Director of Human Resources

About NYC Kids RISE 

NYC Kids RISE is a nonprofit organization working with the City of New York and the NYC Department of Education to manage the Save for College Program (the Program). Through the Program, eligible students enrolled in an NYC public school (including participating charter schools), starting in kindergarten, automatically receive a free NYC Scholarship Account with an initial allocation of $100 by NYC Kids RISE on their behalf, invested in a NY 529 Direct Plan, and opportunities to receive additional rewards over time. Their families can open and connect their own college savings account on their child’s behalf, and communities can contribute to groups of these NYC Scholarship Accounts as both a targeted and universal platform for community-driven asset-building in every neighborhood. This approach draws from a variety of best practices and disciplines across the fields of asset building, child savings accounts, financial empowerment, education, community wealth building, urban poverty, neighborhood effects and social capital research, collective impact, and more. Read more about NYC Kids RISE and the Save for College Program and listen to stories from partners who helped build the platform during its pilot phase from 2017 to 2022.  You can also view recent articles in Fast Company, the Wall Street Journal, and the NYCHA Journal; and read more about NYC Kids RISE theory of change in a recent report by the Urban Institute. 

After a successful pilot phase in the communities of School District 30 in Queens, NYC Kids RISE expanded citywide during the 2021-2022 school year. This school year, more than 200,000 students, across nearly 1,000 elementary schools, now have NYC Scholarship Accounts with nearly $30 million invested for their college and career futures.

Position Summary 

NYC Kids RISE is growing its impact and its infrastructure, and the Director of Human Resources will be positioned to lead and grow our People function: building, leading and ensuring the smooth operation of talent recruitment, management and related systems and policies across our organization. 

This new position holds an active mix of hands-on tactical work and strategic leadership, and will be ideal for an experienced H.R. leader familiar with organizing and leading this work in smaller to mid-sized organizations in growth mode. Bring your ideas and your hard hat – we’re actively building and designing for a successful and sustainable future. 

Key Responsibilities: 

Human Resources Functional Leadership

• Leadership: Reporting directly to the Chief of Administration and Finance (CAF), the Director of Human Resources & Talent will be accountable for the effective, compliant and mission-aligned operations and growth of the People function within NYCKR, including the growth of the H.R. / Talent supporting team over time. In close collaboration with the CAF, this role will ensure that H.R. functional goals are aligned with and supportive of organizational goals and key initiatives. 
• Culture Champion: This role will serve as a forward-facing architect and steward of an equity-centered culture for the NYCKR organization, which will require a thoughtful and evolving approach as the organization continues to grow. This will also require dedicated engagement with the Executive Director, executive team, outside consultants and staff members at every level in order to continue to assess, update and establish (as needed) policies, enhance processes, and build capacity in order to ensure our organizational culture continues to reflect our values. 
• Systems: The Director of H.R. & Talent will be a systems leader, and will lead the selection, implementation and, where needed, integration of an effective HRIS for the organization, as well as effective and well-aligned recruitment and talent management platforms if separate. 
• Total Rewards: The Director of H.R. & Talent will be a thought partner to the executive team on the design of a compelling Total Rewards approach for the organization, across all levels and functions, and will directly oversee and ensure its execution.  This will include extensive stakeholder engagement, productive negotiations with benefits providers, and compliance coordination at every step.  
• Compliance: Serve as an in-house subject matter expert on human resources compliance, in close collaboration with the NYCKR existing legal and compliance team, as well as related consultants and legal experts where appropriate. Ensure legal and contractual compliance with H.R.-related documentation and reporting requirements over the course of the year.  

