The salary range for this position is $153,000 - $205,000. We take into consideration an individual’s background and experience in determining salary; therefore, base pay offered may vary considerably depending on job-related knowledge, skills, and experience. The compensation package includes a wide range of other benefits and earned time off that vary depending on part-time or full-time status.
In-Person Attendance Requirement:
Candidates must be located within reasonable commuting distance and able to adjust their schedule as needed to support regular, often daily, in-person collaboration.
1. Job Summary:
The Senior Vice President of People & Culture serves as the people leader for the YMCA of the North, responsible for shaping and executing a workforce strategy that strengthens leadership capability, enhances organizational effectiveness, and advances the mission and long-term sustainability of the organization. Provide strategic oversight for all People & Culture functions, ensuring that people, systems, policies, and practices drive high performance, advance equity, strengthen community impact, and support organizational goals. Operating with a stabilize and build focus, the SVP reinforces core operational foundations while strengthening leadership readiness and long-term cultural and talent strength. The position translates organizational strategy into durable people capabilities through practical leadership, organization partnerships, and disciplined execution. Success is achieved through influence, collaboration, and strategic alignment rather than centralized authority.
2. Essential Functions:
• Partner with the Executive Team, and senior leaders across Operations, Finance, Digital, Strategy, Innovation, and Mission Advancement to align people strategy with strategic priorities.
• Translate organizational strategy into clear people implications, leadership expectations, workforce planning priorities, and organizational capability requirements.
• Lead the full scope of People & Culture, including payroll, benefits, employee relations, compliance, talent acquisition, onboarding, learning and development, organizational effectiveness, engagement measurement, and affinity and action groups.
• Ensure reliable execution of core People & Culture fundamentals, including payroll accuracy, benefits administration, employee relations rigor, compliance integrity, hiring practices, and onboarding consistency.
• Establish clear leadership expectations and support managers in navigating accountability, role clarity, performance management, and complex employee matters with consistency and care.
• Lead workforce planning and capacity alignment efforts to ensure realistic execution of strategic priorities across a distributed, frontline-heavy organization.
• Strengthen functional expertise and leadership depth across People & Culture, developing a confident, skilled and high-performing team.
• Shape and advance a people strategy that supports execution of the YMCA of the North strategic plan and reinforces the organization’s commitment to community wellbeing.
• Serve as a trusted advisor to leaders navigating change, ambiguity, and organizational complexity, providing sound judgment and discretion in sensitive matters.
• Partner with the People & Culture subcommittee of the Board to shape strategic agendas, present clearly and confidently, and leverage Board expertise to strengthen people outcomes.
• Use people data and qualitative insight to inform decisions, surface risk, and improve clarity without overcomplicating systems or processes.
• Ensure People & Culture is experienced across the Y as a dependable, collaborative, and accountable partner.
• Other projects and duties as assigned.
3. Relationships:
This position reports to the Executive Vice President, Chief Business Officer. The incumbent partners closely with the Chief Executive Officer, Executive Team, People & Culture subcommittee of the Board, and senior leaders across Operations, Finance, Digital, Strategy, and Mission Advancement. The role leads People & Culture leaders and teams across the Association and partners with internal and external partners to deliver cross-organizational people outcomes.
4. Qualifications:
(Required)
• Bachelor’s degree: demonstrated experience may be considered in lieu of degree.
• Minimum of ten (10) years of progressive senior leadership experience in Human Resources, People & Culture, or related leadership roles.
• Demonstrated experience functioning as a people leader in large, multi-site organizations with operational complexity.
• Proven accountability for execution of core People & Culture and HR fundamentals, including employee relations, compliance, payroll, benefits, and talent management.
• Experience partnering with Boards or Board committees and presenting confidently in governance settings.
• Strong organizational judgment, emotional maturity, and ability to lead through ambiguity and change.
• Excellent interpersonal, communication, facilitation, and influence skills.
• Ability to operate effectively in complex, evolving environments with competing priorities.
• Demonstrates discretion, confidentiality, and professional judgment when handling sensitive employee issues, organizational information, and high-risk decisions.
(Preferred)
• Experience in nonprofit, mission-driven, or similarly complex organizations.
• Demonstrated success building leadership benches and strengthening functional depth across people teams.
• Experience leading workforce planning and capacity alignment initiatives.
• Strong grounding in equitable people practices and leading across diverse, complex teams.
• Advanced degree or relevant professional certification.
• Bi/multilingual.
5. Work Conditions:
• Ability to travel locally to branches, camps and program sites.
• Ability to work on a computer for an extended period of time.
• Ability to respond to time-sensitive matters outside of normal business hours when required.
Additional Notes:
This job description represents the major functions of the position but is not intended to be all inclusive. The incumbent is responsible for taking direction from the Executive Vice President of People and Culture or their representatives in completing projects or performing duties deemed necessary for success.