Vice President, Division of Human Resources

Posted Job Title

Vice President, Division of Human Resources
Job Profile Title

Vice President
Job Description Summary

Reporting to Senior Executive Vice President Craig Carnaroli, the Vice President of Human Resources (“VPHR” or “Vice President”) will oversee talent management, compensation, benefits, employee relations, and other HR functions. This is an opportunity to lead Human Resources for one of the largest private employers in Philadelphia and the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. With such a scale, this role has remarkable potential for outsized impact.
Job Description

The VPHR provides guidance and expertise on HR matters to the President, Provost, Senior Executive Vice President, and other senior leaders. The VPHR provides strong and empowering leadership to the core HR team to maximize their potential, proficiency, and professional growth and provides dotted-line guidance to school/center HR professionals.

Functional areas of human resources include benefits, compensation, talent acquisition, talent development, employee and dependent tuition administration, school/center and central HR collaboration, Quality of work-life programs, Onboard @ Penn, the Penn Solution (call) Center, Human Resources Information Management, HR Communications, Economic Inclusion, and Staff and Labor Relations.

The successful candidate must possess an appreciation for the complexity of human resources in the context of an urban and dynamic university campus with a significant international population, as well as an unwavering commitment to advancing diversity, equity, and inclusion in every facet of the department’s activities. Key expectations for the successful candidate include total compensation strategy, skill in creative problem-solving, and a proven ability to motivate a diverse workforce to succeed as a high-functioning team.

The Vice President oversees the design and administration of competitive and equitable compensation and benefits programs. The successful candidate analyzes market trends to ensure the university remains competitive in attracting and retaining talent, overseeing recruitment, selection, onboarding, and retention efforts to do so. The VPHR develops and implements comprehensive talent management and succession planning programs as well as policies and procedures to maintain a positive and compliant work environment. The VPHR streamlines HR processes and procedures to enhance efficiency and effectiveness and guides the implementation of advanced technology solutions to support HR functions and talent management systems. The VPHR is responsible for ensuring compliance with federal, state, and local employment laws and regulations.

The ideal candidate will have a history of success in collaborating with schools to create an inclusive and supportive campus environment for students, faculty, and staff. This is an opportunity to lead critical efforts in central HR and collaborate with HR professionals across and within the twelve schools and multiple academic and administrative centers.

In addition to the Senior Executive Vice President, the Vice President will work closely with the following Penn administrators:

President (and the President’s Chief of Staff)

EVP Direct Reports, particularly Vice President for Finance and Senior Vice President for Information Technology and Chief Information Officer

Provost

Deans

Senior Vice President and General Counsel

Vice Provost for Faculty

Vice Deans for Finance and Administration

HR Directors in the Schools/Centers

Key Priorities for the Vice President of Human Resources will be to:
Advise and collaborate with the members of the senior leadership team on issues related to people and culture with professionalism and managerial courage.

Support the HR team in modeling client service, performance, and responsiveness.

Continue to develop the HR team in a client-oriented way to support the ongoing growth in scale and complexity of the broader organization.

Ensure institutional compliance with HR-related legal and contractual requirements.

Coordinate with the schools/centers and other groups on campus to standardize best practices and processes related to hiring, developing, promoting, and retaining talent in a highly competitive market.

Develop HR budget to ensure that resource allocations reflect organizational priorities and empower direct reports to work independently.

Foster a culture of continuous improvement, extraordinary talent, and meaningful work, as well as one that is open, trusting, and supportive.

Serve as the liaison to the Trustee Executive Compensation Committee, preparing the market analysis for the compensation for Deans and Officers.

Collaborate with critical stakeholders to enhance and create programs that support the well- being of all.

In partnership with the office of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion, ensure that all HR activities are conducted to ensure the recruitment, retention, and development of broad and diverse talent.

Assess internal communications strategies and modify as needed to facilitate the effective sharing of information within the Penn community.

Enhance and sustain positive labor relations throughout the university. Lead university labor relations, interacting with eight (8) unions representing University staff.

Ensure that the performance management process encourages staff development and advancement, in part through enhancing the adoption of technology platforms, specifically Workday.

