Description
About the Organization
Who We Are
Promise is an early childhood-focused nonprofit organization driving towards a vision of an abundant and just world where all children can fulfill their innate promise. To work toward that vision, we advance change through two mutually-reinforcing strategies: 1) activate and strengthen the early childhood ecosystem by aligning funders, policy leaders, and practitioners around a shared vision and collective action, and 2) nurture and grow the impact of proximate leaders and their social ventures by increasing resources, connections, and sustainability.
What We Do
Our strategies come to life through Promise's three programmatic buckets:
- Ecosystem: Ignites a cross-sector movement — uniting champions, capital, and collective will behind bold visions and narratives for America's youngest children and families
- Changemaker Communities: Drive the sustainability, social capital, and power of proximate changemakers across the early childhood field and in their communities
- The Promise Fund: Identifies, resources, and scales proximate-led social innovations that prove the future young children and families deserve is within reach
Our Impact
To date, we've supported more than 760 early childhood ventures nationwide through coaching, connections to capital, and community. We've catalyzed over $25M to social ventures, and among our most deeply supported organizations, 91% grew their impact, 80% increased budgets, and 72% expanded their teams. Through the Early Childhood Leaders of Color Collaborative, 500+ leaders across 40+ states are building collective power to reach millions of children – proof that when BIPOC leaders come together, they don't just survive, they thrive.
Role Summary
The Lead, People and Culture ensures that Promise’s people systems are clear, equitable, and consistently applied - so staff can do their best work and grow. This role translates Promise’s talent philosophy, values, and performance frameworks into practical processes that support clarity, accountability, and care across the employee lifecycle.
This is an operationally-focused individual contributor role reporting to the Chief Operating Officer (COO). It works with a high degree of independence and owns people operations and talent systems, working within the strategy and guardrails set by the COO. This role does not set people strategy, but is accountable for building reliable systems that reward values-aligned performance, support strong manager-employee relationships, and enable staff to succeed.
Promise Venture Studio is a sponsored project of Rockefeller Philanthropy Advisors (RPA). This role works primarily within RPA’s systems for compliance, payroll, benefits, and legal coordination, while building internal capacity for increasing independence. While there is no defined timeline for a spinout, this role should be understood as a long-term build rather than a near-term transition.
Requirements
Key Qualifications
- 6+ years of experience in people operations or HR, including ownership of core people systems in a complex, mission-driven organization
- Experience managing end-to-end people operations - performance cycles, employee relations, and compliance-related processes
- Demonstrated equity-minded practice, consistency, and care in people-related processes and decisions
- Trusted relationship builder across roles and levels, with discernment and discretion in sensitive situations
- Strong project management skills - able to run cyclical processes calmly and predictably
- Excellent communicator who can translate policies, decisions, and expectations into practical, accessible guidance for managers and staff
- Experience coaching managers on performance, feedback, development, and employee relations
- Ability to work independently while collaborating closely with managers, cross-functional teammates, and external partners including RPA
- Systems thinker who builds for future scale from current state, with strong documentation habits
- Comfort improving systems within an established strategy and constraints, and scaling a function over time
Responsibilities
People Operations & Systems
- Own day-to-day people operations, ensuring processes are accurate, timely, compliant, and applied consistently across the organization
- Maintain and improve core people systems — performance management, goal setting, feedback, career progression, manager enablement, and engagement surveys
- Track and maintain accurate people data and records to support compliance, reporting, and reliable application of people practices
- Maintain people policies, practices, and guidance so they are current, accessible, and aligned with employment laws, partnering with legal counsel as needed
- Coordinate compensation and benefits processes — salary review cycles, pay changes, enrollment, and vendor issue resolution — with accuracy, equity, and clear communication
Performance Management
- Lead implementation of Promise's recently redesigned performance management system, including designing and delivering a training and enablement plan for staff and managers
- Facilitate mid-year and end-of-year calibration processes — including prep, bias checks, documentation, and manager follow-through
- Provide ongoing implementation support and iterate based on what is learned
- Coach and support managers on performance, feedback, development, and employee relations, with clear guidance, tools, and shared expectations
Hiring & Employee Lifecycle
- Own and coordinate hiring in partnership with managers — applying an equity lens from role scoping through onboarding, with clear evaluation standards and smooth execution
- Maintain job descriptions, role expectations, and leveling alignment to support hiring and role clarity
- Coordinate employee lifecycle moments beyond hiring, including role changes, development planning, and exits
Employee Relations & Engagement
- Lead employee relations matters, advising managers on equitable, compliant, and values-aligned approaches — with care, confidentiality, and clear judgment about when to escalate
- Establish a regular rhythm for engagement surveys, synthesize feedback, and partner with teams to translate insights into practical improvements
- Surface engagement themes and work with leaders to adjust practices and workflows that support retention, development, and sustainable workloads
- Prepare people-related inputs that support leadership planning, talent conversations, and decision readiness
RPA Partnership & Compliance
- Serve as Promise's primary operational point of contact with RPA across people-related functions, ensuring accurate and timely execution of shared processes
- Build operational readiness for the future internalization of select RPA-managed functions
This role may expand as organizational needs evolve.
First Six Months Priorities
The first six months are focused on orientation, relationship-building, and high-impact delivery in a few critical areas. Success in this period is defined less by the breadth of systems touched and more by the depth of trust built and the quality of early execution.
- Learn the RPA landscape, workflows, and keys contacts - and clarify where Promise vs. RPA is the system of record
- Build relationships and credibility with managers by becoming a practical, steady support for performance and employee relations needs
- Implement the new performance management system, including designing and delivering a clear training plan, well-run calibrations, and providing steady implementation support as managers and staff build new habits. This is one of the most visible and consequential responsibilities of the first six months.
- Stabilize and audit core people operations for accuracy, consistency, and compliance - and establish a reliable, predictable rhythm
- Launch or refresh the engagement survey, synthesize early themes, and surface actionable insights for leadership
- Capture lessons learned from the first full performance review cycle and recommend improvements.
Success in This Role Looks Like
- People operations and core people systems are accurate, timely, and well communicated - consistent processes, shared understanding, and minimal rework
- Performance review, calibration, and goal-setting cycles run smoothly and predictably - on-time, with few last-minute escalations
- Managers and staff use the new performance management system with confidence - high-quality reviews, fewer process questions over time, and consistent tool use
- RPA coordination is reliable and well-managed - accurate execution of shared processes, clear communication, and growing internal documentation
- Hiring is equitable and well-run - shared evaluation standards, timely decisions, and positive feedback from candidates and managers
- Employee relations are handled early, calmly, and with sound judgment - appropriate resolution, clear documentation, and leadership confidence
- Employee engagement is monitored and acted on - timely surveys, strong participation, clear synthesis, and visible follow-through
- People data and systems are accurate and reliable - audit readiness, trustworthy reporting, and consistent application of people practices
- People operations support organizational sustainability - leadership has confidence in systems, practices, and decision readiness
Benefits
- Medical, Vision, & Dental Insurance Plans
- Mental Health & Wellness and Employee Assistance Program
- Up to 12 weeks of Family and Medical Leave
- Up to 24 weeks of Parental Leave
- 401(k) Retirement Plan with Employer Match up to 6%
- Health Reimbursement and Flexible Spending Accounts
- Unlimited Paid Time Off and Unlimited Sick Time
- Home Office Equipment Stipend
The salary range for this role is $125K - $140K.
