Director of People Experience

Van Meter•Cedar Rapids, IA

About The Position

At Van Meter, we believe our people are our differentiator. We've built a company where employee-owners are empowered to do their best work, leaders are expected to build their best teams, and our values fuel our success. As we continue rapid growth, we're looking for a strategic people leader who can help us scale our talent, leadership capability, and organizational strength while preserving the culture that has made Van Meter a nationally recognized top workplace. This is an opportunity for someone who loves building talent strategies, improving organizational capability, and shaping the future workforce—but who is equally energized by developing leaders, coaching teams, and strengthening a people-first culture. As the Director of People Experience, you will serve as a senior leader of the People Operations leadership team, responsible for driving the strategies that ensure Van Meter has the talent, leadership capability, and organizational readiness required for continued growth. You'll lead our HR Business Partner and Recruiting teams while partnering closely with executive leadership, Learning & Development, and People Operations to align talent strategy with business priorities. This role is ideal for a leader who can think several years ahead while remaining grounded enough to build trust, coach leaders, and be a champion of the culture that already exists. Success requires both strategic vision and humility—someone who will challenge the organization to get better while respecting the values and relationships that have fueled Van Meter's success.

Requirements

Significant experience in talent strategy, workforce planning, recruiting, succession planning, performance management, leadership development, and organizational effectiveness.
Successfully partnered with senior leaders to translate business strategy into talent strategy.
Helped organizations build sustainable capability for growth.
Strategic enough to think long-term and connect talent decisions to business outcomes.
Pragmatic enough to turn ideas into scalable processes and measurable results.
Confident enough to influence executive leaders and challenge assumptions.
Humble enough to listen, learn, and build on what's already working.
Passionate about helping leaders build great teams and helping people reach their full potential.

Nice To Haves

Master’s degree or advanced certification (e.g., SPHR, SHRM-SCP) strongly preferred

Responsibilities

Organizational talent strategy and workforce planning
Recruiting strategy and pipeline development
HR Business Partner leadership and leader enablement
Succession planning and organizational capability
Leadership development and growth
Performance management and talent accountability
Organizational effectiveness and culture initiatives
Build stronger talent pipelines and organizational readiness for future growth.
Increase leadership capability and consistency across the organization.
Develop deeper internal bench strength for critical roles.
Strengthen performance management and career development practices while preserving meaningful, employee-owner focused conversations.
Scale our business without losing the culture that makes Van Meter unique.