Vice President of People and Culture

Q Casino + Resort•Dubuque, IA

13d•Onsite

About The Position

The Vice President, People & Culture is the chief architect of the Dubuque Racing Association's, DRA's, human capital strategy across an integrated casino-hospitality enterprise spanning gaming, hotel, food & beverage, entertainment, and live events. This role provides strategic leadership for DRA's people strategy by advancing performance management, leadership development, employee engagement, and organizational effectiveness across the enterprise while driving measurable business results through people. The VP partners directly with the President & CEO and the executive team to align talent strategy with DRA's mission-margin model and the broader Schmitt Island redevelopment vision.

Requirements

Currently serving as a Vice President or Director of Human Resources/People within a casino, resort, or integrated hospitality business of comparable scale and complexity.
Demonstrated success developing high-performing organizations through strategic talent management, leadership development, and performance management.
Strong track record operating as a strategic business partner and coach, leading through influence, standards, and trusted relationships across all levels of the organization.
Proven experience fostering employee engagement, positive employee relations, and organizational effectiveness within a complex, multi-department hospitality or gaming organization.
Established senior HR leadership experience at the VP/Director level, with a demonstrated ability to build organizational capability and drive results from day one.
Track record designing guest/customer-experience training strategy in a hospitality or gaming environment.
Hands-on experience owning an HRIS platform and using workforce data to inform executive decision-making.
Demonstrated talent acquisition and onboarding leadership in a multi-location or multi-department environment.
Bachelor's degree in Human Resources, Business Administration, or related field; advanced degree a plus.

Nice To Haves

SHRM-SCP, SPHR, or equivalent senior HR certification.
Experience in a multi-venue or multi-brand hospitality environment (casino plus hotel, F&B, and entertainment/live events).
Experience operating within a nonprofit or quasi-public governance structure.
Familiarity with union and right-to-work labor environments.

Responsibilities

Lead the continued evolution of DRA's enterprise people strategy by integrating performance management, leadership development, employee engagement, and organizational effectiveness into a unified approach across all business units.
Design and implement a unified performance management framework (goal cascading, mid-year/annual reviews, calibration, performance improvement processes) across all properties and departments.
Build manager capability to lead performance conversations, coach for development, and hold teams accountable to service and financial standards.
Establish people-performance metrics and dashboards that connect workforce outcomes to guest satisfaction, retention, and financial performance.
Partner with the CEO and executive leadership team to shape organizational strategy, leadership effectiveness, executive succession planning, and long-term workforce capability.
Initiate and own an enterprise employee celebration and recognition strategy — milestone anniversaries, peer-to-peer recognition, service awards, and culture-building events — that reinforces DRA's values across Q Casino, The Key Hotel, Lock 11, and the Iowa Amphitheater.
Use recognition programming as a lever for engagement, retention, and reinforcing the behaviors that drive guest experience.
Own the enterprise training strategy for guest/customer experience, ensuring consistent service standards across gaming floor, hotel, F&B, and entertainment venues.
Build onboarding, brand, and service-standard curricula aligned to DRA's competitive positioning and the distinct brand expectations of both onsite Hilton properties — Hilton Garden Inn and The Key Hotel (Hilton Tapestry Collection).
Partner with operational leaders to continuously enhance guest experience through consistent service standards and leadership development.
Develop leadership and supervisory development pathways to strengthen the bench across departments.
Own the HRIS strategy and platform roadmap, ensuring data integrity, self-service capability, and integration with payroll, scheduling, and performance systems.
Use workforce analytics to inform staffing models, turnover reduction, labor cost management, and executive reporting to the CEO and Board.
Design competitive, market-informed compensation and benefits strategy appropriate to the Dubuque/regional gaming and hospitality labor market.
Lead talent acquisition, succession planning, and leadership development to build organizational depth ahead of Schmitt Island's continued capital growth.
Partner with the CEO on senior leadership transitions, organizational design, and workforce planning tied to the broader transformation agenda.
Own the enterprise talent acquisition strategy across gaming, hotel, F&B, and entertainment — sourcing, employer brand, candidate experience, and time-to-fill in a competitive Dubuque-area labor market.
Develop a consistent enterprise-wide onboarding experience that reflects DRA's culture, service standards, and brand.
Partner with department leaders on workforce planning tied to the Schmitt Island redevelopment timeline, ensuring recruiting capacity scales ahead of capital growth.
Track and report recruiting/onboarding effectiveness (time-to-fill, 90-day retention, early-tenure engagement) as part of the broader performance management framework.
Foster an approachable, solutions-oriented HR function that supports both employees and leaders while maintaining compliance and organizational standards.
Conduct a comprehensive assessment of people practices and engage employees and leaders across the organization to identify opportunities that enhance employee experience, organizational effectiveness, and long-term success.
Promote a culture that balances accountability, coaching, recognition, and employee development while supporting operational excellence and an exceptional employee experience.
Monitor and report key organizational health indicators, including employee engagement, retention, workforce trends, and employee relations insights, to support executive decision-making.
Serve as a trusted advisor to the CEO and executive team on culture, employee relations, and organizational health.
Ensure full compliance with Iowa Racing and Gaming Commission requirements, employment law, and DRA's nonprofit governance obligations.
Champion a values-grounded, accountable culture that supports DRA's mission as a 501(c)(4) community-reinvestment organization.