Chief of People & Performance

Stronger Consulting • Tulsa, OK

4d • Onsite

About The Position

Employed by the George Kaiser Family Foundation (GKFF), the Chief of People & Performance leads People & Performance strategy across the GKFF and Tulsa Community Foundation (TCF) Networks. The role leads an integrated People Team of approximately nine professionals serving networks that include approximately 600–700 employees across GKFF, TCF, and more than 25 affiliated organizations. The Chief reports to the Executive Director and serves on the GKFF Leadership Team.

The Chief will build a proactive, enterprise-wide People function and strengthen the leadership, management practices, organizational capabilities, and ways of working needed to support the Networks’ continued effectiveness and evolution. Key areas include succession and executive bench development, manager capability, leadership development, organizational design, workforce planning, employee experience, and embedding GKFF’s Approach in Action in everyday practices. The Chief will first listen, learn, and build relationships across the Networks, understand the existing People Team and services, and carry forward work already underway before setting longer-term priorities.

This is a Tulsa-based executive role with a meaningful and consistent in-person presence. The position is based at 7030 S. Yale Ave., Suite 600, Tulsa, Oklahoma. Occasional ad hoc remote work is allowed, and the Chief must live in or relocate to the Tulsa area. The typical schedule is Monday through Friday, 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., with occasional flexibility for meetings, events, or organizational priorities outside standard business hours, including evenings or weekends. Occasional domestic travel is required.

Requirements

• Bachelor’s degree or an equivalent combination of education and executive leadership experience.
• At least 15 years of progressive senior leadership experience leading People, Talent, Organizational Development, or related enterprise functions within complex organizations.
• Senior executive experience, such as Vice President, SVP, Chief, or Executive Director; ideally including leadership across multiple functions, direct program or operational leadership, and central or shared services.
• Broad organizational perspective, including operational and financial judgment beyond the People function and firsthand experience partnering with and relying on a People function.
• Experience advising senior executives on leadership, organizational, workforce, and talent-related decisions.
• Demonstrated success building and scaling enterprise People capabilities, such as Talent Acquisition, leadership development, or organizational health, to improve organizational effectiveness.
• Experience leading complex organizational change, including growth, restructuring, cultural evolution, or operating model transformation.
• Demonstrated success developing leaders and managers through coaching, leadership development, performance management, succession planning, or organizational capability building, with attention to fair, inclusive, high-performing workplaces.
• Experience leveraging technology, data, analytics, and AI to improve People services, enterprise decision-making, or organizational effectiveness.
• Demonstrated commitment to GKFF’s mission and genuine interest in building relationships, understanding, and a long-term connection to Tulsa.
• Reliable transportation required.
• Must live in or relocate to the Tulsa area and maintain a meaningful, consistent in-person presence.

Nice To Haves

• Advanced degree preferred.
• Background in organizational psychology or organizational development is valued; HR certification is not required.
• Experience leading within mission-driven organizations or partnering closely with nonprofit, philanthropic, education, healthcare, public sector, or similarly purpose-driven organizations is preferred.
• Experience serving young children, women, and families, or expanding opportunity for people experiencing poverty, is a strong plus, along with understanding systemic inequities and interconnected systems that shape opportunity for families.
• Experience establishing or continuously improving a centralized, federated, or shared service model, and adapting it based on lessons, organizational needs, and results, is highly preferred.

Responsibilities

• Establish long-term People & Performance strategy across the GKFF and TCF Networks and translate it into sequenced priorities, ownership, decision points, and progress measures.
• Advise the Executive Director, GKFF Leadership Team, and other senior leaders on organizational, workforce, succession, and other complex people-related decisions.
• Partner with executive leaders on organizational design and workforce planning as organizations evolve, priorities shift, and significant changes occur.
• Develop and strengthen policies, programs, and decision-making frameworks that support consistent People practices while addressing organizations’ distinct needs.
• Build job architecture, including consistent job descriptions, competencies, job levels, and compensation structures, and establish guidelines for performance assessment, merit increases, and bonuses.
• Lead and contribute to enterprise priorities as a member of the GKFF Leadership Team.
• Steward and strengthen GKFF’s culture by embedding its Approach in Action in leadership behaviors, management practices, organizational decisions, and employee experience.
• Establish a consistent approach to identifying critical roles, assessing leadership and succession needs, developing internal talent, and supporting informed decisions about the future bench.
• Design and launch executive and leadership development, including stretch assignments, mentoring, candid feedback, and programming.
• Strengthen manager capability through clear expectations, practical development, coaching, performance management, and other approaches that support healthy, high-performing teams.
• Champion employee experience across recruitment, onboarding, development, recognition, career growth, and retention.
• Establish practical ways to assess the effectiveness of People strategies, manager development, and employee support, and adjust based on evidence and impact.
• Establish and improve a centralized and federated People operating model that clarifies shared services, standards, decisions, organizational flexibility, and the roles of the People Team, leaders, managers, and local HR resources.
• Build a network of People liaisons among executives and senior staff to coordinate practices and share learning.
• Lead and develop an integrated People Team with capabilities in HR partnership, Learning & Development, Talent Acquisition, Total Rewards, and related People operations; establish team roles, accountability, service expectations, and development pathways.
• Own the vision for how leaders, managers, and employees use HRIS and other People and leadership systems, tools, and platforms; set workflow, usability, and adoption priorities and partner with technical teams on a coordinated technology roadmap and implementation plan.
• Build trusted partnerships with leaders across the Networks, understand organizational needs, and ensure People Team services are responsive and scalable.

Benefits

• Competitive base salary.
• Annual performance-based bonus of up to 10% of base salary.
• Relocation assistance for candidates currently residing outside the Tulsa area.
• 100% employer-paid medical, dental, and long-term disability coverage for full-time employees, with options to add vision and dependent coverage.
• 401(k) employee and employer contributions.
• Paid time off and holidays.
• Employer-paid AD&D and life insurance, with the option to add supplemental life insurance.

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Executive