Vice President of People

About the role

The Vice President of People leads the people function for Woodcraft Rangers, a nonprofit organization providing expanded learning programs to over 30,000 young people annually. Reporting to the Chief Operating Officer, this role is critical in scaling the organization's compliance architecture, legal risk infrastructure, and talent systems.

Responsibilities

• Enterprise People Strategy
• Set and lead the organization’s overall people strategy, workforce planning priorities, and HR organizational design
• Translate organizational goals into actionable HR priorities across all four functional areas
• Partner with the COO, CFO, and Chief Program Officer on workforce risk, readiness, and capacity planning
• Present people strategy, workforce data, and risk posture to executive leadership and the board
• Align people practices with Woodcraft Rangers' growth trajectory and multi-region program delivery model
• Organizational Leadership & Design
• Lead, develop, and hold accountable the Senior Director of People and all HR director-level functions
• Establish and enforce decision-rights frameworks that clarify ownership across Experience, Governance, Operations, and Implementation
• Build leadership bench strength and succession readiness within the HR function itself
• California Labor Law, Compliance & Legal Risk
• Serve as the organization’s internal authority on California labor and employment law, wage and hour compliance, and related regulatory requirements
• Own the strategy, oversight, and resolution of workers’ compensation claims — including carrier relationships, modified duty programs, and claims cost management
• Lead or oversee the response to labor-related claims, DLSE complaints, EEOC charges, PAGA actions, and other employment disputes
• Manage external employment counsel relationships, ensuring efficient and cost-effective legal support on complex matters
• Establish and maintain enterprise-wide HR policies, decision frameworks, and governance standards that are defensible and audit-ready
• Partner with the COO and CFO on employment practices liability and enterprise risk exposure related to people practices
• HR Governance & Employee Relations
• Ensure consistent, defensible people decisions across all regions and staff categories
• Serve as executive escalation point for complex employee relations matters, investigations, and terminations
• Reduce COO escalation burden by owning resolution of high-risk people situations end-to-end
• Establish clear investigation protocols and documentation standards across all staff categories
• Talent Culture & Employee Development
• Champion and operationalize Woodcraft Rangers’ talent-first culture and promote-from-within philosophy
• Build and scale internal leadership development pathways that create a genuine talent pipeline at every level
• Set the standard for employee experience from attraction through retention across all regions and staff levels
• Partner with program leadership to ensure onboarding, engagement, and early retention systems are built for a high-volume, multi-site workforce
• Workforce Planning & Organizational Growth
• Lead strategic workforce planning aligned to annual program growth, new regional expansion, and budget cycles
• Partner with program and operations leadership to anticipate staffing needs and build proactive hiring pipelines
• Evaluate and evolve HR structure, roles, and capacity as the organization scales toward $150M+
• HR Technology & Systems
• Own the strategic vision for Woodcraft Rangers’ HR technology ecosystem, ensuring platform strategy aligns with organizational scale
• Sponsor major HR technology investment decisions and vendor strategy in partnership with the Senior Director of HR and IT leadership
• Champion a right-sized, integrated tech stack philosophy — prioritizing efficiency and consolidation over platform sprawl

Qualifications

• Demonstrated senior HR leadership experience in a large, multi-site organization (1,000+ employees) with complex compliance requirements
• Demonstrated, practitioner-level command of California labor and employment law — including wage and hour, FMLA/CFRA, ADA, PAGA, and workers’ compensation
• Proven track record managing or overseeing workers’ compensation programs and labor-related claims in a multi-site, high-volume workforce environment
• Experience in a growing, culture-forward organization where people investment is a core strategic value
• Experience partnering with executive leadership and boards on people strategy, organizational risk, and compliance posture
• Strong analytical, communication, and cross-functional leadership skills

Preferred:

• J.D. with employment law focus, or equivalent expertise built through sustained direct management of PAGA actions, DLSE complaints, EEOC charges, and employment litigation
• Experience in youth development, education, afterschool, nonprofit, or government-contracting organizations
• Familiarity with frontline workforce dynamics and program-based staffing models
• SHRM-SCP, SPHR certifications