Chief People Officer- New Venture Fund

Position Title: Chief People Officer

Location: Washington, D.C. (hybrid); remote considered in US

Reports to: President

Hours per week (average): 40

Overtime Status: Exempt

About New Venture Fund

New Venture Fund is a force for social good – maximizing the impact of charitable resources by hosting innovative and effective public interest projects on its fiscal sponsorship platform. A 501(c)(3) public charity established in 2006, NVF envisions an equitable world built on respect, access, opportunity, distributed power, and advancement for all people, rooted in an effective charitable sector. NVF specializes in project hosting, fiscal sponsorship, and domestic and international grantmaking. NVF gives funders and social change leaders the capacity to move toward desired outcomes faster and hosts domestic and international projects across a range of issues, including global health and development, conservation, education, civic engagement, juvenile justice reform, and women’s empowerment.

NVF has projects across the US and in nine regions around the globe supported by a charitable portfolio of greater than $1 billion. Project activities include grantmaking, public awareness campaigns, scholarship programs, camps, special events, and advocacy. Our projects operate programmatically like small nonprofits and fiscally as programs of NVF. We use an outsourced administrative service firm to provide human resources, legal, finance, and general operations support for our hosted projects.

For more information on New Venture Fund, please visit the New Venture Fund website. We strongly recommend reviewing our FAQ on Fiscal Sponsorship as well.

Position Summary

New Venture Fund is recruiting for its first Chief People Officer (CPO). This newly restructured leadership role will enrich our ways of contributing to NVF’s projects, support project leaders in establishing healthy cultures that align with organizational values, and center NVF’s race, equity, diversity, and inclusion (REDI) commitment.

This position will serve on the leadership team, reporting to the President, and will champion organizational development across NVF. Understanding that people are at the heart of everything we do, this role will be focused on three critical priorities:

• Steward our REDI commitment, goals, and priorities; and further our focus at all levels of the organization, enriching the culture of both our hosted projects and the NVF leadership team.
• Be a strategic partner to our hosted projects; add value by actively listening and partnering to identify the tools and resources needed to strengthen their culture, increase employee engagement, build capacity, and thoughtfully further their mission and impact.
• Provide oversight, develop KPIs, assess related results, and work collaboratively with the outsourced administrative services firm to ensure each hosted project has the HR operational resources needed to be impactful and efficient.

The CPO is charged with creating and supporting a collaborative and affirming workplace where NVF employees and the outsourced service provider teammates can maximize their value in service to our organizational vision.

Core Responsibilities

Champion race, equity, diversity, and inclusion (REDI) integration into organizational culture

• With strong support from the board and senior leadership, the CPO will serve as the executive sponsor for all REDI initiatives, synthesizing and integrating NVF’s ongoing work into a comprehensive strategy for enhancing REDI across all aspects of NVF’s mission.
• Respect the microculture of each hosted project while creating a healthy thread of NVF’s mission, vision, and values across all projects.
• Engage and support the REDI Council to ensure staff engagement in REDI work.
• Oversee development and tracking of long-term REDI goals and metrics.

Spearhead NVF’s role as a solution-oriented, strategic partner to hosted projects

• Engage with project leaders and their advisory boards to add value by understanding their needs, and to look for opportunities for collaboration with other projects.
• Identify and understand common needs in capacity building, staff training, and systems infrastructure to help the projects improve their teams’ effectiveness, address organizational opportunities and risks, and develop and implement solutions-driven programming.
• Serve as NVF’s executive lead in conversations with projects regarding employee matters, policies/procedures, and other culture related challenges. Assess project risks including financial, insurance, legal status, public relations exposure, and reputational harm.
• Review feedback received from project employee survey and partner with outsourced service provider to develop strategies to improve employee engagement and wellbeing, talent retention, and internal processes/procedures.

Manage relationship with outsourced service provider to promote operational excellence

• Cultivate key relationships with assigned HR team at outsourced provider and identify and establish clear metrics (KPIs) to assess the partnership with the outsourced vendor. Evaluate and measure HR service delivery by the vendor based on the agreed scope and metrics.
• Ensure that service and solutions from outsourced firm are high quality, appropriate to the needs of NVF’s projects, and align with NVF’s mission, vision, and values.
• Identify successes and challenges of HR services using key performance indicators (KPIs).
• Provide oversight and direction for communication with leaders and staff of projects, including newsletters, employee portal, training, and other employee related matters.

Contribute effectively to organizational leadership and strategy

• Serve as a member of the leadership team, actively participating in organizational management and strategic planning.
• Participate in compensation and benefit reviews to ensure NVF’s practices align with its values. Serve as final decision maker on changes to organization’s benefits. Ensure the application of equitable compensation practices and regular performance of equitable compensation evaluations.
• Leverage best practices across systems, processes, and policies that impact the overall people and culture experience throughout the organization.

