JOB SUMMARY
The SVP, People is a strategic and operational leader responsible for delivering FIRST’s global People strategy across all regions and business lines. This role will lead the core People functions — People Operations, Business Partners, Talent Acquisition, Payroll and Learning & Development — ensuring programs, systems, and processes are effectively executed to foster an efficient, high-performing, inclusive organization.
Partnering closely with the CEO and the executive leadership team, the SVP will translate business -strategy into scalable people initiatives that enable growth, engagement, and excellence. The ideal candidate will bring deep HR operational and technical systems expertise, business acumen, financial and analytical skills, demonstrated success transforming and leading HR teams and a passion for building world-class employee experiences within a creative, fast-paced global and client centric environment.
ESSENTIAL DUTIES & RESPONSIBILITIES
Strategic & Operational Leadership
- Partner with the Executive Leadership Team to develop and operationalize the global People strategy, ensuring alignment with FIRST’s vision, business goals, and values.
- Lead the implementation of People priorities across all regions, including employee engagement, workforce planning, talent development, DEIB, and organizational effectiveness.
- Provide strong leadership to functional People leads and teams, fostering collaboration, accountability, and professional growth.
- Support the development of scalable systems, infrastructure, and programs to enable a consistent global employee experience.
- Serve as a senior advisor to business leaders on organizational design, talent management, and workforce optimization.
- Ensure HR best practices, Future of Work insights, metrics & KPIs, automation and AI opportunities are continuously explored, and adopted as appropriate, to keep FIRST’s People organization operating as “best in class.”
- Rigorously manage financial costs to plan and improve cost/FTE through efficiencies and scale.
People Operations & Compliance
- Oversee global People Operations to ensure efficient and consistent processes, legal compliance, system optimization for seamless and scalable execution globally.
- Ensure HR policies, procedures, and systems are aligned with business needs, local labor laws, and global best practices.
- Oversee compensation frameworks, salary planning and job leveling programs in coordination with Finance, Global Operations and the CEO.
- Manage HR-related audits, compliance reporting, and risk mitigation efforts.
- Champion FIRST’s values and contribute to a culture of belonging, transparency, and collaboration.
Talent Acquisition
- Manage by overseeing the Director, Talent Acquisition to develop and implement recruiting strategies that attract diverse, high-performing talent aligned with FIRST’s culture and client service ethos.
- Ensure the organization’s talent strategy effectively supports both agency and embedded service models.
- Partner with executive sponsors to embed meaningful diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging (DEIB) practices across all People programs.
Business Partnership & Collaboration
- Act as a trusted partner to senior leadership, providing insight and guidance on strategic People decisions.
- Partner with the Director, Business Partnering and the Chief Learning Officer to ensure proactive support to business units and consistency in execution.
- Work cross-functionally with Finance, Legal, Operations, and Communications to ensure alignment and integration of People programs.
- Serve as a point of escalation for complex employee relations, organizational changes, and leadership coaching.
HR Team Leadership & Development
- Lead, mentor, and develop a high-performing global People team, fostering collaboration and professional expertise, and operational excellence.
- Create clarity in team roles, priorities, and deliverables to ensure accountability and alignment across all People verticals.
- Optimize team structure, resource allocation, and operational efficiencies within the function.
Learning & Development & Talent Growth
- Manage by overseeing L&D leader to develop and implement strategies and global programming for learning, development, and performance management that promote growth and retention.
- Design, build, and manage company-wide learning and development programs — from leadership development and management training to continuous skills development and onboarding education.
- Lead efforts to create career paths, succession pipelines, mentoring/coaching programs, and talent retention initiatives.
- Embed a culture of continuous learning, performance excellence, and professional growth across all levels of the organization.
- Drive leadership development and succession planning in partnership with the CEO and business leaders.
- Lead initiatives that drive engagement, performance, and connection across the global employee base.
- Leverage data and insights to measure performance and engagement, identify trends, and propose actions to continuously enhance the employee experience.
Payroll/Benefits/Compensation/HRIS
- Oversee payroll operations staff and ensure accurate, timely processing of payroll for all employees, partnering with finance as needed.
- Manage benefits administration, compensation policy, and compliance with applicable wage, tax, and labor regulations.
- Maintain HRIS systems, data integrity, and reporting frameworks for workforce analytics, payroll, headcount, turnover, and other key HR metrics.
Technical Skills & Desired knowledge, skills, attributes :
- Bachelors Degree and 15+ years of progressive Human Resources / People & Culture experience, including senior leadership roles.
- Experience leading a global HR or People function, ideally within a creative, events, or professional services environment.
- Proven success in building and scaling people programs across multiple regions and business lines.
- Deep expertise across HR disciplines — organizational design, employee relations, operations, talent acquisition, performance management, L&D, compensation, and compliance.
- Demonstrated ability to influence at the executive level and operate as a trusted business advisor.
- Strong strategic thinking and analytical skills, with a bias for action and outcomes.
- Excellent communication, interpersonal, and leadership skills with a collaborative and empathetic approach.
- Bachelor’s degree preferred; advanced degree or HR certification (e.g., SHRM-SCP, CIPD, or equivalent) preferred.
- This role is hybrid and must go into the FIRST office 2 days per week (Tuesdays are mandatory and one additional day, determined by the team), subject to change at any time.
- Requirement for domestic and international travel when necessary
