Vice President, People & Culture

Job description

Description

WHO WE'RE LOOKING FOR 

The VP, People & Culture is responsible for leading CapMetro’s people strategy and overseeing a modern, business-aligned People and Culture function. This role is instrumental in developing and executing strategic initiatives that support the organization’s mission, vision, and long-term goals.   The VP, People & Culture oversees all People and Culture functions, including Learning and Development, Total Rewards, Employee Resource Center, Talent Acquisition and Management, Employee Engagement, and Workforce Planning.

Reporting to the EVP, Chief Administrative Officer/EEO Officer, the VP, People & Culture works closely with senior leadership to ensure that talent strategies align with business objectives. This leader plays a critical role in enabling CapMetro to scale effectively, foster a high-performance culture, and leverage the strengths of the inclusive workforce. The VP, People & Culture is a strategic business advisor and change agent who is skilled in designing and implementing innovative people strategies, modernizing P&C operations, and positioning the agency for the future. This role guides CapMetro’ s workforce strategy to enhance organizational effectiveness, increase employee engagement, and ensure long-term workforce sustainability.

Responsibilities

WHAT YOU'LL BE DOING

Note: The duties and primary responsibilities below are intended to describe the general content of and requirements of this job and are not intended to be an exhaustive statement of duties. 

People & Culture Strategy
•    Develop and execute the People and Culture strategy aligned with CapMetro’ s mission, values, and goals.
•    Set the vision for the People & Culture function, developing future HR leaders and ensuring alignment between strategic objectives and operational execution.
•    Champion initiatives that cultivate a scalable, inclusive, and healthy culture aligned with CapMetro’ s mission and values during periods of transformation and growth.

Leadership Development & Succession Planning
•    Design and lead a comprehensive internal executive development program, including milestone planning, 360-degree feedback processes, and stretch assignments.
•    Provide 1:1 executive coaching for C-level leaders to strengthen individual and team performance.
•    Oversee the creation and implementation of succession planning and leadership development frameworks that support a strong leadership bench and reinforce CapMetro’ s core values and culture.
•    Develop and deploy a holistic management training program for leaders at all levels, building consistent leadership practices and core management skills.

Organizational Design & Change Management
•    Drive organizational design and change management initiatives that enable scale and performance.
•    Collaborate with executive leadership on organization design initiatives that optimize structure, efficiency, and performance.
•    Drive frameworks for talent calibration, change communication, and team transition planning to ensure agility and resilience through agency growth.

Operational Excellence & Systems
•    Optimize efficiencies and performance across operations through targeted support programs, standardized processes, and implementation of scalable HRIS and systems to enable data-driven decision-making and consistency.
•    Partner with Finance on labor budgets and workforce cost forecasting.

Executive & Strategic Advisory
•    Serve as a strategic advisor to the CEO and executive leadership on all people-related matters, shaping agency direction through people-centered strategies and insights.
•    Support Capital Metropolitan Transportation Authority’s Safety Management Systems (SMS) process by ensuring staff follow safety and security policies, consider safety in every action, and ensure safety and security concerns are reported. 
•    Perform other duties as required and/or assigned. 

Qualifications

WHAT YOU BRING

•    Bachelor's degree in human resources, Business Management, Public Administration, or related field. Relevant experience may substitute for the required degree.
•    Fifteen (15) years of experience in human resources as a high performer, including ten (10) years of demonstrated HR leadership and people management experience.
•    Prefer a master's degree in human resources, Business Management, Public Administration, or related field as well as one or more SPHR, SHRM-SCP, PHR, SHRM-CP, CCP, CBP, or CEBS certifications.

Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities:
•    Able to succeed in a fast-paced environment with competing and changing priorities and tight deadlines.
•    Strong management, coaching, training, and team development skills 
•    A relentless internal-customer focus
•    Strong understanding of people best practices, industry standards, and curiosity for emerging people-oriented trends
•    Prior success in creating and leading initiatives that attract, develop, and retain high-potential talent in a dynamic, fast-paced environment.
•    Proven success in designing and implementing diversity-enhancing programs and practices.
•    Experience implementing HR policies and procedures using technology that improve operations, including HRIS, and performance management systems.
•    Demonstrated expertise in developing HR plans for high growth, including driving talent acquisition and organizational development, evaluating and revamping compensation plans/salary structures, and overseeing the administration of compensation/benefits and employee relations.
•    Enthusiastic and energetic thought leader who thrives in a collaborative environment and has a creative, engaging, and people-focused attitude.
•    Creative problem solver who can navigate current challenges while strategically planning for periods of hypergrowth and work in a very fast-paced, ever-evolving environment.
•    Superb interpersonal skills with the ability to develop and maintain effective relationships with senior business leaders, managers, and peers. Exceptional written and oral communication skills with strong negotiation and influencing skills.
 

WORK ENVIRONMENT AND PHYSICAL DEMANDS 
Work is generally performed in an office environment in which there is only minimal exposure to unpleasant and/or hazardous working conditions. This position works with multiple project timelines and is responsible for managing employees performing work of a complex nature. 

Incumbent must be able to stand and sit frequently throughout an eight-hour period, reach vertically for overhead use, and horizontally. Must be able to use a telephone or headset equipment. 
Incumbents must be able to lift and move material weighing up to 20 lbs., perform work at a computer terminal for 6-8 hours a day, and function in an environment with constant interruptions.

Reasonable accommodation may be made to enable individuals with disability to perform the essential functions as previously described.

Mobility Status:
As a Hybrid position, onsite presence is guided by team collaboration needs, customer and front-line team member interactions, and role responsibilities. People leaders will set expectations for onsite presence; however, incumbents are generally encouraged to work 8 to 12 days in the office per month. Mobility status is subject to change at any time based on business needs or organizational decisions.

SECURITY SENSITIVE POSITION 
This position has been identified as a “Security Sensitive” position.  CapMetro will conduct annual background checks on incumbents in this position.  A position is “Security Sensitive” if its incumbent handles currency, has access to sensitive computerized databases, has access to master keys, or works in an area of the CapMetro that has been designated as a security-sensitive area. 

About
CapMetro is Austin's regional public transportation provider. We've been around since 1985 and work every day to give residents, commuters, and visitors the best possible transit options available to match their busy everyday lives.

We're always on the move, connecting people with jobs, schools, restaurants, shops, festivals, and other great places to hang out. In fact, we have more than 31 million boardings each year.