Director, Employee Experience

The National Wildlife Federation is on an essential journey to become a durable organization that champions belonging, where we act as bridge-builders to unite people to do big things for wildlife and the communities we serve. By honoring our essence, living our core values and committing to this vision, the Federation can become the model wildlife organization that fully welcomes, retains, and celebrates staff, volunteers, and supporters from all backgrounds – while achieving big things.

As a key bridge-builder of today and tomorrow’s conservation movement, the Director, Employee Experience is a strategic and hands-on leader who shapes how employees feel, grow, and thrive at NWF. This role is central to NWF’s People Team mission: transforming the employee experience into a model for the broader nonprofit sector and establishing NWF as a 21st-century organization where every team member is engaged, valued, and equipped to advance conservation.

The Director, Employee Experience partners across organizational leadership to design and deliver strategies that define how NWF hires, onboards, develops, motivates, and retains its world-class team. This position requires a leader who brings both strategic vision and demonstrated operational depth; someone who can inspire trust at every level of the organization while driving meaningful, measurable change to ensure the Federation becomes the 21st century wildlife organization it envisions, and achieves its mission of uniting all Americans to ensure wildlife and people thrive in a rapidly changing world. 

Essential Duties

Employee Experience

• Serve as NWF’s internal champion for the employee experience, developing and sustaining a culture where staff feel seen, supported, and motivated to do their best work.
• Partner with the SVP of People and senior leadership to operationalize NWF’s people strategy, translating organizational vision into concrete programs and practices.
• Design and lead initiatives that reinforce NWF’s identity as a destination employer and a standard bearer for employee-centered workplaces in the nonprofit sector.
• Lead employee listening efforts—including engagement surveys, stay interviews, and exit data—and translate findings into actionable improvements.

People Operations and Compliance

• Oversee the day-to-day operations of NWF’s People programs, ensuring policies and practices are applied consistently, equitably, and in compliance with applicable federal and state law.
• Provide confidential, expert guidance to employees and managers on a range of issues including employee relations, policy interpretation, performance concerns, and workplace conflicts.
• Develop and maintain systems for performance evaluation, feedback, and career development that are transparent, fair, and growth-oriented.
• Partner with the Total Rewards function to ensure compensation, benefits, and recognition programs support attraction and retention goals.

Talent Acquisition

• Lead the design and execution of a dynamic, equitable, and engaging recruiting program that reflects NWF’s values and commitment to inclusion.
• Build sourcing strategies that expand NWF’s reach into diverse talent communities and reduce time-to-fill for critical roles.
• Establish structured, consistent hiring practices—including interview guides, scoring rubrics, and recruiter intake processes—that drive better decisions and candidate experience.

Learning and Development

• In partnership with the Learning & Development team, identify and implement programs that build individual and team capability across the organization.
• Develop onboarding experiences that set new employees up for success from day one and accelerate their connection to NWF’s mission and culture.
• Champion manager development as a lever for organizational health, equipping people leaders with the tools, frameworks, and coaching they need to lead well.

People Team Leadership

• Lead, coach, and develop a small team of HR professionals, modeling the values and behaviors NWF aspires to organization-wide.
• Contribute as an active member of NWF’s People Leadership Team, shaping the function’s collective direction and supporting cross-functional collaboration.
• Support the SVP of People and executive leadership in executing NWF’s strategic goals and organizational initiatives.

 

Required Competencies

Emotional Intelligence (EQ)

• Demonstrates a high degree of self-awareness—recognizes how personal emotions, assumptions, and reactions affect others and adjusts approach accordingly.
• Builds trust by showing up with empathy, consistency, and candor, particularl