports. Instead, the Director personally drives execution across Talent Acquisition support, organizational design, leadership enablement, and performance systems, while collaborating closely with and reporting to the VP, People Operations.

The Strategic Talent Programs Director will create, suggest, and develop scalable solutions, and frameworks that strengthen workforce planning, hiring outcomes, leadership capability, and organizational alignment. Many initiatives will require cross-functional partnership and executive influence, especially with Sales, Finance, Strategy, and Operations. The role requires a leader who is comfortable owning outcomes independently while providing thought leadership and strategic recommendations to the VP, People Operations and other executives.

• Personally manage priority recruitment activities, including sourcing, candidate engagement, assessment, and closing for high-impact or senior-level roles.
• Build and maintain proactive pipelines for niche, technical, and leadership positions.
• Recommend sourcing strategies, assessment tools, and hiring approaches; implement those approved by the VP, People Operations.
• Develop insights and data to guide hiring priorities and candidate experience improvements.
• This director-level position is hands‑on and does not initially employ a recruiting team until future hiring load supports the addition of recruiting staff.

• Forecast hiring needs based on business objectives, revenue plans, and departmental priorities.
• Build workforce models and headcount recommendations in collaboration with the VP, People Operations and VP, Finance.
• Create dashboards and analyses that inform budget planning, capacity modeling, and hiring velocity requirements.

• Recommend organizational design solutions, including structure changes, capability mapping, and team scalability models, to enhance efficiency and growth.
• Develop career pathing frameworks, job architecture guidelines, and promotion criteria.
• Conduct workforce and capability assessments to inform proposed org design recommendations.
• Support leaders in understanding trade‑offs and options, and provide suggestions to the VP, People Operations and relevant executives.

• Own administration, training, and adoption of Working Genius/Leadr; coach leaders on interpreting behavioral data for hiring, communication, and team development.
• Propose leadership development pathways, learning programs, and enablement initiatives that elevate manager capability.
• Design and recommend talent programs aligned to cultural and operational needs, with the VP, People Operations determining final implementation.

• Lead the operational management of One Rail’s OKR system through  — ensuring alignment, clarity, and accountability.
• Train leaders on writing effective Objectives & Key Results and ensuring cross‑functional consistency.
• Recommend improvements to goal‑setting cadence, reporting, and performance rituals; partner with the VP, People Operations on execution decisions.

• Serve as a strategic advisor who develops talent recommendations grounded in data, competitive benchmarks, and organizational health indicators.
• Partner closely with department leaders to diagnose talent challenges and propose solutions.
• Collaborate with Strategy and Finance on workforce initiatives that affect long‑term planning.
• Work collaboratively with executives by offering thoughtful insights and recommendations, while supporting the VP, People Operations as the main decision‑maker for People initiatives.

• 10+ years in Talent Acquisition, Talent Management, Organizational Design, or Strategic People Operations.
• Demonstrated success…