Director, People Operations

Upgrade is a fintech company that provides affordable and responsible credit, mobile banking, and payment products to everyday consumers. We were the fastest growing company in the Americas last year according to the Financial Times and Upgrade Card was the fastest growing credit card in America. We have delivered over $21 billion in affordable and responsible credit over the last 5 years. The company is backed by some of the most prominent technology investors and was recently valued at $6.3B.

We have built an energizing, collaborative and inclusive culture where team members help each other, learn and innovate to move the company and its customers in the right direction, and own the outcome of their efforts.

Upgrade has been named a “Best Place to Work in the Bay Area” three years in a row, “Top Companies to work for in Arizona” and one of the "Best Engineering Department" awarded annually by Comparably. We've also received recognition for being a best company for Diversity, Women, Culture, and Veterans.

We are looking for new team members who get excited about designing and delivering new and better products to join a team of 1500 talented and dedicated professionals. Come join us if you like to tackle big problems and make a meaningful difference in people's lives.

 

About the Role:

Reporting to the SVP of Operations, the VP of People Operations will lead the People Strategy for Upgrade’s operation organization across Arizona and San Francisco. We are looking for an effective hands-on leader with a proven track record of scaling fast, with over 900 team members across a contact center environment.  This role is a strategic partner that drives long term results through cross functional alignment with various operating departments and key stakeholders such as Customer Service, Verifications, Account Servicing, Call Center Technology, etc.. This leader will build and manage multiple HR teams across their functional areas (HR Operations, Employee Relations, and Organizational Development and Learning), while partnering with the Global People Operations teams across North America.

 

What You’ll Do: 

• Execute a strategic talent development vision in support of Upgrade’s Service Center’s growth strategy and objectives by maintaining a deep understanding of our goals, products, and service offerings
• Build organizational alignment and capability through development and/or maintenance of leader focused initiatives (ie. leadership academy, employee readiness, training and development, engagement, office experience)
• Provide guidance and solutions by partnering with our senior leadership teams to attract, develop and retain top talent
• Apply an analytical and data-driven decision making to every aspect of people operations from recruiting to learning and development and performance management.
• Lead our Employee Relations team to drive world class resolution plans on all employee relations matters, including adherence to policy, grievances, voluntary and involuntary terminations by working collaboratively with business leaders and legal partners
• Evaluate and advise on the impact of changes on employees, HR systems, and operations with our Exec and HRIS teams
• Drive employee development and retention by developing and executing all learning and development initiatives including onboarding, continued education and leadership development
• Stay updated on industry best practices and emerging trends in HR and implement relevant strategies
• Oversee the design and administration of competitive and equitable compensation and benefits programs
• Partner with People team colleagues in Talent Acquisition, Finance and Payroll to drive consistency in the team member lifecycle

 

What We Look For:

• Broad experience leading with fast pace environments, dealing with ambiguity and used to define, design and implement processes, policies and methodology in constantly changing situations
• Experience working and/or building teams in a contact center environment
• You are a motivational leader with a growth mindset who can set and clearly articulate the team mission and vision across multiple HR functions
• 7+ years of HR leadership experience in an high growth technology forward organization
• A history of building strong relationships and partnerships with key business leaders within customer service focused operations organizations
• Have a proactive approach toward identifying the root cause of a problem and support the senior leadership in finding the right solution
• You have a natural knack for finding innovative solutions by constantly askin