Director of Human Resources

About Alma

Alma del Mar is a K-8 charter school whose mission is to put every one of our scholars on the path to college and to challenge them to be service-minded leaders . We do this by immersing our scholars in a highly demanding, highly supportive environment where they receive a content–rich education. As an EL Education school, Alma brings to life a three dimensional vision of student achievement that includes mastery of knowledge and skills, character, and high-quality student work.

We’re located in New Bedford, Massachusetts, a beautiful coastal city known for its history as the heart of the whaling industry and as a central hub of the abolitionist movement.

Alma gets results for kids. Alma scholars not only outperform their district peers on MCAS, they often outperform their peers in the surrounding suburbs. In some areas, our scholar achievement now matches some of the highest performing schools in the Commonwealth. We have been nationally recognized for our work with English Language Learners.

Director of Human Resources

The Director of Human Resources (DoHR) plays a critical role in advancing Alma’s mission. This individual is a proactive, solutions-oriented leader who demonstrates excellence in people operations. The DoHR builds strong, trust-based relationships with Alma leaders and serves as a strategic advisor on all human capital matters. As the primary HR point of contact for our two campuses, the DoHR delivers a full spectrum of human resources services, including payroll administration, benefits support, compliance, and support and advisory on employee relations matters.

In addition to providing day-to-day operational support, the DoHR partners closely with school leadership to drive talent strategies and ensure alignment with organizational priorities. The Director of Human Resources is a full-time position, with an option to work one day per week remotely, reporting to the Director of Network Operations.

Campus Partnership

• Serve as primary point of contact for principals, school leaders, and staff members on all HR matters
• Build and maintain self-service systems for staff to get their HR needs met
• Conduct and support investigations into employee relations matters
• Partner with the Director of Talent to ensure strong employee onboarding and offboarding, employee engagement, performance management, and annual renewal offers
• Support employees in adhering to Alma del Mar’s time off policies, including leaves of absence and paid time off

Payroll & Benefits Administration

• Process payroll in a timely fashion with accuracy and efficiency, in collaboration with relevant team members to ensure all payroll-related changes and inputs are collected and implemented accurately and on time
• Manage and communicate payroll-related deadlines and processes with relevant managers and employees
• Manage external HR partners effectively, holding them accountable to desired outcomes
• Respond to payroll, benefits enrollment, and retirement inquiries from employees, managers, and external stakeholders with urgency and empathy
• Support employees in understanding their compensation & total rewards package
• Execute new hire benefits enrollment, annual open enrollment, and special enrollment events for staff
• Ensure employee benefits elections are reflected accurately in all systems and reports
• Support coordination of leaves of absence through the state of Massachusetts Paid Family and Medical Leave program

Compliance & Record Keeping

• Ensure employee compliance with mandatory trainings
• Support schools in managing and reporting workplace injury concerns and worker’s compensation claims and ensure organizational compliance with relevant local, state, and federal regulations
• Manage all personnel records within the portfolio and ensure compliance with local, state, and federal record-keeping regulations
• Fulfill internal or external data requests, such as worker's compensation income reporting and income verification, thoroughly and in a timely manner while maintaining appropriate confidentiality
• Manage our Human Resources Information System (ADP), payroll, and time and attendance systems

Employee & Leader Support

• Manage HR-related vendor relationships, including with HR broker and other support partners, and escalate employee issues when necessary
• Respond to inquiries from employees, supervisors, and external contacts with empathy and efficiency, referring complex and/or sensitive matters to the appropriate leaders

Network HR Duties & Projects

• Drive HR initiatives, cross-functional projects, and org-wide HR priorities
• Lead the development and implementation of HR policies, procedures, and tools
• Participate in team planning, data analysis, and reporting to support network-level decision-making

Compliance

• Oversee the district’s compliance with federal and state employment laws including but not limited to Title IX, the Americans with Disabilities Act, and the Equal Employment Opportunity Act.
• Act as a Title IX coordinator

Who We’re Looking For

We seek outstanding leaders with the following qualifications:

• Bachelors degree or higher required
• Minimum 5 years of experience in Human Resources in a school setting or non-profit with at least 2 years in a leadership role is required.
• Familiarity with federal and Massachusetts state employment law and compliance activities required
• Experience working in a K-12 public charter school preferred
• Experience with Google suite, ADP HR information system, and Asana preferred
• SHRM-CP or SHRM-SCP Certification is a plus

In addition, the ideal candidate has the following competencies:

• Show me the Outcomes: Filters every decision through the lens of potential impact on the organization, our schools, and our scholars
• High Demand, High Support: Sets a high bar for self, colleagues, and the people we serve
• Crew: Demonstrated belief that working with a diverse crew - with a range of perspectives, backgrounds, and communication styles, across schools, leadership teams, and external stakeholders – makes us stronger and seeks to uncover and address personal biases and structural inequities
• It's Your Ship: Takes collective responsibility for the success of the organization
• Challenge, Challenge: Sees difficult problems as opportunities to increase capacity and grow skills and seeks out, and improves through, feedback
• “Front-of-the-room” Leadership: Communicates clearly and strategically, both verbally and in written form, and is able to lead effectively with campus and network leaders and the board
• Proactive Systems Thinking: Identifies trends in data, correctly anticipates a need, and then builds a network-wide system that addresses it
• Detail Orientation & Organization: Maintains high standards of precision and reliability and strong personal organizational systems
• Constructive Collaboration: Develops trust-based partnerships and collaborates effectively across schools, leadership teams, and external stakeholders
• Professional Discretion: Understands the sensitivity of employee matters and respects confidentiality
• Flexibility & Boundary-holding: Balances setting guardrails for human resource compliance for the organization with adaptability and creative problem-solving
• Compliance with Care: Supports our Alma crew on employee relations matters with respect and care, considering HR standards and laws while addressing the human in each situation

Compensation: Salary and title will commensurate with experience. The starting salary range is $100,000 to $120,000 annually.

Alma del Mar is an equal opportunity employer and an organization that values diversity. People from all diverse backgrounds and identities are strongly encouraged to apply. Spanish language proficiency is a plus.