Director, People and Culture

POSITION: Director, People and Culture

LOCATION: New York City (Hybrid)

DETAILS: Full-time

ORGANIZATION DESCRIPTION:

The Moth is an acclaimed nonprofit honoring the commonality and diversity of the human experience through the art and craft of true, personal storytelling. Our purpose is to create a more empathetic world by connecting people from every background through the power and humanity of shared, true stories, and our aim is to make personal storytelling a universally recognized and socially transformative art form. The Moth has presented more than thirty thousand stories, told live and without notes, by people from all walks of life to standing-room-only crowds worldwide.

To really understand The Moth, we encourage you to listen to a few stories here: https://themoth.org/stories.

DEPARTMENT OVERVIEW:

The position is part of The Moth’s Finance and Administration team that leads the organization's financial and human resource strategy while supporting other administrative endeavors such as office management, IT, legal, and insurance. The team's overall objective is to maximize The Moth's resources, develop its talent and work culture, and mitigate risk exposure wherever possible.

POSITION OVERVIEW:

The Moth seeks an accomplished and approachable individual to lead their talent and culture by building on and strengthening existing policies and processes. The position requires someone highly perceptive who can assess, nurture, and develop a wide variety of creative, operational, managerial, and support staff. Reporting to the Chief Financial and Administrative Officer, the Director of People and Culture will evaluate, identify, and execute best practices in staff management and organizational culture and serve as the authority on all HR-related issues and projects.

This role works closely with team members across the organization to recruit and develop talent, foster employee relations, and oversee employee experience throughout their tenure. The Director of People and Culture will develop, strengthen, encourage, and evaluate frameworks, policies, and tools used to develop, reward, and retain The Moth’s exceptional individuals. As The Moth expands its vision, this is an exciting opportunity to enact strategies that will shape the future of The Moth at a pivotal point in its history.

RESPONSIBILITIES:

The Director of People and Culture will be responsible for the following and any other projects as assigned by their supervisor.

Recruitment and Talent Management

• Lead internal and external efforts to build a thriving team with dynamic individuals from various backgrounds and with different strengths.
• Supervise, train, and collaborate with hiring managers to execute the full HR life cycle; all recruiting, interviewing, orientation, and termination processes, including job description development, position posting, resume sourcing, coordinating interviews, and salary negotiations.
• Evaluate and enhance the comprehensive onboarding process that introduces and integrates new staff into the culture of The Moth and ensures that individuals have the necessary resources to be set up for future success.
• Develop and strengthen staff capacity and competencies to regularly engage in feedback conversations, ensuring that managers coach and mentor team members effectively.
• Establish a framework for tracking, reviewing, and managing employee retention, professional development, and staff training.
• Identify metrics and tools to measure the effectiveness of recruitment efforts and prepare annual reports and recommendations for senior management.

Culture Building Employee Experience

• Champion and help develop and promote initiatives that advance The Moth’s organizational culture, mission, and assist leaders across the organization in aligning with The Moth’s values.
• Foster an inclusive and functioning workplace by acting as the primary contact and liaison for employee relations, compliance, benefits, and policy issues.
• Collaborate with management and leadership on human resource-related topics, including performance management, workforce development, terminations, interpersonal conflicts, and conducting investigations of sensitive employee matters.
• Develop, coordinate, refine, and execute performance management processes and systems to optimize performance.
• Establish, review, manage, and implement personnel-related policies.
• Partner with The Moth’s internal Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Belonging Committee (DEIB) to support The Moth’s overall DEIB strategy and work plans to ensure that the organization is an equitable and inclusive workplace.

Operations and Benefits

• Optimize and manage HR systems, processes, and workflows to ensure they are designed to provide accuracy and excellent support.
• Collaborate with senior leadership to develop a classification and compensation structure that creates pathways for professional development and enhances the workforce experience.
• Improve and oversee the process organization-wide for onboarding and offboarding The Moth’s extensive roster of independent contractors, and ensure that contractor relations remain compliant with state guidelines and legal requirements.
• Manage all labor and employment compliance issues, working closely with outside legal counsel as necessary.
• Guide and administer the annual medical open enrollment process and communicate employee eligibility for all employment benefits (i.e., medical, dental, vision, life, disability, and flex spending).
• Oversee the administration of our 403(b), FSA, commuter benefits, FMLA Leave, Paid Family Leave, disability, workers’ compensation, unemployment, and all other employee benefits.
• Maintain all employee documents and records related to onboarding, offboarding, annual reviews, benefits, and HR-related correspondence.
• Assess annually and update the Wiki, employee handbook, onboarding, and offboarding protocols and checklists, etc.

QUALIFICATIONS AND SKILLS:

Required:

• Bachelor’s degree required with 10 years of progressive HR experience with at least 5 years in a leadership/management role developing and executing HR strategy.
• Proven experience building and scaling the HR function, ideally within a nonprofit, media, creative, or mission-driven organization.
• Background in organizational development and structure, with experience leading conversations on diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging or a demonstrated record of influencing team members to approach all work with an equity lens.
• Passion and commitment to The Moth and its mission.
• Ability to identify, remain neutral, and resolve problems promptly while maintaining a high level of confidentiality as needed.
• Superior interpersonal communication, conflict resolution, and coaching skills, including the ability to work well with staff at all levels.
• Understanding of local, state, and federal employment laws and regulations.
• Excellent computer skills, including Google Suite, Microsoft Office Suite, HR, and payroll platforms.
• Extraordinary reasoning abilities and sound judgment.
• Experience in team building at all levels of an organization with diverse backgrounds/experience.
• Independent self-starter with the ability to envision and confidently execute comprehensive HR duties, acting as the primary resource and point of contact for all staff members.
• Awareness of the importance of document management, as well as areas of potential audit/compliance.

Preferred:

• Track record of developing talent and culture at creative companies or nonprofit organizations.
• Professional HR certification preferred (SHRM-CP or PHR).
• Experience working with a hybrid workforce and independent contractors.
• Familiarity with the following platforms: ADP Workforce Now, Hi-Bob, Slack, and Confluence.

SALARY:

The salary range for this role is $100,000-$130,000. The salary range for this position is dependent on a variety of factors including relevant experience, organization needs, and internal pay equity. This salary is a part of a competitive total rewards structure inclusive of medical, dental, and vision coverage, generous PTO, sick leave, and a retirement savings plan after one year of service.

COMMITMENT TO DIVERSITY:

The Moth is dedicated to the goal of building a culturally vibrant team and strongly encourages applications from people of diverse backgrounds. The Moth seeks to hire staff who reflect the diversity of the communities we serve. All positions at The Moth are filled without regard to race, color, religion, sex, national origin, age, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, disability, HIV/AIDS status, veteran status or any other characteristic protected by law. The Moth brings storytelling opportunities to people from a variety of communities. Candidates with a commitment to supporting diversity are strongly encouraged to apply.

HOW TO APPLY:

Please apply online through this link.

The application window will close at 11:59 PM ET on Sunday, December 7, 2025. Please note applicants will be reviewed on a rolling basis and you will be notified if you are selected for an interview.