Director Employee Experience and Engagement

Sunrise Senior Living•McLean, VA

1d•$113,100 - $174,000

About The Position

Sunrise Senior Living is seeking a strategic, data-driven Director of Employee Experience and Engagement to strengthen our culture, elevate team member engagement, and advance our pursuit of national workplace recognition. This leader will oversee Sunrise’s Experience Management (XM) program, translating team member and customer feedback into actionable insights, meaningful improvements, and measurable business outcomes. Partnering across Human Resources, Operations, Marketing, and senior leadership, this role will drive enterprise-wide engagement initiatives, optimize the employee and customer experience, and lead a team dedicated to fostering a culture where people feel valued, supported, and inspired to serve.

Requirements

Bachelor’s degree in Human Resources, Organizational Development, Business, Marketing, Communications, Hospitality, or a related field, with 7+ years of experience in HR, employee engagement, people experience, or loyalty-related functions.
Demonstrated experience administering Qualtrics or a comparable experience management or Voice of Customer platform, including survey design, platform configuration, dashboard development, and reporting.
Proven success designing and leading employee engagement, culture, or recognition initiatives that contributed to measurable workplace outcomes, ideally including national workplace recognition.
Direct experience managing, coaching, and developing a team, including hiring, performance management, delegation, and oversight of analytical deliverables.
Ability to interpret complex quantitative and qualitative data, identify meaningful trends, and develop compelling visualizations and recommendations that connect experience improvements to business results.
Exceptional communication and presentation skills, with the ability to advise senior leaders, build stakeholder alignment, and influence decisions across functions without direct authority.
Strong organizational skills and a structured, process-oriented approach to managing multiple cross-functional initiatives, budgets, timelines, and competing priorities.
Understanding of how culture, employee value proposition, operational standards, and brand consistency shape the team member and customer experience.
Willingness to leverage AI tools and emerging technologies to synthesize feedback, improve analytical efficiency, and generate actionable insights.
A proactive, collaborative leader who exercises sound judgment, handles sensitive data with discretion, communicates effectively, and adapts to evolving business needs while maintaining a high standard of quality.

Nice To Haves

Experience in healthcare, senior living, real estate, or hospitality is preferred.

Responsibilities

Lead Employee Experience Strategy: Develop and execute enterprise-wide engagement, culture, and recognition initiatives that strengthen Sunrise’s workplace culture, improve retention, and advance national workplace recognition goals.
Own the Experience Management Program: Oversee the end-to-end XM platform, including survey design and deployment, platform optimization, data analysis, dashboard reporting, action planning, vendor relationships, and budget management.
Turn Insights Into Action: Translate quantitative and qualitative feedback into clear recommendations, identifying opportunities to improve team member engagement, resident and family satisfaction, loyalty, and retention.
Drive Cross-Functional Collaboration: Partner with Human Resources, Operations, Marketing, Sales, and senior leaders to implement experience-driven improvements, establish consistent standards, and strengthen Sunrise’s employee value proposition and brand.
Advance Workplace Recognition: Collaborate with HR and senior leadership to implement and sustain the culture, recognition, and engagement practices that support Sunrise’s pursuit of national workplace recognition.
Deliver Actionable Reporting: Build and maintain dashboards, scorecard measures, and reporting tools that provide community, regional, and corporate leaders with timely insights to inform decisions and track progress.
Lead Strategic Programs and Projects: Manage project plans, timelines, budgets, communications, and deliverables for enterprise-wide experience and engagement initiatives, ensuring quality execution and measurable results.
Lead and Develop Talent: Coach and develop the Experience Management team and third-party partners, establish priorities, and ensure high-quality delivery of survey administration, analytics, reporting, and community support.
Champion Continuous Improvement: Leverage journey mapping, emerging technologies, and AI-enabled tools to identify experience gaps, streamline analysis, and develop innovative solutions that improve outcomes across the organization.