Vice President of Human Resources

Jackson College•Jackson, MI

3d•Onsite

About The Position

The Vice President of Student Achievement and Employee Success is a senior administrative position responsible for providing strategic leadership for the College's comprehensive people, culture, and human resources functions. Reporting directly to the College President, the Vice President serves as the College's senior leader for employee success, talent acquisition, talent development, employee and labor relations, compensation and benefits, professional development, performance management, employee engagement, HR compliance, and organizational culture through the College’s Maroon & Gold Standards (MGS). The position advances Jackson College's Student Achievement Imperative principally through the employee life cycle: recruiting and selecting mission/MGS-aligned employees; supporting supervisors in building high-performing teams; strengthening onboarding, training, coaching, accountability, and retention; and helping create a workplace culture in which all employees understand and undertake their role in advancing student achievement. The position does not directly administer academic programs, advising, retention services, or student affairs operations; Rather, it supports student achievement by ensuring that Jackson College has the people, systems, workflows, expectations, and culture necessary to provide for the love, care, and service to students well.

Requirements

Master's degree in Human Resources Management, Labor Relations, Business Administration, Public Administration, Education Administration, Organizational Development, or a related field required; doctorate, law degree, or terminal degree preferred.
Minimum of seven (7) years of progressively responsible leadership experience in Human Resources, with the last five years at a HR Director, Executive Director or senior level.
Demonstrated experience with labor relations, collective bargaining, employee relations, investigations, grievance administration, and employment law compliance.
Demonstrated experience developing and implementing HR policies, compensation systems, onboarding programs, employee training, performance management systems, and employee engagement strategies.
Demonstrated ability to align people strategies with institutional mission, student achievement, employee success, and organizational culture.
Strong analytical and data-informed decision-making skills, including the ability to use HRIS, workforce data, employee feedback, and institutional data to recommend action.
Exceptional leadership, communication, coaching, judgment, discretion, and problem-solving skills.
HR certification such as SHRM-SCP, SPHR, SHRM-CP, or PHR is highly desirable. If not currently certified, the successful candidate must be willing to pursue certification.
Ability to work effectively with students, faculty, staff, applicants, and community members from a wide range of backgrounds and life experiences.
The Vice President must demonstrate respect for individual dignity, fairness, equal opportunity, lawful nondiscrimination, and the College's commitment to student achievement and employee success.
Ability to read, analyze, and interpret legal documents, employment regulations, collective bargaining agreements, financial reports, policies, technical materials, and professional literature.
The position requires the ability to respond to common inquiries or complaints from employees, applicants, regulatory agencies, labor representatives, and members of the community.
The position requires the ability to write clear reports, recommendations, policies, communications, and presentations and to effectively present information to senior leadership, employee groups, public groups, and/or boards.
Ability to work with compensation data, salary schedules, benefits data, HR metrics, budgets, percentages, ratios, and statistical information related to workforce planning, employee engagement, turnover, recruitment, retention, and performance management.
Ability to define problems, collect and evaluate data, establish facts, weigh risk, maintain confidentiality, exercise sound judgment, and draw valid conclusions in matters involving employees, labor relations, compliance, student achievement culture, and institutional operations.
The employee is regularly required to sit, stand, walk, use hands, talk, and hear.
The employee is occasionally required to reach with hands and arms.

Nice To Haves

Doctorate, law degree, or terminal degree preferred.
Experience in a community college, higher education, public-sector, unionized, or complex mission-driven environment is preferred.
If not currently certified, the successful candidate must be willing to pursue certification.

