Associate Director of People & Culture

Department: People & Culture
Reports to: Director of People & Culture
Salary/FLSA Status: $95,000-$100,000/ Exempt
Location: New York, NY. Hybrid. In office 2-3 days/ week

Position Overview

The Associate Director of People & Culture (P&C) is an operational leader responsible for strengthening the systems, processes, and team practices that support the full employee lifecycle across the organization. Working closely with the Director of People & Culture, this role ensures that strategic direction and departmental priorities are translated into clear workflows, documented processes, and consistent operational practices across the P&C function. The Associate Director serves as a key operational partner to the Director, providing oversight of implementation, strengthening internal infrastructure, and ensuring that People initiatives are executed effectively across teams and sites.

This role engages across the entire employee lifecycle—from candidate experience and onboarding through employee support, operational consistency, and offboarding—ensuring that P&C practices are coordinated, scalable, and aligned with organizational values. The Associate Director also provides operational coordination and documentation support when complex employee relations matters arise, helping ensure appropriate process tracking and continuity of People operations. This role is ideal for an ambitious leader who believes strong systems and strong relationships go hand in hand and is energized by building processes and team practices that support both an excellent employee experience and a high-performing People & Culture function.

What You'll Be Doing

Employee Lifecycle Experience & Operational Excellence

• Oversee and strengthen the end-to-end employee lifecycle, including pre-hire coordination, onboarding, internal transitions, and offboarding
• Identify opportunities to improve candidate and employee experience through more consistent operational practices
• Ensure lifecycle processes are clearly documented, well-coordinated, and consistently applied across sites
• Partner with Talent and hiring managers to support smooth recruitment and onboarding operations
• Provide operational coordination, documentation support, and case tracking when employee relations matters require administrative or process support.
• Ensure documentation and internal systems support accurate tracking of People operations.
• Identify operational themes emerging from employee matters and elevate insights to department leadership when appropriate.

Strategic Implementation & Project Leadership

• Drive implementation of People & Culture initiatives
• Translate direction from the Director of P&C into actionable workflows, project plans, and operational guidance for the team
• Establish clear timelines, ownership structures, and accountability for People-related initiatives
• Monitor initiative effectiveness and identify opportunities to strengthen implementation practices

Team Development & P&C Operations

• Supervise and develop P&C team members
• Ensure maintenance of service standards, team workflows, and accountability structures
• Strengthen team capability in documentation, communication, and operational coordination
• Support the Director in maintaining strong internal alignment and engagement within the P&C function

Process Documentation, Policy Implementation & Infrastructure

• Develop and maintain Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs), process maps, templates, and operational guides
• Build and maintain a centralized repository for P&C operational documentation
• Establish documentation standards that support continuity and knowledge sharing across the department
• Conduct periodic reviews of processes to ensure operational consistency and compliance
• Operationalize policies approved by the Senior People & Culture.
• Develop manager-facing tools and internal communications to support consistent policy application
• Monitor implementation across sites and identify opportunities to improve clarity or alignment

What You'll Bring

Required

• Bachelor’s degree in Human Resources, Organizational Development, Business Administration, or related field (or equivalent experience)
• 6–9 years of progressive HR or People & Culture experience
• Demonstrated experience leading cross-functional projects or operational initiatives
• Experience cultivating a high performing team
• Ability to foster trust and build relationships across all levels of the organization
• Strong background in process development, documentation, and operational systems
• Strong organizational skills with the ability to manage multiple initiatives simultaneously
• Ability to manage sensitive information with sound judgment and discretion
• Working experience with applying employment regulations

Preferred

• Experience supporting +1,000 lives in a multi-location organization is highly preferred
• Experience working in nonprofit or mission-driven organizations
• HR (SHRM-CP/SCP, PHR/SPHR) and/or Project Management certification