Understood
Overview
Chief People & Culture Officer
An organization like no other
Founded in 2012, Understood.org is on a mission to shape the world for difference so every individual can thrive. We’re a leading social impact organization focused on neurodiversity; the idea that differences in how people's brains work are natural variations, and includes learning and thinking differences, such as ADHD or dyslexia. Over the past 13 years we’ve evolved from a content-only website focused on empowering parents and their children to a behavior change organization delivering interventions at-scale, across multiple digital platforms to empower children and adults reaching roughly 20M people globally per year.
Led by the two Co-Founders and two Co-Presidents (one our CMO and the other our CTO), and the Chief People & Culture Officer (this role), we’re not a typical non-profit. We are commercially-driven, operate like a business; recruiting best-in-class talent and leveraging new technologies and AI, and using knowledge to reimagine how we deliver impact. There’s a dedicated and curious team of 106 full-time people, primarily in-office, with backgrounds ranging from psychologists, researchers, and former teachers to engineers, futurists, technologists, creatives, marketers, and more. The team works with our roster of more than 100 external experts to ensure those who learn and think differently can thrive.
A challenge like no other
We all learn and think differently. Research shows that roughly 20% of the US population is neurodivergent and this is a conservative estimate. Recent studies show that due to increased awareness and testing capabilities, upward of 50% of Gen Z identifies as neurodivergent. The addressable market is more than 70 million people, and by looking at trends in search volume, online conversations, and new market entrants, the opportunity for impact is significant and the time is now. We are proud to have a workforce comprising 33% neurodivergent employees. To align our people strategy with our business mission, we are working to be the model neurodivergent workplace with the best talent, and the best culture for our teams to do their best work.
This is where you come in.
An opportunity to change the game
The Chief People & Culture Officer (CPCO) reports directly to the Co-Founder & CEO, is a member of the Executive Leadership Team, and is responsible for leading the business alongside the Co-Presidents. You are a central voice for the company, both internally and externally. You will craft the vision for how the organization can reimagine how we work and leverage our talent to drive impact at scale.
You will bring a strategic business approach to the employee lifecycle that is instrumental in driving organizational results, both short and long term, fostering a high-performing culture, and ensuring we have the talent and capabilities to achieve our mission.
What you will do
Provide Strategic Leadership:
Create and modify our strategy and operating plan to achieve our vision and to deliver value over time.
Shape our People Strategy:
Define and execute a comprehensive people strategy that aligns with our organizational goals and values. This includes:
Ensure we have the talent, skills/tools, culture/development and economic resources to execute the strategy and operational plan. Develop cross-functional plans and align leaders for greater collaboration.
Build and Nurture our Culture:
Develop and coach high-performing leaders cultivating a culture of agility, collaboration, inclusivity, and continuous improvement across the organization.
Develop our Talent:
Empower and enable leaders to execute the operating plan to ensure the work is delivered, within the framework, and with the right resources.
Ensure Operational Excellence:
Oversee the HR function, including benefits administration, compensation, compliance, employee relations, and the operations of our New York City headquarters.
Represent Understood externally:
Shape and protect a powerful Understood brand that sets the standard for the one in five with learning and thinking differences. Serve as an external representative and spokesperson, delivering the Understood narrative to drive awareness and grow our leadership position. Enthusiastically discharge all other responsibilities as assigned by the Co-Founder and CEO.
The experience and traits you bring
A passion for the Understood mission: Shaping the world so every individual—at any age—can thrive. 15+ years of business and HR leadership experience, with roles of increasing responsibility and complexity; leading the development of an organizational-wide strategy, HR business partnership, and the implementation thereof. Exceptional ability to influence and partner with senior leaders. Deep expertise in developing senior leaders, and an agile growth-minded team. A sharp eye for operational efficiency and optimal use of resources; deep understanding of budgets and proven success managing them. An aptitude for using data and metrics in decision-making and evaluating the success of people and programs alike. Strong history of identifying and scaling relationships with partners to produce successful solutions with a customer-centric focus. Ability to see around the corner, readily uncover hidden implications, anticipate challenges, and take pleasure in promoting a confident problem-solving culture. A leadership style that is open, fluid, insists on proactive communication and delegation, and empowers staff, always placing their work within the context of Understood’s overarching goals, while celebrating achievements and setting clear expectations for future success. The capacity to think strategically, with others, in a manner that transcends any vexing concerns of the moment. A liveliness of intellect and comfort operating in a fast-paced environment; a record of innovation, creativity, and invention achieved by working collaboratively with others. Sensitivity to group dynamics and familiarity with C-suite leadership, along with a keen awareness of and antenna for differing opinions represented by various stakeholders, and the ability to reconcile any differences in a manner that advances Understood’s mission. Decisive, innovative, and flexible with the ability to compromise. Ability to see around the corner, readily uncover hidden implications, anticipate challenges, and take pleasure in promoting a confident problem-solving culture. Example-setting judgment and diplomacy, and the strictest regard for managing sensitive and confidential information. Keen ability to hear what is not being said and perceive what is not readily understood.
Finally, the successful CPCO will be an integral member of a small and close-knit community. Active engagement in the community will be critical, along with integrity, warmth, emotional security, self-awareness, and a good sense of humor.
Applications, Nominations, & Inquiries
Lionel Anderson and Kate Gerard of JM Search have been retained to assist with this recruitment. Confidential inquiries, nominations/referrals, and expressions of interest (a résumé accompanied by a letter of intent that addresses the specifics of the above charge) should be submitted immediately via the Apply button.
