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

Save the Children

For over 100 years, Save the Children has been fighting for the rights of children. The right to a healthy start in life. To have access to education. To be in a safe environment, protected from harm. We work in some of the world's hardest-to-reach places - over 100 countries, including the U.S. No matter what your role is, when you join Save the Children, you're creating positive, irreversible change for children, and the future we all share.

The Role

The Senior Director, Human Resources Business Partner (HRBP) for Head Start is a senior people leader responsible for delivering strategic HR partnership to complex, highly regulated portfolios and for translating enterprise People & Culture strategy into measurable business outcomes. This role operates as a trusted advisor to senior leaders, shaping workforce strategy, organizational effectiveness, and leadership capability while ensuring consistent, high-quality HR execution within the requirements of the Office of Head Start (OHS) Performance Standards and applicable state child care licensing regulations.

The Senior Director is accountable for owning people strategy for the Head Start portfolio, influencing leaders through data-driven insights and sound judgment, and leading a team of HR Managers supporting multi-state programs. The role bridges enterprise strategy and day-to-day execution, partnering closely with the Managing Director HRBPs and HR Centers of Excellence (COEs) to deliver integrated, scalable solutions that balance mission delivery, compliance, and operational excellence.

This role requires strong executive presence, advanced consulting skills, and the ability to operate independently in ambiguity while managing risk, regulatory obligations, and the unique workforce dynamics of child-serving programs.

Location

Hybrid - Washington DC, Fairfield, CT or Lexington, KY office locations

What You'll Be Doing (Essential Duties)

Strategic Business Partnership (30%)

• 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.

Employee Relations Management (20%)

• 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.

Enterprise Collaboration & Influence (15%)

• 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.

Leadership & Capability Building (15%)

• 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).

Risk & Compliance (10%)

• 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.

Organizational Effectiveness & Change Leadership (10%)

• 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.

Required qualifications for the role

• 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

Preferred qualifications for the role

• 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.

Compensation

Save the Children is offering the following salary ranges for this position, dependent on candidate location:

• Geo 1 - NY Metro, DC, and other locations with labor costs significantly above national average: Target Salary for this position is $119,425 - $133,475 base salary

• Geo 2 - Locations around the US National Labor Cost Average: Target Salary for this position is $107,525 - $120,175 base salary
• Geo 3 - Locations significantly below the US National Labor Cost Average: Target Salary for this position is $96,050 - $107,350 base salary

The salary ranges listed above are for US based candidates. For candidates located outside of the US, salary ranges will be based on the salary scales of the local employer of record. Actual base salary may vary based on, but not limited to, relevant experience, base salary of internal peers, business sector, and geographic location (more information on job structure is available here).

About Us

We are looking to build an inclusive team at Save the Children. We offer a range of outstanding benefits to support this goal:

• Flexible schedules and time off: Flexible schedules, generous PTO, 11 paid holidays plus 2 floating holidays and hybrid working opportunities
• Health: Competitive health care, dental and vision coverage for you and your family
• Family: A variety of paid leaves: caregiver, parental/adoption, critical child illness and fertility benefits
• Employee Rewards Program: Annual merit increases and/or additional incentives for eligible employees
• Retirement: A retirement savings plan with employer contributions (after one year)
• Wellness: 15 safety and wellness days annually (if hired on or after July 1, safety and wellness days prorated to 8 days), mental health benefits and support through Calm and company-hosted events
• Employee Assistance Program: free and confidential assessments, short-term counseling, referrals, and follow-up services
• Learning & Growth: Access to internal and external learning & development opportunities and mentorships

Click here to learn more about how Save the Children US will invest in you.

Save the Children is committed to conducting its programs and operations in a manner that is safe for the children it serves and helping protect the children with whom we are in contact. All Save the Children representatives are explicitly prohibited from engaging in any activity that may result in any kind of child abuse.

Save the Children is committed to minimizing safety and security risks for our valued employees, ensuring all are given training, support and information to reduce their risk exposure while maximizing the impact of our programs for children and families. Our shared duty, both agency and individual, is to seek and maintain safe working conditions for all.

If you require disability assistance with the application or recruitment process, please submit a request to applicantsupport@savechildren.org.