Manager, People Strategy & Operations

Job Title: Manager, People Strategy & Operations

Team: P&O

Location: In-Person in Chicago, Washington DC, New York City, Newark, or Atlanta. Location in Chicago (IL) is strongly preferred.

Employment Type: Full-time

Start Date: ASAP

About Braven

We believe that the next generation of leaders will emerge from everywhere. We empower promising college students with the skills, confidence, experiences, and networks necessary to transition from college to strong first jobs, which lead to meaningful careers and lives of impact.  

About the Role

In order to achieve its ambition of serving 80,000-100,000 Fellows over the next decade, Braven is hiring a Manager, People Strategy & Operations who will  manage cross functional people team projects that impact the organization and own tactical steps on keeping people functions cohesive. The Manager, People Strategy & Operations finds energy in detailing out roadmaps to get from start to finish of major People process, systems and structures. The ideal candidate listens for criteria (high level timelines, key stakeholders to bring along in moments of change, etc.)  to achieve enterprise level impact in the people function and outline the details on how to get there.

As a member of the People & Culture team, you will work with the Vice President, People (VPP), People workstream leads, and partners across departments on keeping projects moving, monitoring progress, elevate time sensitive actions to VPP, make recommendations when initial plans need to shift, and communicate across various stakeholders with the goal of delivering on clear and efficient processes. This role requires an individual with outstanding communication and interpersonal skills, who is agile, connects dots between processes, is discreet and organized with the confidence to ask pertinent questions, grasp concepts quickly, and think beyond specific tasks.

This role reports directly to the Vice President, People.

What You’ll Do

Project Management (70%)

• Utilize systems to create visible project plans for processes and projects across People functions such as the All Team Retreat, Culture Action Plans, PEO transition, etc.
• Proactively track and communicate progress to goals for each project.
• Tracks deadlines
• Convene relevant, cross-functional partners to drive toward project completion
• Facilitate efficient meetings with clear outcomes 
• Surface trends and propose next steps in real-time to keep projects and meetings moving forward
• Develop decks, memos, and/or other artifacts that aid in project collaboration and meeting facilitation toward desired outcomes
• Follow through on action steps and follow up with key partners, who have competing priorities, toward completing actions relevant for projects
• Elevate key learnings and provide recommendations for continuous improvement as a result of consistent pre and post mortems, reflection, and feedback.
• Take initiative to recommend and implement best practices in project management
• Partner with Internal Communications to align on communication plans on projects that impact our people. Build in communication to relevant stakeholders into each project plan.
• Partner with the Strategy Team to align People processes and projects with other processes that impact the organizational operations and impact
• Partner with the executive support team to schedule engagements with other staff across departments

People Team Operations and Strategic Input (25%)

• Develop detailed project plans for key People projects and processes to organizational priorities 
• Provides strategic input on the timing of milestones, communications while updating planning documents and executing on action steps 
• Track relevant and timely dates, in alignment to People team goals, to inform and/or involve alignment team members and the CEO on key People processes
• Assist the VPP in partnering with the Office of the CEO, Finance, and the Strategy Team to coordinate interconnected processes, schedule key dates, and aligning responsibly transparent communication to key stakeholders 
• Create slides to update and engage key partners in People processes, projects, and policies
• Communicate with contractors and draft contracts for review by VPP
• Manage and coordinate team knowledge management and best practices in People team systems organization suitable to a scaling organization, such as team google drive folders

Other duties as assigned (5%)

Minimum Requirements

• Education: Bachelor’s degree
• Work Experience: At least 3 years work experience with experience managing multiple projects at once

Preferred Qualifications

• Work Experience: at least 3 years in non-profit field
• Technical Skills and Knowledge: CAPM or PMP certified
• Organized, self-motivated, detail oriented, and productive
• Manages up. Not shy to remind leadership of key dates while being empathetic and patient.  
• Fast learner. Reflective in practice. Desire to learn, grow, give and accept feedback. 
• Ability to connect the dots between key projects, processes and how the People team serves people within Braven in support of our mission
• Ability to understand strategy; provide input and translate to project tasks
• Ability to work independently, prioritize and manage multiple projects simultaneously and meet deadline
• Balances seeing the bigger picture across impacts to the organization and communication while responding through thoughtful planning
• As a member of the People team, accepts the challenge and responsibility to be a model culture carrier. You firmly believe that people are the joy and major asset toward our mission. You build relationships, model our core values, and follow processes and policies.
• High degree of professionalism. Treats sensitive information with confidence.

• Curious and collaborative
• Strong soft-skills to work well with people up and down the organization, stewarding strong relationships through excellent communication skills
• You have a demonstrated commitment to DEIJ
• You exemplify Braven’s core values
• Your experiences have informed your belief in Braven’s mission and have prepared you to work with, or for, Braven’s student Fellow population

Please know that no one ever meets 100% of the preferred qualifications. If much of this describes you, we encourage you to apply.

Work Demands

• Ability to work in-person in one of our hubs
• Ability to travel about 3 times per year.

Additional Requirements

• Authorized to work in the U.S.

Application & Interview Process

While the interview process may vary slightly, the general process will be:

• Phone screen with Talent Team member
• Performance Task
• Interview with Hiring Manager
• Panel Interview with Key Partners
• Reference Checks

Compensation and Benefits

The salary for this position, which depends on prior work experience and our assessment of your demonstrated fit for the role, will likely be between $65,200- $81,500 in Atlanta, $68,600-$85,700 in Chicago & Washington D.C, and $75,500-$94,300 in New York, NY or Newark NJ . Braven offers competitive base salaries based on the midpoint of the market among not-for-profit organizations of similar size, with opportunities for salary growth over time. We believe in compensating staff members fairly in relation to each other, their qualifications, and their impact on behalf of the organization, and take internal and external equity seriously. Given our commitment to equity, Braven does not negotiate salary offers; instead each salary offer is determined carefully using external and internal benchmarking. You will have an opportunity to discuss salary in more detail after you begin the application process.

Braven also provides competitive, comprehensive benefits, recognition, and career development. While Braven reserves the right to change benefits at any time, current benefits include: 

• Unlimited vacation time in addition to org-wide holidays and week-long shutdowns in July and the end of the calendar year (this is a minimum of 19 days per year)
• Match of your 401K contribution up to 5% of your base annual salary, starting your first full month
• Coverage of 85% of health insurance premium for employee and dependents
• A one-month paid sabbatical after 4 years on staff

Location

We gather in the office two to three days a week. Therefore, we require teammates to live within commuting distance of Chicago.  Each teammate can use at least two flex days per week of their choosing to work remotely. We believe in the magic, connection, and collaboration that happens when people work together face-to-face and we believe in giving people flexibility to focus, balance personal priorities, and save themselves two commutes per week.

Commitment to Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion 

At Braven, we are committed to attracting, engaging, developing, and retaining a diverse team. Braven operates in the context of our American culture, against the backdrop of systemic racism and oppression of marginalized people since our country’s founding. We are committed to assembling leaders at our organization who have emerged from everywhere, with a particular emphasis on those who share the racial and income backgrounds of our Fellows, and creating an inclusive culture that allows all teammates, of all experiences and identities, to thrive.  

Braven is an equal opportunity employer and considers qualified applicants for employment without regard to race, color, creed, religion, national origin, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity and expression, age, disability, veteran status, or any other protected factor.  We encourage talented individuals of all backgrounds to apply.