Chief Talent & Human Resources Officer (NY)

Key Responsibilities

• Serve as a principal advisor to the Co-CEO and Executive Team on all matters related to talent, workforce strategy, organizational design, and people investment decisions.
• Translate ECS’s academic vision and growth strategy into a cohesive, long-term people strategy that ensures the right talent is in place at every level of the organization.
• Lead enterprise-wide change management efforts related to organizational growth, restructuring, performance expectations, or shifts in instructional and operational priorities.
• Partner with the Board and senior leadership on succession planning, leadership continuity, and risk mitigation related to talent and workforce capacity.

Talent Acquisition & Pipeline Strategy

• Set and own the enterprise talent acquisition vision to ensure ECS consistently attracts, selects, and retains exceptional educators, school leaders, and network staff aligned to ECS’s instructional model and values.
• Establish and scale long-term, sustainable talent pipelines through strategic partnerships (universities, certification programs, residencies, and internal leadership pathways) to meet current and future staffing demands.
• Ensure hiring systems and selection practices advance ECS’s commitments to diversity, equity, inclusion, and excellence, using data to monitor outcomes and drive continuous improvement.
• Oversee onboarding and early-tenure talent strategies that accelerate effectiveness, strengthen engagement, and improve long-term retention across schools and network teams.
• Use labor market insights, workforce analytics, and vacancy risk data to inform proactive staffing strategies and support network stability and growth.

Performance, Leadership Development & Succession

• Design and steward ECS’s enterprise performance management philosophy and systems, ensuring alignment with instructional rigor, accountability, and professional growth expectations.
• Partner with Academic Leadership to ensure educator effectiveness frameworks, coaching models, and leadership development pathways are cohesive and mutually reinforcing.
• Own succession planning for school leaders and key network roles, building internal pipelines that reduce reliance on external hiring for critical leadership positions.
• Ensure managers and leaders across the organization are equipped to lead people effectively through training, tools, and clear expectations.

Culture, Employee Experience & Engagement

• Champion and model high-expectations, mission-driven culture that balances excellence, accountability, and staff sustainability.
• Set the vision for employee experience across the full lifecycle, from recruitment through advancement and exit.
• Oversee employee relations strategy, ensuring consistent, fair, and values-aligned approaches to conflict resolution, investigations, and performance management.
• Use engagement data, retention trends, and feedback loops to proactively address risks to morale, performance, and organizational health.

Compensation, Benefits & Total Rewards Strategy

• Set ECS’s total rewards philosophy to ensure compensation and benefits are competitive, equitable, and aligned with budget realities and talent priorities.
• Partner with CFO and the CEO on workforce cost modeling, salary planning, and long-term financial sustainability.
• Ensure internal equity and compliance while positioning ECS as an employer of choice within competitive education labor markets.
• Evaluate and evolve benefits offerings to support recruitment, retention, and staff well-being.

Compliance, Risk Management & Labor Strategy

• Serve as the organization’s senior authority on employment law, HR compliance, and workforce risk management.
• Ensure ECS policies, practices, and systems comply with all federal, state, and local regulations across operating regions.
• Anticipate and mitigate organizational risk related to employee relations, investigations, performance management, and labor matters.
• Advise executive leadership on sensitive personnel matters with sound judgment, discretion, and consistency.

HR Operations, Systems & Analytics

• Provide executive oversight of HR operations, ensuring systems, processes, and structures support school leaders and minimize administrative burden.
• Leverage people data and analytics to inform executive decision-making related to hiring efficiency, retention, performance, diversity, and workforce planning.
• Ensure HR technology, reporting, and infrastructure scale effectively with organizational growth.
• Hold the Talent & HR function accountable for service quality, responsiveness, and strategic impact.

Executive Leadership & Team Development

• Build, lead, and retain a high-performing Talent & Human Resources leadership team.
• Set clear expectations for strategic thinking, execution excellence, and cross-functional partnership.
• Serve as a trusted partner to Principals, school leaders, and Network leaders, balancing support with accountability.
• Model ECS’s leadership values and decision-making standards in all interactions.