Chief People Officer

About the role

The Chief People Officer is an enterprise strategic leader responsible for architecting a new people system to integrate with and drive HKS’s evolution. This role leads the global Talent function, including human resources, talent acquisition, learning & development, total rewards, people analytics, HR systems, and compliance. The CPO has a seat at the executive table and serves as a trusted advisor to the CEO, President & CFO, Board, and senior leadership team on culture, leadership, accountability, performance, and firmwide change. The role protects the craft and culture that make HKS distinctive while raising the bar on execution, talent density, and business impact.

Responsibilities

• Strategic Leadership
  • Sets enterprise people strategy with the CEO, President & CFO, Board, and executive leadership team, translating business strategy into leadership, organization, talent, and culture capabilities required to deliver it.
  • Architects the people side of the evolving operating model, including role clarity, spans and layers, leadership titles, decision rights, and accountabilities across sectors, practices, geographies, and operations functions.
  • Leads workforce transformation as AI, automation, data, and digital delivery reshape work, building new capabilities while preserving the design craft, professional judgment, and client focus that defines the firm.
  • Owns the firmwide talent architecture, including skills taxonomy, career pathways, succession planning, workforce planning, leadership pipeline health, and talent mobility.
  • Develops a live workforce-planning system illustrating current capabilities, gaps, talent movement needs, and which roles must be built, bought, borrowed, or automated.
  • Redesigns talent development for an outcome-based and technology-enabled future, including how emerging professionals learn the craft as production work becomes more automated.
  • Owns executive succession and bench planning, including for future product, data, commercial, technology, and design leadership capabilities.
  • Builds leadership capability through executive development, coaching, high-potential programs, and practical tools that help leaders manage teams through change.
  • Leads a global, interdisciplinary Talent function across human resources, talent acquisition, learning & development, total rewards, HRIS, compliance, employee relations, and people analytics.
  • Establishes people metrics and business insights, including talent density, regretted attrition of key talent, skills coverage, leadership pipeline health, engagement, succession coverage, and organizational effectiveness.
• Cultural
  • Carries the culture through transformation and difficult decisions without breaking what makes people want to work at HKS.
  • Protects the design soul of the firm while raising expectations for leadership, performance, collaboration, and accountability.
  • Models and holds others accountable to HKS values, including quality, learning, design excellence, trust, inclusion, and responsible practice.
  • Advances an inclusive culture and diversity in partnership with executive leadership.
  • Oversees and actively invests in the professional development of staff through mentoring, performance management, and career planning.
  • Leads, mentors, and develops the Talent team while building a healthy, high-trust environment and resolving conflict effectively.
  • Earns credibility with a craft-driven, creative, licensed workforce through clear communication, practical judgment, and genuine interest in design and the built environment.
• Financial
  • Owns compensation architecture and alignment to the operating model, including role levels, leadership accountabilities, performance differentiation, incentives, and any future equity or ownership components.
  • Partners with leadership to connect rewards to business performance, leadership accountability, talent retention, and long-term firm value.
  • Directs Talent investments toward measurable outcomes, tying workforce decisions to leverage, utilization, leadership capacity, project delivery, and financial performance.
  • Reduces leadership drag through disciplined delayering, clearer decision rights, and better alignment between roles, rewards, and responsibilities.
  • Ensures reward follows contribution and addresses underperformance with fairness, clarity, courage, and compassion.
• Revenue or Opportunity Generation
  • Identifies, maintains, and cultivates essential relationships.
  • Attracts and develops transformation-caliber leaders needed to take the firm into the future.
  • Strengthens HKS's employer brand as the firm where top designers and future-firm talent want to build their careers.
  • Represents the HKS people and culture story in industry and professional forums locally, nationally, and globally.
  • Fosters strategic relationships that expand the firm's ability to attract, retain, and develop distinctive talent in support of business growth and client impact.

Requirements

• Relevant professional degree or an equivalent combination of education and experience.
• 15+ years of progressive people, talent, and/or CHRO leadership experience, including enterprise-level responsibility in a complex professional-services, design, creative, or comparably knowledge-driven organization.
• Experience with core functional breadth across HR, talent acquisition, learning and development, HRIS, global compliance, employee relations, total rewards, and people/workforce analytics.
• Proficiency in MS Office Suite preferred.
• Experience with HRIS platforms (e.g., Workday) preferred.
• Experience in architecture, design, engineering, construction, or another licensed professional-services environment preferred.
• Experience modernizing talent systems for AI, automation, digital delivery, product, data, or technology-enabled work preferred.
• Proven experience in strategic transformation leadership with a record of shaping business strategy through organization design, talent systems, leadership capability, and culture, not only administering HR programs.
• Proven experience in a global, matrixed operating model including spans and layers, decision rights, role clarity, workforce planning, and accountability across functions, sectors, practices, or geographies.
• Strong executive-level compensation and rewards expertise, including performance differentiation, incentives, total rewards, and alignment between contribution and long-term business value.
• Strong people analytics orientation with the ability to use data to improve workforce planning, succession, engagement, retention, organizational effectiveness, and executive decision-making.
• Proven leadership experience through significant change, including difficult workforce or performance decisions handled with fairness, clarity, courage, and steadiness.
• Proven experience building credibility with senior executives and a craft-driven workforce with practical, mature judgment and a genuine interest in design, the built environment, and professional practice.
• Clear, calm, direct communication skills with the ability to lead change from the front and operate in ambiguity.
• Strong enterprise mindset and board-level presence with the ability to advise the CEO, President & CFO, Board, and senior leadership team as a strategic peer.
• Ability to provide Talent team leadership to build, mentor, and hold a high-performing global Talent function to strong operating standards.
• Ability to hold sensitive information with a high level of confidentiality and integrity.
• Ability to proactively problem-solve and apply innovative solutions.
• Ability to collaborate and encourage collaboration in a team environment, and ability to work independently and prioritize work.
• Ability to effectively meet deadlines and accomplish business objectives at expected quality.
• Travel will be required, including across HKS global offices.

Pay

Base Salary Range: $230,000–$275,000 annually (Los Angeles location only).

Benefits

• Comprehensive total compensation & benefits package, including health, dental, and vision care coverage.
• 401(k) plans.
• Life & AD&D insurance.
• Short/long-term disability plans.
• Paid days off (sick leave, parental leave, vacation).