Tactical and functional responsibilities 

Recruitment and Onboarding: 

• Lead the recruitment process, from job postings to interviewing and selection, with a strong focus on diversity and inclusion. 
• Coordinates and conducts the new employee onboarding process

Employee Relations and Performance Management: 

• Serve as a first point-of-contact for current and former NYCKR employees (and, occasionally, non-employees such as applicants or contractors) for questions regarding all HR policies and procedures. Demonstrate broad knowledge of all HR policies and procedures to answer both general and employee-specific questions, and actively inform ongoing policy development as the organization continues to grow.  
• Promote and implement practices that foster diversity, equity, and inclusion within the organization. 
• Communicates HR-related announcements to employees  
• Maintain in-depth knowledge of legal requirements related to the day-to-day management of employees, reducing legal risk and ensuring regulatory compliance.  
• Support the performance appraisal process by ensuring managing compliance, providing guidance and coaching, and ensuring performance reviews and performance management initiatives are consistently and fairly applied across the organization.  
• Develop and administer fair and equitable processes to respond to employee complaints and general HR inquiries, ensuring prompt and complete resolution. 
• Support the design and implementation of a smooth employee transition and offboarding process to effectively manage internal promotions and departures. 

Payroll and Employee Information 

• Oversee the payroll process for the organization  
• Implement and maintain payroll best practices to improve efficiency 
• Evaluate and implement payroll/HRIS systems and any upgrades and changes. 
• Respond to all unemployment claims in a timely manner 
• Maintain employee records in payroll/HRIS systems as well as personnel files  
• Administer the time and attendance policy and paid leave policy for all employees. 
• Performs and/or oversees file audits and periodic reviews to ensure full documentation and recordkeeping / policy compliance 
• Produces scheduled and ad-hoc reports pertaining to payroll and human resources requirements. 

Benefits Administration: 

• Plans and administers annual open enrollment period. This includes preparation (or revision) and distribution of materials, conducting meetings to communicate changes to employees, coordination with and arranging on-site representation by providers, and processing changes within deadlines. 
• Oversee and support the administration of ongoing employee benefits programs, including health, retirement, and other perks, with attention to the diverse needs of our workforce. 
• Advise and assist employees in understanding and utilizing their benefits.  
• Plans, conducts and reports results of audits to ensure all enrollments are accurate and that dependent information is correct for each employee and works closely with Accounting for quarterly and year end audits (payroll, Workers Comp, 401k, etc.) 

Management and Special Projects 

• Oversee direct staff and related consultant work 
• Help the HR consultant identify and prioritize HR needs and work plans.  
• Support members of the executive team with special projects related to HR goals and priorities.  

Qualifications: 

• Experience: 7-10 years of relevant professional experience (HR generalist and leadership), with 3+ years of experience managing direct reports. 
• Exposure to or previous experience with working with organizations in the fields of government, financial institutions, medium sized to large nonprofits with public + private funding combinations.  
• Demonstrated ability to strategize, build and execute within key HR functional areas 
• Demonstrated ability to adapt policies, practices and strategies to a growing organization 
• Excellent project management skills for both small and large initiatives, the demonstrated ability to keep many plates spinning at a time. 
• Communication: Strong interpersonal skills, high levels of emotional intelligence and tendency to identify and amplify strengths in teammates; detail-oriented professional with demonstrated written, verbal, and presentational communication skills for various types of audiences. 
• Strategic thinking and problem solving: Demonstrated ability to consider an issue, identify and anticipate needs and perspectives, propose solutions, elevate when necessary, and incorporate feedback effectively. 
• Excellent research and presentation skills. 
• Strongly preferred: Training or deep familiarity with change management frameworks and their implementation / integration with organization initiatives and cultures 

This role is located in New York City, and can accommodate hybrid work, with some regular on-site presence expected. The organization’s offices are located in Long Island City (Queens, NY).  

To apply, a cover letter and resume are required. Please list the name of the position, “Director of Human Resources & Talent" in the cover letter. The potential salary for this position is from $140,000 to $165,000 which represents a range commensurate with experience. 

NYC Kids Rise is an Equal Opportunity Employer. We do not discriminate in employment on the basis of basis of gender, religion, race, creed, color, national origin, citizenship status, age, disability, marital status, caregiver status, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, military status, unemployed status, or any other characteristic protected by law.