Director, People & Culture

JFF • Boston, DC

3d

About The Position

The Director, People & Culture leads JFF’s People Business Partner (PBP) function and is accountable for the consistency, quality, and risk management of employee relations, career development, employee listening, and large-scale people-facing initiatives and processes across a workforce of more than 200 employees. This functional leadership role sets direction and standards for the PBP team, builds consistent and repeatable business-partnership processes, and applies strong knowledge of JFF’s business and nonprofit HR practices. The director reports to the Associate Vice President, People & Culture, and partners closely with the Director, People Operations & Total Rewards, Finance, Legal, Operations, and JFF leaders.

JFF is a complex, matrixed organization whose teams include Practices, Centers, Solutions, and Business Operations. The director builds trust and influence across this structure, identifies patterns and emerging risks, and helps leaders make fair, legally sound, strategy-aligned people decisions. The role requires close involvement in complex matters, timely escalation of issues with meaningful legal, financial, or reputational risk, and clear ownership of cross-functional handoffs.

The position leads and develops the PBP team; defines portfolio coverage, decision rights, goals, and success measures; establishes operating standards and processes; and serves as a senior advisor on complex employee relations matters. It also leads career development, succession planning, workforce planning, employee listening, and the rollout and review of enterprise people initiatives. The director contributes to P&C’s annual goals, budget, and operating rhythm, and may provide senior generalist support across the P&C portfolio when priorities shift.

JFF has offices in Boston, Oakland, and Washington, DC. Employees may work from an office in person or hybrid, or work completely remotely. New employees receive office equipment as needed.

Requirements

• Demonstrated People & Culture/HR experience, including significant experience leading HR business partners or generalist teams and advising senior executives.
• Extensive experience owning business-partner or generalist portfolios and establishing processes, standards, and structures that ensure consistent service.
• Generalist people expertise and demonstrated employee relations experience, including managing complex cases, investigations, and separations and knowing when to involve counsel.
• Experience implementing and advising on large-scale, people-facing initiatives and processes, and improving established processes by making effective practices standard.
• Deep familiarity with and leadership in succession planning.
• Experience leading career development and employee listening, including survey analysis and translating insights into action.
• Deep understanding of business needs and people practices relevant to nonprofits; understanding of nonprofit compliance and regulations is expected.
• Sound judgment in escalation, leadership communication, pattern recognition, and presenting recommendations.
• High attention to detail, particularly in documentation, case files, and communications.
• Strong collaboration and influence skills across teams and the organization, including comfort presenting to all-staff audiences and senior leadership.
• Executive presence and clear written and verbal communication, with discretion, tact, and integrity in sensitive matters.
• Comfort with ambiguity and change; practical, flexible, and calm under pressure.
• Commitment to inclusion and belonging, with experience building fair, transparent people practices.
• Comfort with people data and analytics and with trying new tools, including AI-enabled approaches, to improve efficiency and employee experience.

Nice To Haves

• Some exposure to hiring and talent acquisition.
• Experience with workforce planning.
• Experience in the nonprofit sector is valued but not required.
• Experience using Culture Amp or a similar platform for survey analysis.

Responsibilities

• Define PBP portfolios, coverage, decision rights, goals, and success measures, aligning them with JFF’s evolving structure and areas of complexity.
• Ensure PBPs lead the talent lifecycle in their portfolios, including leader partnership, workforce and skills planning, performance and team effectiveness, and employee relations coordination.
• Translate P&C strategy into clear priorities, proposals, and recommendations for senior leaders.
• Lead, develop, coach, and hold the PBP team accountable for quality, timeliness, risk management, stakeholder experience, and appropriate escalation.
• Build PBP development plans and career paths, provide regular candid feedback, review workload and capacity at least quarterly, and ensure cross-training and backup coverage.
• Establish and continuously improve PBP operating processes, including RACI and handoff expectations, case-management and documentation standards, intake and triage, annual calendars, templates, playbooks, and process maps.
• Clarify handoffs with People Operations & Total Rewards and ensure each handoff has a named owner, next action, and timing.
• Serve as escalation point and senior advisor for complex employee relations matters, including conflict, performance and conduct concerns, investigations, accommodations, and separations, consulting the AVP, P&C and legal counsel as appropriate.
• Ensure employee relations matters are timely, consistent, well documented, and compliant with requirements applicable to JFF as a nonprofit and multi-state employer.
• Coach leaders and managers on difficult conversations, performance management, and fair, defensible decisions; use case and PBP data to identify risks and recommend policy, practice, or capability improvements.
• Advise on and lead enterprise people initiatives such as performance and calibration cycles, organizational changes, policy updates, and manager enablement, from design through communications, adoption, measurement, and post-cycle improvement.
• Present to all-staff audiences, the JFF Leadership Council, the Executive Team, and, as needed, the Board.
• Lead career development, including career paths, internal mobility, growth conversations, and manager capability.
• Lead succession planning with executives and senior leaders, identifying critical roles, developing talent pipelines, and preparing future leaders.
• Partner with Finance, Operations, and leaders on workforce planning to align staffing, budgets, and organizational priorities.
• Provide generalist judgment on talent acquisition by partnering with PBPs and hiring managers on role design, hiring approach, and offers.
• Lead employee listening with People Operations, including engagement and total rewards surveys, pulse feedback, and exit and stay insights; turn findings into prioritized actions and communicate progress to staff.
• Partner with leaders, Employee Resource Groups, Inclusion, Belonging and Well-being efforts, and employee voice groups to understand staff experience and act on feedback.
• Build trusted relationships across JFF and influence outcomes without direct authority; escalate emerging risks and sensitive matters to the AVP, P&C with clear recommendations.
• Partner with the Director, People Operations & Total Rewards to ensure PBP guidance on compensation, benefits, and policy is accurate and consistent.
• Provide senior generalist support across the P&C portfolio when needed, then stabilize the work and hand it off with clear ownership and next steps.
• Contribute to P&C’s annual goals, budget, and operating rhythm, and model JFF’s values and Compass leadership expectations.

Benefits

• Medical insurance
• Dental insurance
• Vision insurance
• Retirement benefits through a 403(b) plan, including employer contributions for eligible employees
• Paid time off and paid leave benefits
• Professional development opportunities
• Flexible work options, including in-person, hybrid, or completely remote work
• Office equipment as needed for new employees

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Director
• Education Level: No Education Listed