Senior Director, HR Business Partner - Head Start (M2)

Save the Children is a renowned organization dedicated to advocating for children's rights globally. The Senior Director, HR Business Partner for Head Start is responsible for delivering strategic HR partnership, shaping workforce strategy, and ensuring compliance with regulations while managing a team of HR Managers.

Responsibilities:

• Serve as a senior strategic advisor to Division Leads and executive stakeholders, aligning workforce strategy with business and mission priorities
• Lead workforce planning, organizational design, succession, and change management efforts for assigned portfolios
• Anticipate people risks and opportunities using workforce data, trends, and business intelligence; translate insights into clear recommendations
• Act as escalation point for complex people matters requiring advanced judgment, influence, and cross-functional coordination
• Manage intake and delegation of Head Start employee relations, misconduct, policy violations, performance concerns, and other related matters
• Oversee and advise on complex employee relations matters, investigations, performance management, and corrective actions
• Ensure consistent application of policy, employment law, and regulatory requirements in partnership with Employee Relations and Legal
• Balance risk mitigation with practical, business-aligned solutions
• Partner closely with COEs (Talent, Total Rewards, Learning & Development, HR Operations, HR Technology) to deliver seamless, end-to-end solutions
• Serve as the P&C new program start up, and program closure, lead, coordinating between programs, TAA and other COEs
• Provide feedback to COEs to inform enterprise program design based on frontline business needs
• Contribute to agency-wide People & Culture initiatives, pilots, and continuous improvement efforts
• Provide functional leadership, coaching, and quality oversight to leaders, people managers. and HR Management team within scope
• Model consultative, data-driven HRBP practices and reinforce consistent standards across portfolio
• Contribute to the evolution of Head Start HR tools, playbooks, and ways of working in partnership with the Managing Director and/or Deputy People and Culture Officer (DCPO)
• Ensure consistent application of policy, employment law, and regulatory requirements in partnership with Employee Relations and Legal
• For child-serving and regulated portfolios (e.g., Head Start/early learning): ensure HR practices and guidance reflect Office of Head Start personnel requirements and applicable state child care licensing requirements, including:
• Personnel policies and standards of conduct: reinforce conduct expectations and appropriate corrective actions for violations
• Background checks and screening controls: partner with HR Operations/Program leadership to ensure background checks are completed and renewed per required cadence; ensure newly hired staff/contractors do not have unsupervised access to children until required checks are completed
• Training, qualifications, and competency expectations: support leaders in meeting role qualification requirements and ongoing training/professional development expectations
• Health & safety-related personnel requirements commonly found in state licensing: advise leaders on common requirements (e.g., CPR/First Aid, mandated reporter/child abuse prevention training, TB/health clearances as applicable, and documentation/record retention) and how these requirements interact with Agency policy
• Partner with leaders to design and implement organization structures that enable performance, scale, and accountability
• Lead change management strategies for restructures, growth, integrations, or transformations
• Strengthen leadership capability by coaching senior leaders on talent decisions, culture, and people leadership practices

Requirements:

• Minimum of a bachelor's degree or equivalent experience, plus at least 7 years of relevant experience in Human Resources, Business Administration, Organizational Development, or related field, or equivalent experience
• Demonstrated success partnering with senior leaders to drive business outcomes through people strategy
• Strong expertise in organizational design, workforce planning, employee relations, and change management
• Proven ability to analyze workforce data and translate insights into executive-level recommendations
• Demonstrated people management experience successfully leading an HR team within a large, global organization operating in a dynamic and evolving environment
• Excellent communication, influence, and executive presence
• Strong judgment, discretion, and ability to navigate complex, ambiguous situations
• Professional proficiency in MS Office suite
• Professional proficiency in spoken and written English
• SHRM-SCP, SPHR, or equivalent certification
• Experience in large, complex, matrixed, or mission-driven organizations
• Experience operating in regulated environments or supporting frontline/service-delivery workforces
• Experience supporting child-serving programs (e.g., Head Start, early learning, child care) including familiarity with personnel compliance practices (background screening, training/credential tracking, and licensing/audit readiness)
• Experience supporting the onboarding, transition, or acquisition of programs, facilities, or service-delivery operations, including workforce integration, compliance alignment, change management, and stabilization of people practices during program start-up or implementation transitions