Director of People & Talent Strategy

Director of People & Talent Strategy

Position Summary

The Director of People & Talent Strategy serves as the strategic and operational HR leader for our client, overseeing the full employee lifecycle while building a scalable people function that supports continued growth across the nation. This role is ideal for an aspiring HR leader who thrives in a fast-paced, entrepreneurial environment and wants to join a high-performing team.

This leader will oversee organizational design, talent acquisition and workforce planning, HR operations, and employee experience initiatives. The Director of People & Talent Strategy will partner closely with senior leadership to ensure HR practices reinforce business strategy, culture, and performance expectations.

Essential Duties & Responsibilities

Strategic People Leadership

• Align HR policies, programs, and talent strategies with our client’s organizational goals and growth plans.
• Lead organizational design initiatives to support scalability, role clarity, and operational efficiency.
• Act as a trusted advisor and coach to the executive team and business leaders, demonstrating strong stakeholder management capabilities.
• Solve problems creatively with thoughtful consideration of organizational nuance and context.

Talent Acquisition & Workforce Planning

• Oversee full-cycle recruiting, manage the internal recruiting team, and drive talent pipeline development.
• Lead workforce planning to ensure staffing needs align with business forecasts and departmental priorities.
• Build external networks to strengthen employment branding and talent pipeline development.

HR Operations & Compliance

• Manage and develop a team of two direct reports within HR, aligning their goals to our client’s objectives and holding them accountable for performance.
• Oversee HR programs including compensation, benefits, leave, investigations, employee relations, and compliance.
• Support optimization of HRIS and ATS systems; promote data-driven HR decision-making.
• Ensure compliance with federal, state, and local employment regulations.

Performance, Learning & Development

• Build or procure best-in-class training and leadership development programs to support organization-wide learning initiatives.
• Oversee performance management, goal-setting, feedback cycles, and succession planning.

Culture, Engagement & Retention

• Lead employee engagement strategies, recognition programs, and retention initiatives.
• Drive initiatives that promote our client’s mission, values, and evolving culture.
• Create internal change management capabilities and manage employee communication related to organizational initiatives.

Financial & Business Partnership

• Collaborate with finance leadership on salary and compensation budgets, workforce investment planning, and wage structure alignment.
• Proactively provide recommendations at both the organizational and individual levels for compensation models that are aligned with business goals, industry norms, and employee motivation.
• Contribute to business strategy through people insights, labor forecasting, and HR metrics.
• Serve as a trusted representative of our client, partnering with client executives who desire strategic coaching on HR-related topics.

Required Skills & Capabilities

• Strong talent foundation with experience across workforce planning, recruiting, development, and HR operations.
• Experience coaching leaders, facilitating discussions, and resolving complex organizational issues.
• Exceptional communication, consulting, negotiation, and relationship-building skills.
• Ability to thrive in a startup-like, high-growth, high-change environment.
• Strong project management skills with the ability to lead cross-functional initiatives.
• Familiarity with HRIS and ATS platforms; data- and metrics-oriented approach.
• Insurance industry experience is a plus.
• Ability to collaborate in person approximately 80–100% weekly at headquarters in Grand Rapids, MI.

Education & Experience

• Bachelor’s degree in Human Resources, Business, Psychology, Communications, or a related field required.
• Proven progressive experience in HR or talent consulting, including leadership of recruiting and generalist functions.
• Strong experience in organizational development, performance management, and leadership development strongly preferred.