Head of People and Culture: Legal Defense Fund

Legal Defense Fund’s bold vision for its Human Resources team is for the organization to be known for its vibrant culture, for supporting its people, and for being a place where top talent comes to make civil rights history. The Head of People and Culture is a strategic and operational leader responsible for building, modernizing, and stewarding a high-performing, mission-aligned people function that utilizes best practices, improves the employee experience, and builds on the organization’s legacy and established culture to reach our vision.

This leader will partner with the Chief Operations Officer & General Counsel, executive and senior leadership, and HR staff to set forth and implement an actionable plan to achieve this vision and attract, grow, and retain the right talent in the right roles. In addition to deep expertise in human resources best practices and compliance requirements, a successful leader will have a strong understanding of and experience with change management, recognize the importance of stakeholder engagement and experience, have deep experience in talent and culture, and will be able to take a long-term view of culture and organizational change.
 
This role will oversee all aspects of human resources, including talent acquisition, people development and culture, employee relations, HRIS and data analytics, operations and compliance, and total rewards. The Head of People and Culture will strengthen organizational culture; elevate employee morale and engagement; and ensure that policies, systems, and practices support equity, accountability, and performance.

This leader will be responsible for strengthening foundational HR practices while leading the continued evolution of the People function in service of the needs and structures of LDF. This includes addressing opportunities to enhance consistency in operational processes, decision-making, and internal trust, while advancing a more proactive, strategic, and data-informed approach. In doing so, this role will lead a critical transformation of the HR function, building a more trusted and effective partner to both employees and leadership. .

THE HEAD OF PEOPLE AND CULTURE WILL:

Establish strong HR capacity and execution.

• Build a strong team by investing in staff and filling vacancies with top talent to establish a capacity-based structure that supports LDF’s vision.
• Serve as a coach and champion for the team with a focus on supporting staff to capitalize on their strengths, strive for excellence, and deliver a high level of service to staff across the organization.
• Execute exceptional management practices to drive accountability and goal attainment.
• Implement change management practices to strengthen core human resources practices and evolve the function into a proactive, consistent, and trusted partner to staff and leadership.
• Set and monitor goals for all team members in conjunction with other managers.
• Establish service standards and ensure responsive, high-quality internal client service.

• Refresh, implement, and report on a comprehensive talent strategy and strategic plan aligned with organizational goals and plans.
• Evaluate department operations and implement improvements that modernize operations for increased effectiveness and efficiency across the entire employee lifecycle.
• Ensure continued compliance and consistent application of compliance practices across all HR functions, including but not limited to maintaining ongoing compliance with employment laws, regulations and internal policies; ensuring HRIS data integrity; partnering with Payroll (housed in Finance) to deliver an accurate, on-time payroll; and overseeing accurate employee classifications.
• Establish clear metrics and dashboards to measure workforce health, engagement, retention, performance, and other critical data points; implement data-driven decision-making and analytics across all HR functions.
• Lead tactical execution of all HR initiatives, ensuring accuracy and compliance.
• Oversee HRIS implementation, optimization, and data integrity.
• With COO&GC a