Manager, Human Resources

ABOUT CRADLES TO CRAYONS:

Cradles to Crayons (C2C), founded in 2002, provides children living in homeless or low-income situations, with the essential items they need to thrive—at home, at school, and at play. We supply clothing, shoes, diapers, school supplies, and more, free of charge. Our vision is that one day all children will have the essentials they need to thrive.

Two in 5 kids in the United States are currently facing Clothing Insecurity, going without basic essentials like pants, shoes, diapers, and school supplies during their critical development years. Three of the top 10 reasons kids miss school are rooted in Clothing Insecurity—just one example of the significant short- and long-term social and economic costs when these needs go unmet. Cradles to Crayons keeps Clothing Insecurity at the core of our mission and is the only large-scale nonprofit organization to focus on this resource gap. Since its founding, Cradles to Crayons has distributed more than six million customized packages of essentials to children in Massachusetts, Greater Philadelphia, Chicagoland, and nationally, through Giving Factory Direct—a first-in-kind online product donation platform launched in 2021.

Cradles to Crayons takes a three-pronged approach to mitigating Clothing Insecurity:

1. In-person Engagement—through tens of thousands of children and adults volunteering at our Giving Factory warehouses to sort and package high volumes of new and like-new donations from our communities for our Service Partners to distribute to the children they serve.
2. Online Product Donations—Giving Factory Direct matches product donors directly to children who need the items they have to donate, with service partners in 5 US cities including New York and San Francisco.
3. Advocacy and Awareness—Cradles to Crayons is uniquely positioned to raise Clothing Insecurity as a national issue through awareness campaigns, data/evaluation, and legislative outreach.

Cradles to Crayons’ strong financial health and ongoing effectiveness and reliability have helped it earn a Four-Star Rating from Charity Navigator every year since 2009. C2C has a budget of $20M for FY26 and a total staff of approximately 100.

POSITION OVERVIEW:

This position has a flexible base location within any of our three Giving Factory markets – Greater Boston, Chicagoland or Philadelphia. This role is primarily remote but is expected to be in-person in one of our Giving Factories at least two days per month.

The HR Manager plays a critical role in advancing our mission by delivering high-quality, people-centered HR support to over 100 team members across three regional markets (Boston, Chicago and Philadelphia) and a national team of support staff. The HR Manager role encompasses a broad range of generalist human resources activities, with a focus on HR operations, learning and development, employee relations, and talent acquisition. The HR Manager drives key HR projects that advance our commitment to developing great talent, maintaining strong organizational health, and being a joyful place to work.

All Cradles to Crayons team members contribute to a culture of shared mission by participating in one volunteer shift per month.

MAJOR RESPONSIBILITIES:

Model and lead a positive “One Cradles” culture, underpinned by Cradles’ cultural values and norms

HR Operations (40%)

• Oversee biweekly payroll processing, assure data integrity, and support payroll audits and reporting
• Ensure organizational compliance with federal, state, and local employment laws and regulations
• Maintain HR policies, handbooks, and procedures to reflect evolving legal requirements and industry best practices
• Act as the HRIS (Paycom) administrator, overseeing full utilization of modules (e.g. performance reviews, timekeeping, benefits) and driving operational efficiencies
• Lead HR reporting and analytics, reporting to senior leadership and recommend improvements to streamline HR workflows
• Coordinate offboarding processes, including exit interviews and identify trends and areas for improvement based on feedback

Learning & Development (20%)

• Manage new and existing talent development initiatives end-to end; including project management, content design and updates, and facilitation of learning programs
• Conduct training needs assessments and collaborate with managers to develop skill-building strategies for their teams
• Utilize data-driven analysis to evaluate training effectiveness and make ongoing improvements to talent development programming
• Manage organizational performance review processes, communications and training; make recommendations for continuous improvement

Employee Relations (20%)

• Serve as a trusted business partner to managers, providing coaching and support in navigating sensitive personnel matters and promoting positive team dynamics
• Manage employee relations issues, including conflict resolution, performance management, and disciplinary processes

Talent Acquisition (20%)

• Lead full-cycle recruitment processes, including reviewing job postings, active and passive candidate sourcing, resume and phone screening, interview coordination, advising hiring managers and extending job offers to prospective candidates
• In partnership with the HR team, DEI Council and hiring managers, implement best practices to ensure sourcing, recruiting, hiring, and retention practices are incorporated into the talent acquisition process to attract, retain and support a diverse and inclusive workforce
• Other duties as assigned

Required Experience/Knowledge/Skills/Abilities:

• Passion for Cradles to Crayons’ mission
• Bachelors’ Degree in a related field; HR certification a plus
• 5+ years of progressive HR experience, with a focus on talent development, employee relations and HR operations
• Must be adaptable, collaborative, reliable, and possess strong written and verbal communication, interpersonal, and problem-solving skills
• Exemplary organizational and project management skills, attention to detail, and ability to independently manage multiple projects simultaneously
• Knowledge of employment law and best practices across multiple U.S. states
• Experience managing HRIS systems a plus

COMPENSATION AND BENEFITS:

The estimated starting base salary for this position is $68,000-$75,000 based on geographic labor market.

Cradles to Crayons is committed to pay equity and uses geographic benchmarks to ensure fair compensation. The compensation offered to the successful candidate may vary from the posted range based on work experience, education, and/or skill level, among other things.

This is a benefits-eligible position. Cradles to Crayons offers a generous benefits package, which includes, but is not limited to:

• Health benefits including medical, dental, vision and a Health Reimbursement Arrangement.
• A monthly cell phone and internet usage stipend
• Employer-sponsored short- and long-term disability and basic life insurance
• Retirement plan matching
• Annual professional development stipend

DIVERSITY IS OUR STRENGTH:

Diversity and Inclusiveness are core values at Cradles to Crayons, and we continuously strive to be a team where everyone feels welcome and supported. It is the policy of Cradles to Crayons to provide equal employment opportunities without regard to race, color, religion, sex, national origin, age, disability, marital status, veteran status, sexual orientation, gender identity, genetic information and/or any other protected characteristic under applicable law. Individuals from underrepresented groups are especially encouraged to apply.

Working Conditions:

This is a work from home remote virtual environment with in-person co-working at least 2x per month in one of our Giving Factories. There are no hazardous or significantly unpleasant conditions.

Accommodation:

In accordance with the Americans with Disabilities Act, it is possible that requirements will be modified to reasonably accommodate disabled individuals. However, Cradles will make no accommodations to Crayons which may pose serious health or safety risks to the employee or others, or which impose undue hardships on the organization.

To Apply:

Please apply with a resume with relevant experience to https://www.cradlestocrayons.org/what-we-do/careers/

This is a benefits-eligible position. Cradles to Crayons offers a generous benefits package, which includes, but is not limited to:

• Health benefits including medical, dental, vision and a Health Reimbursement Arrangement.
• A monthly cell phone and internet usage stipend
• Employer-sponsored short- and long-term disability and basic life insurance
• Retirement plan matching
• Annual professional development stipend