Desired Qualifications

NVF seeks a Chief People Officer who is an insightful leader, innovative thinker, and creative problem solver, who will bring a cohesive approach to organizational development for a large and growing charitable organization. This entrepreneurial leader will be comfortable operating with expansive parameters across outsourced teams and internally hosted project teams and able to explore opportunities that can lead to efficiency and service excellence.

The ideal candidate will possess a minimum of 12 years of professional experience, with prior executive level experience, including at least three years leading nonprofit organizational development, human resources, people and culture, and/or DEI functions. While no candidate will embody all the qualifications enumerated below, the ideal candidate will possess many of the following professional and personal abilities, attributes, and experiences:

• Empathic leader who acts with integrity, fairness, and a strategic mindset.
• Experience in implementing and leading (REDI) initiatives.
• Experience developing and working with a diverse, equitable, inclusive, multi-cultural, and anti-racist community. Understanding of cultural responsiveness and an alignment with NVF’s values and commitment to race, equity, diversity, and inclusion.
• Flexibility and adaptability needed to navigate, understand, and support multiple organizational cultures embodied by fiscally sponsored projects as well as demonstration of sound judgement to handle unexpected challenges quickly, calmly, and efficiently.
• Ability to link broader organizational vision and goals to the design and implementation of effective systems and processes.
• Proven project management and leadership skills, with the ability to manage multiple initiatives and competing priorities.
• Professional demeanor needed to work effectively with sophisticated and demanding partners.
• High ethical standards, discretion, and tact as well as high level of integrity with sensitive and/or confidential information.
• Proven ability to work effectively and collaboratively in complex teams.
• Experience in dynamic, fast-paced environments.
• Strong knowledge of employment laws and regulations.
• Proficient in technology and ability to understand complex systems.
• Excellent written and oral communication skills; experience in effectively communicating key information both verbally and in writing, including presentations to senior management, board, and other outside partners.
• Certifications a plus: Certified by Society for HR Management (SHRM-SCP) or HR Certification Institute (SPHR) or Organizational Development certification
• Understanding and experience working with fiscal sponsorship is beneficial.

Compensation and Benefits

Salary range: $175,000 - $225,000

Salary is based on a variety of factors including, but not limited to, skill set level, years of previous/applicable experience, and NVF’s commitment to ensuring pay equity within the organization.

Benefits:

Comprehensive benefits package that includes 100% employer-paid health, dental, and vision insurance for employees (and their families). Employees are able to enroll in 401K retirement plan and are eligible for a 3% automatic contribution and up to a 3% employer match on 401K contributions. Employees are also eligible for pre-tax transportation benefits. Employers will receive 80 hours of paid vacation time, 80 hours of health leave, up to 2 days of casual leave, and 20 hours of volunteer leave annually. Employees will also receive 13 paid holidays throughout the calendar year. Employees are eligible for 12 weeks of paid family and medical leave after 90 days of employment.

Race, Equity, Diversity, & Inclusiveness Commitment

We envision a more equitable world, built on fair treatment, access, opportunity, and advancement for all.

As changemakers building the most effective charitable projects, we know that advancing race, equity, diversity, and inclusion (REDI) is essential to solving our world's most pressing problems. As such, we dedicate ourselves to integrating REDI into our work and our culture. As we learn more, we will do more -- ours is a continuous journey of learning, growth, and innovation.

We commit to:

• Unapologetically integrating REDI in our work culture and encouraging others to do the same,
• Intentionally stewarding REDI within our programmatic work,
• Fearlessly leading by example -- joining with donors who share our commitment to REDI as well as challenging those who are earlier in their journey.

Hiring Statement

New Venture Fund (NVF) is a 501(c)(3) public charity that incubates new and innovative public-interest projects and grant-making programs. NVF is committed to attracting, developing, and retaining exceptional people, and to creating a work environment that is dynamic, rewarding, and enables each of us to realize our potential. NVF’s work environment is safe and open to all employees and partners, respecting the full spectrum of race, color, religious creed, sex, gender identity, sexual orientation, national origin, political affiliation, ancestry, age, disability, genetic information, veteran status, and all other classifications protected by law in the locality and/or state in which you are working.

COVID-19 Policy

To center the safety and well-being of its employees, New Venture Fund requires that any employee who is required to conduct in-person activities for their job must be fully vaccinated against COVID-19 within four weeks of their start date. This position may require candidates to be fully vaccinated against COVID-19, except as otherwise prohibited by relevant state or local law. Accommodations may be sought and approved in accordance with the law by contacting human resources at HR@newventurefund.org.

Maneva Group, a woman and minority owned national executive search firm that specializes in mission-driven searches, has been exclusively retained for this engagement. To express interest in this role, please submit your resume and cover letter to https://adr.to/54mawai. All inquiries and discussions will be considered strictly confidential. This position is available immediately; we will accept and review new applications until filled.