Chief of People & Performance

Stronger Consulting • Tulsa, OK

5d • Onsite

About The Position

The Chief of People & Performance is employed by the George Kaiser Family Foundation (GKFF) and 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 a network of approximately 600–700 employees across GKFF 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, setting its vision and priorities while preserving what has made GKFF successful and introducing practices and structures to support its next chapter. Priorities include institutionalizing GKFF’s Approach in Action, strengthening succession and the executive bench, developing managers and leaders, and providing organizational design and workforce-planning partnership as the Networks evolve.

This is a builder’s role requiring trusted partnership with senior leaders and the People Team. The Chief will establish a scalable People operating model, strengthen organizational capabilities and employee experience, and use evidence and results to refine People strategies. The position is based in Tulsa and requires a meaningful, consistent in-person presence; it is not remote. The Chief must live in or relocate to the Tulsa area. Occasional domestic travel and flexibility for meetings, events, or organizational priorities outside standard business hours, including evenings or weekends, are required.

Requirements

• Bachelor’s degree or an equivalent combination of education and executive leadership experience.
• Fifteen or more 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.
• Broader 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, and organizational capability building that promotes fair, inclusive, and 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 the relationships, understanding, and long-term connection to Tulsa required to lead effectively.
• Ability to build trust through humility, active listening, partnership, and follow-through; bring people together around a shared purpose; and lead change through relationships.
• Ability to think strategically and connect People practices directly to organizational performance and results.
• Ability to understand organizational culture before making changes, tailor practices to context, determine what to standardize or preserve, and make a compelling case for People work.
• Clear, confident, candid, and empathetic communication; ability to synthesize complex information, facilitate difficult conversations, and build credibility across levels.
• Sound judgment, composure, and discernment when balancing priorities and navigating uncertainty.
• Curiosity, evidence-based decision-making, openness to diverse perspectives and feedback, and willingness to adjust course.
• Ability to bring structure to ambiguity, translate strategy into practical solutions, prioritize, and deliver measurable progress as a hands-on leader and steward of resources.
• Ability to strengthen organizational capacity and lead with self-awareness and emotional intelligence.
• Must live in or relocate to the Tulsa area and maintain a meaningful, consistent in-person presence.
• Reliable transportation required.
• Occasional domestic travel and flexibility to support meetings, events, or organizational priorities outside standard business hours are required.

Nice To Haves

• Advanced degree preferred.
• Background in organizational psychology or organizational development is valued; HR certification is not required.
• Experience establishing or improving a centralized, federated, or shared service model and adapting it based on lessons, organizational needs, and results is highly preferred.
• 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.
• Understanding of systemic inequities and interconnected systems that shape opportunity for families.

Responsibilities

• Establish long-term People & Performance strategy across the GKFF and TCF Networks, translating it into sequenced priorities, ownership, decision points, and measures of progress.
• 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, priorities, and structures evolve.
• Develop and strengthen policies, programs, and decision-making frameworks that promote consistent People practices while allowing for the distinct needs of Network organizations.
• Build job architecture across the Networks, including job descriptions, competencies, job levels, and compensation structures, and establish guidelines for performance assessment, merit increases, and bonuses.
• Contribute to enterprise priorities as a member of the GKFF Leadership Team.
• Steward GKFF’s culture by embedding its Approach in Action into leadership behaviors, management practices, organizational decisions, and the employee experience.
• Establish a consistent Network approach to identifying critical roles, assessing leadership and succession needs, developing internal talent, and informing 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, development, coaching, performance management, and other approaches that support healthy, high-performing teams.
• Champion the employee experience from recruitment and onboarding through development, recognition, career growth, and retention.
• Establish practical measures of whether People strategies, manager development, and employee support are effective, and adjust approaches based on evidence and impact.
• Establish and improve a centralized and federated People operating model, clarifying shared services, standards and decisions; areas of organizational flexibility; and how the People Team, leaders, managers, and local HR resources work together.
• Build a network of People liaisons to coordinate practices and share learning across the Networks.
• Lead and develop the integrated People Team, establishing capabilities, roles, accountability, service expectations, and development pathways.
• Own the vision for how leaders, managers, and employees experience and use HRIS and other People and leadership systems; set priorities for workflows, usability, and adoption, and partner with technical teams on a technology roadmap and implementation plan.
• Build trusted partnerships with Network leaders, 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 residing outside the Tulsa area.
• 100% employer-paid medical, dental, and long-term disability coverage for full-time employees.
• 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