Responsibilities

Creating and implementing people and culture strategies that support the College's mission, vision, values, strategic priorities, TCS 2 (Total Commitment to Student Success) culture, and the Maroon & Gold Standards.
Ensuring that job descriptions, postings, hiring practices, onboarding, professional development, performance expectations, and performance review reinforce Jackson College's commitment to student achievement, service, accountability, and employee success.
Providing strategic leadership for recruitment, selection, employee engagement, professional growth, retention, succession planning, compensation, benefits, labor relations, and workplace culture.
Leading a lawful, fair, respectful, and meaningful hiring process that helps attract and retain highly capable employees who are committed to student success and the College’s Maroon & Gold Standards.
Developing and deploying a comprehensive employee training and development plan, including leadership development, compliance training, supervisory training, and mission-centered professional learning.
Ensuring the deployment of a meaningful onboarding program for all new employees, grounded in the College’s mission and Maroon & Gold Standards, as well as a respectful, informative off-boarding process for departing employees.
Regularly reviewing market competitiveness for all employee classifications, including compensation plans, benefits, and workplace policies.
Using HR data, employee feedback, and institutional priorities to recommend improvements in employee engagement, retention, performance, and service quality.
Ensuring that the College maintains a safe, respectful, nondiscriminatory, and service-oriented work environment.
Providing support to the College President and serving as a member of the President's Executive Council, as requested.
At the direction of the President, serving as the lead negotiator, in partnership with the College’s Office of the General Council (OGC) on collective bargaining matters and helping maintain productive labor-management relationships.
Collaborate with the President, Executive Council, Academic Council, and other senior leaders to develop and execute people strategies aligned with the College's mission, vision, values, strategic plan, Maroon & Gold Standards, and student achievement priorities.
Serve as the senior leader responsible for ensuring that the employee experience supports the student experience and that College employees understand their individual and collective role in student achievement.
Provide institutional leadership in workflows involving talent management, workforce planning, organizational development, employee success, and culture-building.
Translate the College's TCS 2 & MGS culture into practical employee systems, including selection, onboarding, training, supervision, evaluation, recognition, and accountability.
Advise the President and senior leaders on workforce issues, employee relations, leadership effectiveness, morale, organizational design, and institutional capacity.
Oversee the day-to-day operations of the People and Culture / Human Resources function, especially recruitment, selection, onboarding, employee support, and employee records.
Lead recruitment and selection processes that attract highly skilled, mission-aligned candidates for administrative, faculty, staff, and other employee positions.
Ensure that position descriptions and search processes identify the competencies, behaviors, service orientation, and student-achievement commitments required for success at Jackson College.
Implement, assess, and continuously improve the College's New Employee Onboarding program as a principal vehicle for integrating and supporting new employees into the College community.
Develop and maintain an effective off-boarding process that preserves institutional knowledge, provides useful feedback, and treats departing employees with professionalism and respect.
Support succession planning and talent pipeline development for key leadership and operational roles.
Lead strategies that promote employee engagement, belonging, accountability, trust, collaboration, service, and institutional pride.
Conduct or coordinate a regular institutional culture and employee engagement assessment and recommend strategies for improvement to the President and Cabinet.
Support supervisors and managers in creating healthy, productive, mission-centered work environments.
Develop recognition, appreciation, and service programs that reinforce excellent performance, student-centered service, and employee contribution.
Help ensure that employee communications, policies, and practices support clarity, transparency, consistency, and mutual respect.
Foster a positive work environment by promoting open communication, conflict resolution, individual dignity, respect, and fair treatment.
Develop, implement, and interpret personnel policies and procedures consistent with College policy, collective bargaining agreements, and applicable federal and Michigan law.
Coordinate investigations with the College OGC and resolutions of employee relations issues and complaints, ensuring appropriate documentation and engaging external legal counsel as needed.
Facilitate productive faculty, staff, and labor relations, including the negotiation, interpretation, and implementation of collective bargaining agreements.
Serve as lead negotiator, with support at the table from legal counsel, on collective bargaining matters unless otherwise directed by the President.
Coordinate, advise on, and support the handling of union grievances, disciplinary matters, corrective action, and other employee relations matters.
Coach and support supervisory staff on employee relations, documentation, conflict resolution, performance improvement, and lawful employment practices.
Manage compensation and benefits programs to support recruitment, retention, internal consistency, lawful administration, and market competitiveness.
Lead regular market reviews for employee classifications and make recommendations regarding compensation plans, benefits, and related workplace policies.
Oversee benefits administration, including enrollment, vendor coordination, claims support, employee communication, and customer service.
Develop or support employee wellness, work-life, and employee assistance strategies that strengthen employee effectiveness, retention, and well-being.
Ensure appropriate coordination with Payroll, Finance, and other departments on compensation, benefits, employment status, leave, and related employee matters.
Collaborate with academic and administrative leaders to identify professional development needs for faculty, staff, and administrators.
Develop and implement an annual employee learning and development plan that includes leadership development, supervisory training, compliance training, service excellence, and mission-centered learning.
Support the regular deployment of a Jackson College Leadership Academy or comparable leadership development program.
Promote employee growth, internal advancement where appropriate, and the development of leadership capacity across the institution.
Use training and coaching to strengthen supervisor effectiveness, communication, accountability, and employee success.
Develop, maintain, and continuously improve performance management systems that support employee growth, accountability, documentation, and alignment with institutional goals.
Ensure effective performance evaluations and feedback processes for all employees, with appropriate documentation and follow-up.
Support supervisors in setting clear expectations, addressing performance concerns, recognizing strong performance, and developing improvement plans when needed.
Align performance expectations with the College's mission, TCS2 culture, service standards, student achievement priorities, and employee conduct expectations.
Monitor completion and quality of employee evaluation processes and recommend improvements as needed.
Stay current on employment laws, labor regulations, civil rights requirements, Title IX requirements, and other applicable federal and Michigan laws and regulations affecting employment and the workplace.
Serve as the College's Equal Employment Opportunity Compliance Officer, ensuring the College meets its commitment to Equal Access/Equal Opportunity and maintains a work environment free of unlawful discrimination and harassment.
Prepare and submit required reports to regulatory agencies as required.
Coordinate employee-related compliance training, policy review, investigations, documentation, accommodations processes, and related risk-management practices.
Work with the College’s OGC, campus safety, student services, academic leadership, and other offices as appropriate to ensure consistent, lawful, and mission-aligned practices.
Use HR technology, AI, data analytics, and employee feedback to inform decisions and improve HR processes, employee service, and employee success.
Monitor key employee-success indicators such as recruitment effectiveness, time-to-fill, turnover, retention, engagement, training completion, grievance patterns, and performance evaluation completion.
Ensure data privacy and security compliance in concert with the College's Information Technology department.
Identify opportunities to improve HR service delivery, automate routine processes, strengthen data integrity, and improve the employee experience.
Prepare reports and recommendations for the President and senior leadership as requested.
Develop and manage the People and Culture / Human Resources department budget efficiently and in alignment with College priorities.
Supervise, develop, and evaluate assigned Human Resources staff in accordance with College policies, labor agreements, and applicable law.
Set clear service expectations for the HR team and ensure timely, accurate, confidential, and respectful service to employees, applicants, supervisors, and institutional partners.
Represent the College with community partners, professional organizations, labor representatives, vendors, and other external constituencies as appropriate.
Perform other duties and responsibilities as assigned by the President.