Lead the Human Resource Advisory Group, a council comprised of central and school/center HR leaders.

Coordinate with stakeholders across campus to ensure policies, procedures and practices are equitable and fairly applied across all members of the University community.

Assess HR policies to ensure clarity, relevance, and a progressive workplace culture.

Support senior level searches and partner with search firms as appropriate; and

Maintain an awareness of the broader landscape of higher education as needs and practices of the faculty, staff and student body continue to evolve.

Candidate Profile
In terms of the competencies required for the position, Penn is seeking a Vice President with strategic human resources experience within an organization that has high expectations and aspirations for its workforce. Strong candidates will have experience professionalizing existing resources to lead an HR function and team that can support a large-scale, complex organization. The ideal candidate has an appreciation and understanding of higher education structures potentially (although not necessarily) gained through experience in higher education, or in a similarly complex and mission-driven setting.

An advanced degree is preferred.

The ideal candidate will be a strategic, dynamic, and engaging HR leader who has spent time in a complex, matrixed environment, and who brings the judgment and acumen to be comfortable making decisions, at times with imperfect information. They will be deeply comfortable in ambiguity. They will understand how to operate collaboratively and collegially across diverse constituents and will have a history of success in leading through influence. They will bring deep subject matter expertise across the range of HR disciplines, particularly (although not limited to) labor relations, employee relations, leadership and development, organizational development, and executive compensation.

The competencies required for the position include the following:

Setting Strategy
Seeks and analyzes data from a variety of sources to inform and support decisions and to align others with the University's overall strategy.

Effectively balances the desire/need for broad change with an understanding of how much change the organization is capable of handling to create realistic goals and implementation plans that are achievable and successful.

Prioritizes requests and identifies long-term priorities and quick wins.

Has a consultative decision-making style that builds rapport and grows credibility and trust.

Collaborates with senior administration to align resources for optimal productivity; and

Drives change through a continuous cycle of observing, learning, and improving.

Executing for Results
Possesses broad HR functional skills in all relevant areas, including organizational development, staffing and recruitment, compensation, benefits, training, employee, and labor relations.

Sets clear and challenging goals and mobilizes others to take shared ownership of implementation – knows how to achieve impact through a diverse and distributed network of partners and stakeholders.

Manages a highly competent HR team at a senior level in a complex, matrixed organization characterized by a high regard for empowering others, a results orientation, and a highly intellectual workforce; and

Is tenacious and accountable in driving results.

Leading Teams
Is able to relate to a broad and diverse workforce at all levels.

Inspirational and visionary leadership style motivates the HR team through mission, vision, authenticity, approachability, and expertise.

Fosters a healthy and caring work environment for the HR team and across the workforce.

Possesses the ability to attract and recruit top talent, motivate teams, delegate effectively, celebrate diversity within teams, and manage performances while being a strong developer of others.

Relationships and Influence
Naturally connects and builds strong relationships with various constituents, including students, faculty, staff, alumni, and community members, demonstrating strong emotional intelligence and an ability to communicate clearly and persuasively.

Possesses well-honed influencing skills that will enable this individual to persuade minds, engage in difficult and deeply personal dialogue with empathy, and handle conflict with grace and humility.

Works comfortably in a collaborative environment

Practices servant leadership.

Effectively negotiates with vendors, including health and welfare insurance brokers and retirement plan investment managers.

Inspires trust and followership in others through compelling influence, powerful charisma, passion in their beliefs, and active drive; and

Encourages others to share the spotlight and visibly celebrates and supports the success of the team.

Personal Characteristics
Acts in a transparent and consistent manner, has high integrity and a reputation for making and owning critical decisions in the best interest of their organization.

High intellectual acuity, functional expertise, and a willingness to take appropriate risks.

Empathizes and connects with others naturally – can put themselves in someone else’s shoes and bridge gaps between those with differing experiences.

Operates with managerial courage, a high EQ, and low ego.

Communicates the why behind decisions and processes, ensuring that diverse constituencies are engaged effectively and in an ongoing manner.

Acts with extraordinary diplomacy.

Leads with humility and curiosity.

Minimum seven years of experience

Advanced degree preferred.