Senior Director, People Operations

Looking to innovate, grow, and make a positive impact on the lives of others? Join a nonprofit service and advocacy organization whose mission is to improve the lives of older adults, especially those who are struggling.

We Are NCOA and we believe every person deserves to age well. That’s why we’re on a path to improve the lives of 40 million older adults by 2030. The National Council on Aging, a national voice for every American’s right to age well, has an exciting opportunity for a Senior Director of People Operations, in its Arlington, VA/Crystal City office.

The Senior Director of People Operations will be responsible for serving as a business partner with organizational leadership in establishing goals, strategies, plans, and policies. Ensuring adherence to high ethics and compliance with NCOA’s code of conduct is an important part of this position. As a leader, this position will be responsible for serving as subject matter expert for the broader business in all areas of human resources and facilities management, including workforce management, DEI, talent acquisition, ethics and compliance, full lifecycle payroll management, business risk policies and management, facilities and lease negotiation and management, and management of the administrative business office. Reporting to the Chief Financial Officer (CFO), the incumbent will work to provide operational analytics, key performance indicators, and full-scope business support.

Key responsibilities include the following:

• Under the guidance of the CFO, assist in the development and execution of corporate workforce growth strategies while fostering a collaborative and diverse work environment that thrives on accountability, innovation, integrity and creative problem-solving.
• Responsible for leading a high-performance People Operations team and ensuring regulatory compliance, and that NCOA’s systems, processes, and infrastructure enable internal top performance and effective stewardship of the enterprise’s workforce and facilities.
• Champion NCOA’s culture with a focus on delivering results, cultivating a learning environment, and fostering an empowered workforce; promote an effective culture that develops competencies and professional skills, enabling employees to deliver on NCOA’s priorities and maintain a balance of work and family.
• Responsible for DEI strategy and leading the organization's implementation of strategic DEI action-orientated initiative, goals, and measurement in partnership with the CFO.
• Influence, educate, and guide actions relating to DEI strategy; mobilize management and staff to drive a culture of inclusion and belonging for all colleagues.
• Ensure HR strategy is aligned with business goals; perform as internal consultant to leaders on organizational effectiveness and emerging HR initiatives.
• Serve as a seasoned change agent with proven ability to drive and influence strong and seasoned business leaders and implement improvements.
• Build strong working relationships with leadership, management and employees through proactive, thorough, and timely response and resolution to all employee relations concerns.
• Ensure internal and external competitiveness with through the organization’s compensation philosophy, practices, and market trends.
• Use metrics and dashboards to identify business trends and ensure that appropriate solutions are in place to predict, support, and mitigate risk factors.

• Responsible for all aspects of the payroll operation, including projects, interface management, multi-state payroll accounts and taxation and licenses, and all sub-processes.
• Enhance strategic and collaborative payroll methods, while maintaining a strong financial control environment, as well as establishing and maintaining NCOA’s payroll policies and procedures.
• Directs the payroll activities to ensure compliance with accounting principles and local/state/federal regulations.
• Collaborates with accounting department to support the work of external auditors by providing requested information, documentation, and analyses as needed.
• Responsible for calculation, remittance, timeliness, and accuracy of all payroll-related tax filings, including, but not limited to IRS Form W-2 and any other payroll-related filings.
• Monitors the invoice processing activities, and proactively manage any issues impacting the accuracy or timeliness of vendor payments.

• Provide administrative leadership for NCOA’s Administrative Business Office, ensuring an efficient utilization of administrative and project coordination functions.
• Provide continual review of and enhancement of all NCOA administrative staff processes; work to bring standardized processes and procedures to ensure organizational efficiency.
• Utilizing the Administrative Business Office, oversee all day to day office management of the headquarters location.
• Responsible for major projects and personnel of lease buildouts, maintenance, utility system repairs, and serve as point of contact for planning, allocation, and utilization of space and resources for all NCOA locations and ensure compliance with budgetary constraints and forecasts.
• Responsible for locating new properties or facilities related items for leases and works with landlords on facility related issues as part of lease terms, with growth strategies top of mind to ensure appropriate space is available.
• Forecast, analyze, and maintain all risk insurance policies, state business accounts and registrations, business licenses, and processing and payment of taxation or other associated fees; also, close down states as needed.

• Other duties as required.

Professional Experience/Qualifications:

• Bachelor’s degree or higher in a related field, with 15+ years of human resources experience, of which, at least 10 years must be at a senior HR generalist or manager level.
• Recent experience with managing and processing payroll, preferably with ADP WorkforceNow.
• Demonstrated history of inspiring employees to adopt best practices in HR.
• Compelling and naturally persuasive communication skills with the ability to influence the direction of the ultimate outcome in a collaborative manner; ability to communicate decisions in a style that reflects a team-oriented culture.
• Ability to understand business goals and recommend new approaches to affect continual improvements in business objectives, productivity, and development of HR within the organization.
• Solid professional presence with excellent communication and operational instincts; good strategic skills and sound business judgment.
• Demonstrated experience in supporting multiple projects simultaneously with a solid focus on results.
• Dynamic leadership and interpersonal skills including persuasion, coaching, facilitation, and conflict resolution.
• Proficient in leading, attracting, hiring, retaining, and developing high-performing teams and individuals.

NCOA is an equal opportunity employer. We are committed to a work environment that supports, inspires, and respects all individuals and in which personnel processes are merit-based and applied without discrimination on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, marital status, age, disability, national or ethnic origin, military service status, citizenship, or any other characteristic protected by applicable law. NCOA believes that diversity and inclusion among our teammates is critical to our success, and we seek to recruit, develop, and retain the most talented people from a diverse candidate pool.