Head of People & Culture

New York City

THE JOHN VARVATOS TEAM

The heartbeat of any brand is its people. The John Varvatos culture is full of passion, creativity, and rock n roll! With many opportunities for growth and career development, we are a company that has ambitious plans for growth, and each individual plays a vital role in achieving our goals. We recognize each individual's contributions and treat each other with dignity, respect, and fairness.

THE ROLE

PURPOSE & SCOPE

As the leader of the John Varvatos People and Culture Team you will be an integral part of the brand’s Senior Leadership Team and the group’s global People and Culture Team. You will be responsible for shaping, driving and embedding high performance, employee centric culture that reflects our heritage and commercial ambitions.

The purpose of the role is to align people strategy with business growth and its brand values, elevate employee experience, build culture that attracts, develops and retains top talent across all parts of the business and acts as a sounding board and advisor to the Senior Leadership Team at John Varvatos.

Reporting to the Global Chief People Officer for the group (London based) you will act as a point of contact for people related queries and act as a matter expert.

Key Responsibilities

• Leadership
• Develop and implement a People & Culture plan aligned with commercial objectives and brand values
• Act as a trusted advisor to senior leadership on organisational design, talent, and culture
• Embed a high-performance culture across all levels of the business
• Talent Acquisition & Employer Branding
• Lead end-to-end recruitment plan for retail and corporate teams
• Position the brand as an employer of choice within the luxury retail market
• Ensure hiring processes reflect a premium, candidate-centric experience
• Employee Experience & Culture
• Design and deliver a best-in-class employee lifecycle (onboarding through exit)
• Foster a culture of engagement, accountability, and service excellence
• Lead employee engagement and retention initiatives across retail locations and Spring Street Studio
• Learning, Development & Performance
• Create and oversee performance management frameworks aligned to business KPIs
• Working in collaboration with Head of Global Learning, Engagement and Development ensure adequate training and development is available to all colleagues in brand, including mandatory training and top performers
• Provide a framework for a robust succession planning
• Organisational Design & Workforce Planning
• Drive workforce planning aligned with trading patterns and business needs
• Support new store openings and scaling of teams as required
• Continuously review structure and ensure optimum payroll to sales ratio
• Compensation & Benefits
• Working in partnership with the CPO regularly review commission structures to drive performance
• Ensure benefits programmes support attraction and retention of top talent
• Partner with Finance and Global Payroll team on budgeting, payroll, and cost management
• Employee Relations & Compliance
• Ensure compliance with US federal and local employment legislation
• Oversee employee relations, investigations, and policy implementation
• Mitigate risk through effective governance and HR best practices
• Diversity, Equity & Inclusion
• Promote inclusive hiring, development, and progression practices
• Foster a diverse and representative workforce
• People Analytics & Reporting
• Track and analyse key HR metrics (turnover, engagement, performance)
• Provide insights to leadership to inform strategic decisions
• Drive continuous improvement through data-led initiatives
  
  

Key Requirements

• 4 Years in a Senior HR leadership role, ideally within luxury retail, fashion, or hospitality
• Strong understanding of retail operations and client-centric environments
• Experience in supporting multi-site teams
• Deep knowledge of US employment law, particularly in New York and California
• Demonstrated success in driving high performance culture and employee engagement
• Commercial acumen with the ability to link people plans to business performance
• Solution focused and adaptable
  
  

KEY COMPETENCIES

• Strong commercial acumen
• Proven execution at Senior Leadership level
• Strong interpersonal and communication skills
• Data-driven decision making
• High emotional intelligence and cultural sensitivity
• Ability to thrive in a fast-paced
  
  

What We Stand For

• RESPECT: We treat our team, customers, suppliers, partners and planet with respect, always. We speak respectfully about and to others. We respect our customer's valuable time, and each other's. We work as a unified team and respect each other's differences
• RESOLVE: We are determined and we do not give up. We follow through on our commitments. We take accountability and face challenges with enthusiasm
• RAREFIED PASSION: We act with utmost integrity. We seek to continually improve and respond to feedback. We advocate for our brand, customer and product
• REFINEMENT: We pay fanatical attention to the details that make the John Varvatos difference. We strive to be exceptional in all we do.
  
  

Benefits

Your career matters to us and we will do what it takes to help you on your journey in life. You’ll be challenging yourself and your leadership. The opportunities will be there, and you’ll be working within an environment that rewards hard work and innovation. Internal promotion is the norm not the exception and you’ll be supported in your ambition to reach the next step of your career.

Health & Wellbeing Benefits Plan Include

• Medical, Dental, Vision, and
• Flexible Spending Accounts (FSA) & Dependent Care Accounts
• Commuter & Parking Saving Accounts
• 401(k) Enrollment - Traditional 401(k)
• Paid Time Off & Sick Leave
• Voluntary Additional Life & Disability Coverage for Spouse and Child(ren)
• Basic Life and Disability
• Short/Long-Term Disability
• Accident & Critical Illness
• Employee Assistance Programs
• Pet Insurance
• Personal Clothing Discount and Clothing Allotment
  
  

Note: Availability of the benefits are based on location & employment type and may have certain eligibility requirements. John Varvatos reserves the right to amend or withdraw these benefits at any time.

This is a full time salaried position at a rate of: $140,000.00 - $150,000.00 USD/yearly