Chief People Officer

Who are We?

Brooke Charter Schools is a network of five public charter schools, serving grades K-12 in Mattapan, Roslindale, and East Boston. At Brooke, we coach and invest in our teachers so that they can help our students achieve at the highest levels and graduate from college. We believe academic achievement empowers our students to live choice-filled lives and enhances their ability to contribute to creating a just world. In a culture of achievement, educators support students in recognizing and building on their identities as sources of strength even as they work to grow and achieve in new ways.

What is the Chief People Officer Role?

The Chief People Officer (CPO) reports directly to the Network Co-Director and serves as a critical member of the 9-member network leadership team, working closely with the team to develop and implement organizational strategy and direction. The CPO is directly responsible for strategy and execution in the domains of hiring, organizational culture/staff retention, as well as HR functions across the network. Within those domains, the CPO is responsible for strategic planning and execution to ensure that the organization realizes its commitment to creating a diverse, equitable, inclusive, and anti-racist culture. The CPO leads a team that as presently constituted includes the Director of Recruitment, the Director of the Associate Teacher Program, and the Human Resources Manager.

Hiring

• Develop and lead the implementation of a coherent strategy to attract, hire, develop and retain a staff that reflects the communities we partner with/serve.
• Directly supervise Director of Recruitment and help lead that program by looking at data, setting performance targets, providing feedback, etc.
• Directly supervise Director of Associate Teacher Program and help lead that program by looking at data, setting performance targets, providing feedback, etc.
• Work with communications team to develop effective recruiting materials, including website
• Oversee current diversity in hiring initiatives and develop new ones (i.e. a paraprofessional to teacher career pathway program)
• Cultivating strategic hiring partnerships (i.e. City Year, Generation Teach, Change Summer, Teach for America, HBCU’s and HSI’s)

Organizational Culture and Staff Retention

• Lead and coordinate the work of the leadership team to create a strong and inclusive organizational culture in line with Brooke’s organizational values.
• Lead efforts to create even higher rates of staff retention, with particular focus on staff of color, including overseeing the network-wide affinity group for staff of color (Diversity Initiative Group or D.I.G.), coordinating other affinity groups as needed
• Develop feedback processes to gather and respond to the experiences of staff of color(i.e. conducting annual mid-year meetings and/or focus groups with staff of color) and to recommend ways to further improve their experience
• Lead workplace satisfaction working groups or focus groups as needed
• Conduct exit interviews with all staff who voluntarily depart Brooke
• Monitor and analyze retention data, including overseeing administration of annual workplace satisfaction survey and evaluating results
• Oversee leadership development program and generally communicate about career pathways and trajectories
• Coordinate other network staff retention initiatives such as the annual staff gala, teacher appreciation week, etc.
• Help develop and evaluate anti-racism professional development for all staff (non-instructional focus only)
• Prepare and distribute annual staff diversity report

HR Functions

• Directly supervise Human Resources Manager and manage HR department to ensure it is service-oriented and functions efficiently
• Serve as the point person for policies on sick and personal leave, family and medical leave, provision of benefits and support HR manager with establishing robust processes for these leaves
• Oversee overall compensation policy and strategy and regularly analyze staff compensation data to ensure equity across subgroups
• Coordinate a process to ensure that a focus on equity is embedded in all levels of staff evaluation
• Collaborate with principals and other managers to oversee the onboarding, offboarding, and renewal processes for staff
• Serve as point person for staff concerns around discrimination, harassment, Title IX complaints, or needed accommodations
• Ensure the organization is meeting all federal, state, and local employment requirements and update Employee Guidelines annually in coordination with Co-Director & HR Manager
• Manage staff data system (ADP) and work with the Director of Finance, manage the professional relationship with HR support vendor (i.e.- HR Knowledge)

Is This You?

• You’ve earned a Bachelor’s degree.
• You have leadership and/or HR experience focused on equity.
• You have experience in a school environment (including teaching). This is preferred but not required.
• You prioritize assessing organization health with racial justice, equity, and inclusion performance indicators.
• You are professional, warm, and collaborative with students, families, and colleagues.
• Start-date is flexible. We are open to having someone start as soon as possible but could also accommodate a start-date as late as July 1st.
  We have instituted a COVID-19 vaccine mandate for all staff working in our network. All staff must either be vaccinated or must get tested by their own arrangement and submit evidence of a negative test each week.

The community and students we serve are diverse, and we are committed to reflecting that diversity in our staff. We strive to have the most diverse applicant pool possible; to that end, we encourage individuals of all backgrounds to apply for any position at Brooke Charter Schools. By fostering a diverse and inclusive environment, we provide the best educational experience to prepare our students for a future reflective of the world we live in.