Head of People & Talent Strategy

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.

• Align HR policies programs and talent strategies with our clients 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.

• 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.

• Manage and develop a team of two direct reports within HR aligning their goals to our clients 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.

• 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.

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

• 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.

• 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.

• Bachelors 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.

This position is onsite 5 days per week in the Grand Rapids MI office location.