Director of Human Resources and Talent

Breakthrough is the leading college access and success nonprofit in Central Texas. For more than 20 years, we have partnered with thousands of middle and high school students who aspire to be the first in their family to graduate with a degree or certificate. We make a radical, long-term commitment to students, to and through college, unlocking the power of education and a lifetime of opportunity. We support the whole student with personalized services, work closely with community partners, campuses, and employers, and advocate for our students with lawmakers. Breakthrough students attend 60+ public schools and persist at nearly 100 colleges and universities. The result is that 60% of Breakthrough students graduate from college, compared to 15% of low-income students in our region. Our work has resulted in more than 450 college graduates, with more than 3,500 on their way, positively impacting families for generations and our region’s ability to provide education opportunities for all young people.

• Under the leadership of the COO, support compliance of AmeriCorps regulations, and federal/state grant requirements, including audit readiness, documentation standards, and proactive risk mitigation across all HR systems and practices.
• Support and supervise the AD of AmeriCorps in hiring, placing, onboarding, and evaluating year-round and summer AmeriCorps members.
• Collaborate with the COO and AD of AmeriCorps to work across departments to ensure AmeriCorps members are receiving high-quality supervision, development, and support.
• Act an organizational contact with the state service commission (OneStar) and ensure compliance with all AmeriCorps grant requirements.

You are a strong candidate for the Director of HR and Talent role if, above all, you are a champion for increasing social and economic opportunity through educational attainment. You are a servant leader, and feel at your best in a deep relationship with the communities in which you serve and in collaboration with others you work and partner with. You are passionate about building authentic relationships with staff, AmeriCorps Members, and partners. You bring strong expertise in HR, talent acquisition and development, and the full employee lifecycle, using that knowledge to drive effective, people-centered outcomes. 

• Organizational Culture and Values: Effectively stewards organizational culture and ensures that policies, practice, systems, people strategy, and culture mirror Breakthrough’s values.
• HR and Talent Strategy: Creates cross-organizational partnerships to deliver HR and talent initiatives and training that align with organizational goals, strengthen staff competencies, and drive effectiveness.
• Talent Acquisition & Workforce Planning: Ensures that Breakthrough has the right people in the right roles by developing data-driven strategies to attract, source, and acquire talent and overseeing onboarding.
• Learning, Performance, and Competency Development: Promotes professional development, performance feedback, and skill building and cultivates a culture of continuous learning.
• Employee Experience and Retention: Creates an engaging, inclusive, and supportive work environment by implementing policies, programs, and practices that enhance job satisfaction, belonging, and retention.
• Strategic Project Management: Skilled in leading complex, cross-functional projects, managing multiple priorities, and aligning operational systems to support organizational goals and innovation.
• Operational Integrity and Compliance: Applies HR policies, AmeriCorps state regulations, and federal grant requirements with attention to detail in documentation, reporting, and record-keeping.
• Team Leadership and Culture: Sets priorities, delegates effectively, manages conflict, promotes inclusion, stewards team culture and climate, and coaches the team to ensure steady progress toward goals while maintaining a sense of belonging and connection.
• Talent Development: Coaches, provides effective feedback and training, and supports direct reports to set priorities, build skills, meet goals, and grow toward professional aims.
• Effective Collaboration: Works with colleagues across teams to improve outcomes, resolve conflicts, use meeting time purposefully (including managing time toward clear agendas) while ensuring all participants in collaborative efforts are included and engaged.
• Strategic Thinking: Aligns team strategy with organizational goals and vision and navigates internal and external change with creativity, clarity, confidence, and compassion.
• Cross-Functional Leadership: Leads collaboratively, strategically, and inclusively with other people leaders to set vision, ensure strategic alignment, steward organizational climate and culture,maintain operational efficiency, and create meaningful impact.
• Inclusive Communication: Operates with cultural humility and demonstrates written, verbal, and digital communication skills, in 1:1, small group, and whole group settings, that foster and contribute to an inclusive environment that effectively engages others across diverse identities and experiences.
• Relationship Building: Builds trusting, effective relationships that enable collaboration, productive conflict and dialogue, honest conversations, and authentic partnership with colleagues, students, families, campus staff, volunteers, community partners, donors, and other key stakeholders