People & Culture Director

ABOUT THE ROLE

The People & Culture Director plays a key role in fostering a healthy, values-driven workplace culture where employees and managers can thrive. This role partners across the organization to strengthen manager capability, employee engagement, team effectiveness, and organizational trust while ensuring thoughtful and consistent people practices.

The Director serves as the primary strategic advisor on employee and labor relations matters, supports performance and development conversations, provides strategic oversight and escalation support for leave and accommodations processes, and helps ensure compliance with employment laws and collective bargaining agreements. This role balances compassion and accountability, helping leaders navigate complex situations with clarity, care, and consistency.

The ideal candidate is a collaborative and emotionally intelligent leader who believes strong culture and clear expectations go hand in hand.

As SAM heads into its second century, we are boldly reimagining what we can and should be. Our goal is to be a model for the future of museums – a bold, dynamic hub of creativity, belonging, and cultural leadership, shaping the future of art and community. Embracing new ways of engaging communities and seeking innovative partnerships – all while keeping art and community at the center of what we do.

This ambitious effort represents a transformative shift and radically redefining how art museums operate. This is a pivotal moment for SAM, and we are seeking great talent to join us on our journey. Working at SAM is not just a job—it's a chance to be part of a vibrant, creative community.

• Partners with leaders and managers across the organization to strengthen workplace culture, employee engagement, team effectiveness, and organizational health
• Serves as a trusted advisor and coach to managers on employee relations matters, performance conversations, conflict resolution, workplace concerns, and organizational change
• Leads employee relations processes including investigations, performance management, corrective action, and dispute resolution with a balanced, fair, and employee-centered approach
• Acts as an escalation point for leave administration processes, accommodations, and related employee support programs in alignment with organizational policies and applicable laws
• Supports employee experience initiatives that contribute to employee wellbeing and retention
• Partners closely with labor leadership and management representatives to support positive labor-management relationships
• Participates in labor-management committee meetings, collective bargaining preparation, grievance response, and labor negotiations
• Helps create and maintain people policies, practices, and resources that reflect organizational values, operational needs, and legal compliance
• Monitors and ensures compliance with federal, state, and local employment laws, regulations, collective bargaining agreements, and HR best practices
• Drafts, updates, and maintains employee handbook content, policies, guidelines, and manager resources
• Supports recruitment and onboarding efforts for senior leadership and other key organizational roles, as needed
• Uses data, feedback, and employee insights to identify trends and recommend improvements to organizational practices and the employee experience
• Maintains knowledge of emerging trends, best practices, and regulatory changes in human resources, employee relations, labor relations, and organizational culture
• Supports departmental planning, budgeting, and operational priorities within the People & Culture function
• Performs other duties as assigned
• Contribute to an institutional focus of delivering exceptional, welcoming, and inclusive customer service—creating positive, meaningful experiences for all visitors, every time
• Participates in institutional learning opportunities to grow our collective understanding and integration of antiracism, cultural competency, and equity values in to SAM’s work

Required Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in Human Resources, Organizational Development, Business Administration, or a related field, or…