Senior People Operations Generalist (NYC)

DonorsChoose engages the public in public schools by giving people a simple, accountable, and personal way to address educational inequity. In this clip, board member Stephen Colbert tells our story.

To date, teachers at 83% of all the public schools in America have posted classroom project requests on our site. Projects range from paper and markers for a poetry writing unit to violins for a school recital. More than 4 million “citizen philanthropists” have supported such projects, channeling books, field trips, technology, and other resources to more than 40 million students nationwide. In all, we’ve generated $1 billion for learning experiences designed by our country’s most dedicated public school teachers.

GOOD Magazine highlighted us as one of 30 Places We Want to Work, while Fast Company named DonorsChoose one of the 50 Most Innovative Companies in the World—the first time a charity has made this list. Our culture is informal, fast-paced, and fun. See more at www.donorschoose.org/jobs

About the People team: 

This role will be a senior management role on the People team, reporting to the Director of People. The People team leads three major areas of employee support at DonorsChoose: employee engagement (including performance and personnel), organization benefits and compliance, and talent (including compensation). The People team works closely with the Equity and Inclusion team to deliver the best results for our employees on all three fronts. 

About People Operations at DonorsChoose 

We believe a diverse, inclusive, and mission-driven team will drive the best outcomes for students and teachers across the country. We ensure that our staff can remain laser-focused on advancing the DonorsChoose mission by delivering a positive, productive, safe, and equitable employee lifecycle experience. 

How we do it: 

• Ensure that the DonorsChoose mission, core values, and diversity are reflected in all People Operations decisions, processes, and programs. 
• Leverage data and feedback to drive continuous improvement. 
• Build best-in-class tools and technology that allow us to innovate and iterate quickly.
• Establish deliberate, easy-to-understand processes and policies that provide guardrails without unnecessary restrictions.
• Deliver scalable development, learning, and engagement programs that support our business and people needs.

Primary Responsibilities

In this role you will: 

• Oversee responsibility for primary HR business functions, which includes managing the company HRIS, administering employee benefits, managing vendor relationships, and partnering with the Finance team to administer payroll. 
• Support strategic and tactical People matters (examples: compensation, team staffing models , inclusive management training). Although the primary focus of this role is on HR and personnel support, this senior member of the team will be asked to support talent acquisition, compensation strategy, and employee training as needed. 
• Partner with the Director of People to determine and drive people movement in line with business goals (onboarding, offboarding, retention, people analysis, surveying). 
• Be responsive to changing and new priorities in People Operations work. As an organization, we’re not afraid to change or accelerate priorities based on what’s best for our business and employees. Two examples from the past year: executing on racial equity education with employees and supporting the transition to a fully-remote organization due to COVID-19. 
• Manage one full-time employee, while serving as an informal advisor and coach to the organization’s management tiers. 

You’ll be successful in this role if you: 

• Have a Bachelor’s degree or equivalent experience. 
• Have at least four years of HR Generalist experience 
• Are experienced in benefits administration, including managing an HRIS, EDI feeds, and an insurance broker partnership. 
• Have knowledge of and experience with basic HR law (ACA, FMLA, etc.) 
• Have experience with coaching, managing, or implementing a strategy for diversity, equity and inclusion in core HR functions. 
• Have functional HR experience in how to keep an organization compliant. 
• Communicate clearly and with empathy.
• Value people more than process, and prioritize positive outcomes over strict adherence to the written rules. 
• Care deeply about education and share our organization’s commitment to racial and economic equity in America’s public schools. 
• Set high standards for yourself, and adapt quickly. 

Strong applicants will also have: 

• An active SHRM-CP (or equivalent) certification. 
• Experience with talent acquisition or a strong interest in developing their skills in this area. 
• Experience with leading HR technology (at DonorsChoose: Namely, Slack, CultureAmp, and Greenhouse). 
• Experience in scaling and communicating policies and processes with an emphasis on inclusivity. 
• A belief that the core work of a People Operations team is to create a diverse, inclusive, and equitable workplace -- and ideas on how to make that happen. 
• Experience managing a team and an innate desire to coach and mentor others. 

Compensation and Benefits

Compensation for this role is competitive with equivalent roles at other nonprofits of our size. In addition, we offer full-time staff 25 paid vacation days per year and 10 paid holidays, a rich employer-paid individual and family health plan, annual professional development stipend, and casual and flexible work environment. To learn more about what it is like to work for DonorsChoose, visit our careers page

To Apply

Interested candidates should submit a resume and cover letter addressed to Mary Holtzhauser, Director.

A Final Note

The DonorsChoose.org team works toward a nation where students in every community have the resources needed for an excellent education. To do this we hire and support a diverse team of the best and the brightest talent available.

We are an organization increasingly representative of the varied races and ethnicities, genders and sexual orientations, religious and political beliefs, and abilities that comprise our nation. DonorsChoose.org focuses on attracting, retaining, and advancing diverse talent because it makes us more effective, high-performing, creative, and resilient. 

If you are passionate about our mission, highly skilled in your field, and looking for a place where you can bring all of yourself to work, we want you.