Head Of People

Head Of People

The Head of People (HOP) serves as the senior executive responsible for the organization's people strategy, workforce planning, and talent infrastructure. This role owns the full employee lifecyclefrom workforce forecasting and recruiting through onboarding, development, performance management, engagement, retention, and compliance.

The HOP partners closely with executive leadership to ensure that people systems, policies, and culture scale in alignment with organizational growth, financial performance, and regulatory requirements. This is both a strategic leadership role and an execution-oriented role, requiring strong operational engagement, data fluency, and the ability to build scalable systems.

Core Responsibilities:

1. People Strategy and Executive Leadership

Develop and execute a comprehensive people strategy aligned with company vision, growth plans, and financial objectives.

Serve as a strategic advisor to the CEO and executive team on workforce planning, organizational design, compensation strategy, and culture.

Translate business goals into measurable workforce plans and cultural initiatives.

Participate in executive planning, EOS processes, and leadership decision-making.

2. Talent Acquisition and Workforce Planning

Own end-to-end recruiting strategy across all roles (e.g., RBTs, BCBAs, leadership, administrative staff).

Forecast hiring needs based on growth projections, client demand, scheduled hours, and geographic expansion.

Build scalable recruiting systems, pipelines, and partnerships (referrals, community sourcing, schools, universities, etc.).

Establish reports and dashboards for measuring and communicating department KPIs.

Manage, hire, and hold accountable a high-performing recruiting team to fill positions quickly with talented culturally-aligned team members at every level.

3. Onboarding, Training and Professional Development

Design and maintain structured onboarding programs for all roles, including leadership and clinical staff.

Build internal training and professional development frameworks, including leadership development pathways.

Partner with Operations and Clinical leadership to ensure training supports quality of care, compliance, and performance.

Implement succession planning and internal promotion pipelines.

4. Performance Management and Employee Experience

Own performance management systems, including goal setting, evaluations, feedback cycles, and corrective action processes.

Partner with Division Leaders to understand clear role expectations, KPIs, and accountability structures across departments.

Drive employee engagement, retention initiatives, and culture-building efforts.

Develop strategies to improve retention, reduce burnout, and support staff well-beingespecially in high-demand clinical roles.

5. Compensation, Benefits and Incentives

Design compensation structures, including salary bands, variable compensation, bonuses, and incentives.

Partner with Finance to ensure compensation strategies are financially sustainable and market competitive.

Oversee benefits strategy, enrollment, renewals, and vendor relationships.

6. Compliance, HR Operations and Risk Management

Ensure compliance with federal, state, and local employment laws across all operating states.

Oversee HR policies, procedures, employee relations, investigations, and documentation.

Manage employee lifecycle compliance (I-9s, credentialing coordination, licensing support, background checks, etc.).

Partner with legal counsel as needed on employment matters.

Mitigate organizational risk related to staffing, turnover, and labor practices.

7. Systems, Data and Reporting

Own HRIS, ATS, assessments, and people-related systems and integrations.

Build and maintain people analytics dashboards (turnover, retention, vacancies, productivity, labor costs).

Use data to inform decision-making and continuously improve people operations.

Ensure accurate, timely reporting to leadership.

Required Qualifications:

Ability to scale teams and systems efficiently in a growth-stage organization.

Adept at engaging and motivating employees at all levels to meet their maximum potential.

Desire to remain in compliance and reduce employment-related liability.

Driving desire to fill positions efficiently with the best available talent.

Data-driven mindset with experience using metrics to drive decisions.

Excellent executive-level communication and leadership skills.

Key Performance Indicators (KPI)

Unstaffed Hours

o Time-to-fill and vacancy rates by role and region

o Onboarding completion and time-to-productivity

RBT and BCBA Retention Rate

o Employee turnover and retention (overall and role-specific)

GGOB/Expense %/COGS %

o Labor cost efficiency vs. budget

Employee engagement and satisfaction indicators

o Partner with Division Leaders to drive Employee Satisfaction score

Benefits

Dental, health, and vision available after 90 days

Flexible remote and hybrid work options

10 days of PTO and 10 paid holidays

Skills and leadership development training and opportunities

EOS, GGOB, Culture Index tools and training

At Cardinal, our core values are IMPACT:

• Invested we are fully aligned and bought into our mission and dedicated to achieving it

• Mutual Collaboration we work together to achieve our goals, recognizing that our mission relies on teamwork

• Problem Solving we focus on solutions, not obstacles or blame

• Accountability we own our actions, decisions, and results because our results improve lives

• Continuous Growth we are constantly working toward personal and professional improvement to expand our impact

• Tenacity we persevere through challenges with professionalism and resolve

Equal Employment Opportunity Statement:

Cardinal Pediatric Therapies is an Equal Opportunity Employer. We are committed to creating and maintaining a workplace where all applicants and employees are treated with dignity, fairness, and respect. Employment decisions are based on qualifications, merit, business needs, and job-related criteria, without regard to race, color, religion, sex, pregnancy, childbirth or related medical conditions, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, age, disability, genetic information, veteran status, military or veteran status, or any other characteristic protected by applicable federal, state, or local law. Cardinal Pediatric Therapies is committed to providing reasonable accommodations to qualified applicants and employees in accordance with applicable law.

Disclaimer

This job description is intended to describe the general nature and level of work being performed in this role. It is not intended to be a complete or exhaustive list of all duties, responsibilities, qualifications, or working conditions associated with the position. Cardinal Pediatric Therapies reserves the right to modify, add, remove, or assign duties and responsibilities at any time based on business needs and in accordance with applicable law.

This position may require sitting, standing, walking, bending, reaching, using standard office and technology equipment, occasional lifting or moving of materials or supplies up to 25 pounds, and travel between assigned locations. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable qualified individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions of the position.

Nothing in this job description creates a contract of employment, express or implied. Employment with Cardinal Pediatric Therapies is at-will unless otherwise stated in a separate written agreement signed by an authorized representative of the company.