HR Director - (Head of People)

*****MUST HAVE EXPERIENCE WORKING AT A FEDERAL GOVERNMENT CONTRACTOR*****
About Skylight
Skylight is a digital consultancy using design and technology to help government agencies deliver better public services.
We’re at the forefront of a civic movement to reinvent how all levels of government serve families, patients, and many others in today's digital world.
If you want to play a part in driving this critical movement forward, we’d love for you to join our growing team of public interest technologists.
About the job
Since launching several years ago, our team has grown rapidly. We find ourselves in an exciting position to further deepen our partnerships within the government contracting space, to continue to attract and retain amazing teammates, and to scale our capacity to make an even bigger difference in the world.
Currently, our company is organized into three main groups: Executive Office (sets and operationalizes the strategic direction of the company), Federal Health & Civilian (focused on federal health and civilian missions), and Defense & Security (focused on defense, national security, and public safety missions).
As our Head of People Operations, you’ll be responsible for leading people operations across the company so we can continue to attract, empower, and retain amazing public interest technologists. Your work will be central to improving and scaling our ability to make a genuine difference in the world. Our Head of People Operations must have proven experience navigating the evolving legal, regulatory, and social landscapes while preserving organizational values and maintaining trusted relationships with employees, leaders, customers, and government stakeholders.
HR
Ensure awareness of and compliance with relevant labor laws, and lead employee relations, including sensitive and legal matters
Perform benchmark research on compensation and benefits, and partner on HR functions such as payroll
Manage and optimize our HRIS (Rippling)
Create organizational charts and define each position’s responsibilities
Manage the offboarding process
People & culture
Own company-wide employee engagement: design and run engagement programs that reach across business units
Manage our performance management system (e.g., individual performance planning, performance evaluation, internal promotions, continuous feedback)
Support the development and ongoing improvement of a professional capability framework for describing and measuring how to progress and be successful in various roles at Skylight
Discuss career-pathing options with high-potential employees and their team leaders
Organize and oversee individual and team training programs (both internal and external)
Design programs that build culture, drive engagement, and retain great people as we scale
Create and implement succession plans
Across all three pillars
Partner closely with business unit leaders and the executive team to align people strategy with the needs of the business
Build fair, consistent people practices that reach a broad range of talent pools, reduce bias in how we evaluate candidates, and partner with organizations that widen our candidate reach
Implement data-driven approaches to continually improving our people operations and talent outcomes
Understand and drive the adoption of emerging best practices related to people operations
Minimum qualifications
Experience in a government contracting, consulting, or professional services environment
7 years of comprehensive HR experience
Experience as a people operations leader or similar role
Experience scaling people operations in a fast-growing organization
Demonstrated experience building high-performing, mission-driven workplace cultures where employees feel respected, supported, and empowered to do their best work
Sound judgment balancing transparency and visibility with confidentiality, privacy, and risk
Experience recruiting design and technology professionals, such as product managers, product designers, user researchers, content strategists, software engineers, and DevOps engineers
Experience working with remote teams
Awareness of relevant labor laws and how to comply with them
Ability to operate at strategic and tactical levels
Excellent interpersonal, motivational, and relationship management skills
Organized, detail-oriented, and quality-minded
Superior written and oral communication skills
Strong data and analytical skills
Comfortable navigating Human Resources Information Systems, Applicant Tracking Systems, and tools that support performance management and other HR functions
Passionate about creating better public outcomes through great government services
A mindset and work approach that aligns with our core values
Ability to travel for work from time to time
Nice-to-have qualifications
Experience with Rippling or a comparable HRIS
Other requirements
All work must be conducted within the U.S.
You must be legally authorized to work in the U.S. now and in the future without sponsorship.
As a government contractor, you may be required to obtain a public trust or security clearance.
You may be required to successfully complete a company background check.
Position type
This is a full-time, exempt position.
Location
This is a fully remote position.
Salary
The salary range for this position is $170,000 to $240,000, based on experience and qualifications.

Work arrangement
No