Chief People and Culture Officer

Heluna Health•La Puente, CA

19h•Onsite

About The Position

Heluna Health is seeking a Chief People & Culture Officer who wants more than a traditional HR leadership role. The CPCO will serve as a co-architect of organizational culture, a trusted strategic partner to the CEO, and a visible and collaborative leader across the Heluna Health executive team—bringing people-centered insight, operational discipline, and values-driven leadership to the organization’s most important decisions. We are looking for a leader who is comfortable building culture and accountability; who sees human resources not as a compliance function, but as the connective tissue of a high-performing, mission-aligned organization. This role will appeal to you if you are a senior people leader motivated to build a unified and inclusive workplace culture—one where every employee, from headquarters to the field, feels part of a shared mission. While work experience with the nonprofit, public health, or government-adjacent sector is preferred, we welcome the right candidates regardless of work sector experience. This is an LA-based role. Candidates already in Southern California are preferred; relocation support will be considered for an exceptional candidate.

Requirements

Senior people leadership experience (e.g., CPO, CHRO, VP People, VP Human Resources, or equivalent) in a large, complex organization; nonprofit, public health, healthcare, or government-adjacent experience preferred.
Demonstrated success building or transforming organizational culture across a large, geographically dispersed, or structurally complex workforce.
Deep expertise in HR compliance, employment law, and workforce governance, with a track record of managing risk without sacrificing employee trust or organizational agility.
Experience partnering directly with a CEO and executive leadership team on strategy, not just HR operations.
Strong grounding in HR management, government contractor requirements, and the unique people dynamics of mission-driven organizations.
Strategic, confident, and collaborative—comfortable pushing thinking forward while building trust across a diverse organization.
Mission-driven, values-centered, and operationally grounded—sees no contradiction between people-first culture and institutional accountability.
Systems thinker—understands how culture, compliance, talent, and technology are deeply interconnected across an organization of real scale.
Builder’s mindset—energized by shaping organizational identity, improving people systems, and increasing workforce maturity.
Executive presence—able to influence stakeholders at all organizational levels and communicate complex people and culture issues with clarity, confidence, and credibility to staff, leadership, and the board.
Employee Development mindset—understands how to teach and grow employee knowledge and skillsets on individual and enterprise bases, especially the capabilities of the HR team.

Nice To Haves

Familiarity with the Entrepreneurial Operating System (EOS) or an equivalent system/model is desirable.
Candidates already in Southern California are preferred; relocation support will be considered for an exceptional candidate.

Responsibilities

Serve as the primary steward of Heluna Health’s organizational culture—translating mission and values into day-to-day practices, norms, and behaviors across headquarters and program teams.
Design and lead initiatives that foster a unified, inclusive, and engaged workplace across a diverse workforce of approximately 130 headquarters staff and 1,600+ program staff.
Create meaningful pathways for employees at all levels to feel seen, heard, and connected to the organization’s public health mission.
Serve as a visible and accessible culture champion—modeling the values and leadership behaviors Heluna Health aspires to at every level of the organization.
Act as a thought partner to the CEO and executive team—helping shape organizational strategy, workforce planning, and people-related risk, not simply responding to them after the fact.
Bring people and culture insight into enterprise-level conversations about mission delivery, organizational design, program expansion, and long-term sustainability.
Engage as a peer with the executive team, fostering productive debate and helping leaders understand the human capital implications of strategic choices.
Help the organization navigate complexity—balancing growth ambitions with workforce realities, and institutional change with organizational continuity.
Provide executive oversight of all people functions, including talent acquisition, talent management, employee relations, compensation and benefits, HR compliance, workforce data, worker’s compensation and policy administration.
Ensure HR systems, policies, and controls are legally sound, equitable, and fit for a complex public health organization operating across multiple programs and funding models.
Maintain rigorous compliance with federal, state, and local employment law, government contractor requirements, and applicable nonprofit governance standards.
Own the people operations narrative—ensuring leaders and board members clearly understand workforce strengths, compliance posture, and areas of organizational risk or opportunity.
Provide executive oversight of the HR team responsible for risk (insurance), employment legal, and safety administrative functions--this team partners with and is supported by outside counsel and insurance brokers.
Lead a comprehensive talent strategy that attracts, develops, and retains mission-driven professionals across a wide range of roles, disciplines, and program contexts.
Design and oversee learning and development programs that build organizational capability and support career growth at every level.
Champion equitable compensation and benefits practices that reflect the organization’s values and keep Heluna Health competitive in the nonprofit and public health labor market.
Partner with program and operations leaders to address workforce planning, succession, and capacity in a dynamic, contract-driven environment.
Build, lead, and evolve a high-performing HR team that is respected and viewed across the organization as a collaborative, responsive, and solutions-oriented business partner.
Champion people systems and tools that improve the employee experience, not just HR administration. Contribute to the modernization of key HR platforms and systems across the organization.
Work closely with Finance, IT, Legal, and operations leaders to ensure HR is embedded in how the organization functions—not siloed from it.
Continuously improve processes to reduce friction, support scale, and build a consistent employee experience across headquarters and the field.
Maximize technology to improve the employee experience across headquarters and field and to improve the core service deliverables of the HR function.
Serve as a key partner and advisor to the Board of Directors and relevant Board Committees, helping elevate workforce and culture conversations beyond periodic reporting to strategic insight.
Communicate clearly and credibly with auditors, funders, and government partners on workforce and HR-related matters as needed.
Support the board’s understanding of organizational culture health, workforce risk, and long-term people sustainability.