#J-18808-Ljbffr
An organization like no other
Founded in 2012, Understood.org is on a mission to shape the world for difference so every individual can thrive. We’re a leading social impact organization focused on neurodiversity; the idea that differences in how people's brains work are natural variations, and includes learning and thinking differences, such as ADHD or dyslexia. Over the past 13 years we’ve evolved from a content-only website focused on empowering parents and their children to a behavior change organization delivering interventions at-scale, across multiple digital platforms to empower children and adults reaching roughly 20M people globally per year.
Led by the two Co-Founders and two Co-Presidents (one our CMO and the other our CTO), and the Chief People & Culture Officer (this role), we’re not a typical non-profit. We are commercially-driven, operate like a business; recruiting best-in-class talent and leveraging new technologies and AI, and using knowledge to reimagine how we deliver impact. There’s a dedicated and curious team of 106 full-time people, primarily in-office, with backgrounds ranging from psychologists, researchers, and former teachers to engineers, futurists, technologists, creatives, marketers, and more. The team works with our roster of more than 100 external experts to ensure those who learn and think differently can thrive.
A challenge like no other
We all learn and think differently. Research shows that roughly 20% of the US population is neurodivergent and this is a conservative estimate. Recent studies show that due to increased awareness and testing capabilities, upward of 50% of Gen Z identifies as neurodivergent. The addressable market is more than 70 million people, and by looking at trends in search volume, online conversations, and new market entrants, the opportunity for impact is significant and the time is now. We are proud to have a workforce comprising 33% neurodivergent employees. To align our people strategy with our business mission, we are working to be the model neurodivergent workplace with the best talent, and the best culture for our teams to do their best work.
This is where you come in.
An opportunity to change the game
The Chief People & Culture Officer (CPCO) reports directly to the Co-Founder & CEO, is a member of the Executive Leadership Team, and is responsible for leading the business alongside the Co-Presidents. You are a central voice for the company, both internally and externally. You will craft the vision for how the organization can reimagine how we work and leverage our talent to drive impact at scale.
You will bring a strategic business approach to the employee lifecycle that is instrumental in driving organizational results, both short and long term, fostering a high-performing culture, and ensuring we have the talent and capabilities to achieve our mission.
What you will do
Provide Strategic Leadership:
Create and modify our strategy and operating plan to achieve our vision and to deliver value over time.
Shape our People Strategy:
Define and execute a comprehensive people strategy that aligns with our organizational goals and values. This includes:
Ensure we have the talent, skills/tools, culture/development and economic resources to execute the strategy and operational plan. Develop cross-functional plans and align leaders for greater collaboration.
Build and Nurture our Culture:
Develop and coach high-performing leaders cultivating a culture of agility, collaboration, inclusivity, and continuous improvement across the organization.
Develop our Talent:
Empower and enable leaders to execute the operating plan to ensure the work is delivered, within the framework, and with the right resources.
Ensure Operational Excellence:
Oversee the HR function, including benefits administration, compensation, compliance, employee relations, and the operations of our New York City headquarters.
Represent Understood externally:
Shape and protect a powerful Understood brand that sets the standard for the one in five with learning and thinking differences. Serve as an external representative and spokesperson, delivering the Understood narrative to drive awareness and grow our leadership position. Enthusiastically discharge all other responsibilities as assigned by the Co-Founder and CEO.
The experience and traits you bring
A passion for the Understood mission: Shaping the world so every individual—at any age—can thrive. 15+ years of business and HR leadership experience, with roles of increasing responsibility and complexity; leading the development of an organizational-wide strategy, HR business partnership, and the implementation thereof. Exceptional ability to influence and partner with senior leaders. Deep expertise in developing senior leaders, and an agile growth-minded team. A sharp eye for operational efficiency and optimal use of resources; deep understanding of budgets and proven success managing them. An aptitude for using data and metrics in decision-making and evaluating the success of people and programs alike. Strong history of identifying and scaling relationships with partners to produce successful solutions with a customer-centric focus. Ability to see around the corner, readily uncover hidden implications, anticipate challenges, and take pleasure in promoting a confident problem-solving culture. A leadership style that is open, fluid, insists on proactive communication and delegation, and empowers staff, always placing their work within the context of Understood’s overarching goals, while celebrating achievements and setting clear expectations for future success. The capacity to think strategically, with others, in a manner that transcends any vexing concerns of the moment. A liveliness of intellect and comfort operating in a fast-paced environment; a record of innovation, creativity, and invention achieved by working collaboratively with others. Sensitivity to group dynamics and familiarity with C-suite leadership, along with a keen awareness of and antenna for differing opinions represented by various stakeholders, and the ability to reconcile any differences in a manner that advances Understood’s mission. Decisive, innovative, and flexible with the ability to compromise. Ability to see around the corner, readily uncover hidden implications, anticipate challenges, and take pleasure in promoting a confident problem-solving culture. Example-setting judgment and diplomacy, and the strictest regard for managing sensitive and confidential information. Keen ability to hear what is not being said and perceive what is not readily understood.
Finally, the successful CPCO will be an integral member of a small and close-knit community. Active engagement in the community will be critical, along with integrity, warmth, emotional security, self-awareness, and a good sense of humor.
Applications, Nominations, & Inquiries
Lionel Anderson and Kate Gerard of JM Search have been retained to assist with this recruitment. Confidential inquiries, nominations/referrals, and expressions of interest (a résumé accompanied by a letter of intent that addresses the specifics of the above charge) should be submitted immediately via the Apply button.
#J-18808-Ljbffr