Hiring Vice President and Chief Human Resources Officer at California Institute of the Arts, Valencia

California Institute of the Arts (CalArts) the first and only degree-granting institution of higher learning in the U.S. created specifically for students of both the visual and performing arts is seeking a strategic and collaborative leader to serve as the Vice President and Chief Human Resources Officer (VP & CHRO). Reporting to the President, the VP & CHRO will collaborate with academic and administrative leaders across the Institute, provide overall vision, strategic and operational leadership as well as policy guidance and direct management of the Institutes HR area in support of CalArts distinctive mission. The VP & CHRO will join the leadership team of a groundbreaking and forward-thinking artistic community.

CalArts Human Resources Overview

CalArts HR is supported by a team of seven human resources professionals who deliver innovative and customer-focused HR services to a diverse workforce of approximately 430 faculty, 480 staff, and 500 student employees. Overseeing an annual operating budget of approximately $1.1 million, the VP & CHRO is responsible for all HR operations, including: talent management and retention; compensation and benefits; performance management; employee and labor relations; leadership and organizational development; HRIS administration; and compliance and policy administration. Additionally, while the Chief Financial Officer has primary responsibility for overseeing the $11.2 million benefits budget, the VP & CHRO is responsible for managing that benefits budget, which includes managing two brokers providing the workers’ compensation and health and welfare benefits programs, and a vendor for the 403(b) retirement plan.

The VP & CHRO serves as a trusted advisor and strategic partner to CalArts’ President, Ravi S. Rajan, and the presidents senior leadership team, which includes all VPs and school Deans. As the principal steward for the Institutes employees faculty, staff and students the VP & CHRO will be responsible for executing a strategic vision for HR that complements CalArts financial and operational plans while ensuring a high-level of innovation, transparency, collaboration, and accountability to stakeholders, and additionally, better supports the needs of its employees and their ongoing professional growth.

President Rajan has prioritized additional investment in those who work at CalArts as among the most important endeavors in the coming five years and beyond. The VP & CHRO will support efforts to achieve the Institutes strategic priorities and lead staff development programs and initiatives to increase employee engagement and retention.

The full position description can be viewed here.

Personal and Professional Qualifications

The VP & CHRO will be a strategic leader with a deep commitment and passion to serving the needs of faculty, staff, and student employees with accuracy and responsiveness. Additionally, the VP & CHRO will work closely with key partners, including the offices of the Provost, General Counsel, and Facilities Development and Management to evolve CalArts HR operations and practices.

The qualities successful candidates will bring to the role include:

• Leadership skills and capability to develop a clear vision and strategy, guide a team to execute at a high-level of excellence, engage the campus as partners in the overarching goal of optimizing HR.
• A commitment to the values of diversity, equity, inclusion, and access in all of its forms.

• Strong communication, negotiation, and conflict-resolution skills, with the ability to galvanize trust and build relationships across all Institute constituencies.

• The ability to galvanize trust and build relationships across all Institute constituencies.
• Openness to delivering transparent, crisp, digestible communications, especially when messaging about transformative cultural shifts and broad policy changes.

• Ability to ensure the human resources department is run effectively and that processes are consistent with policies as a decisive, hands-on, results-oriented manager.

• Demonstrated commitment to the development of employees as individuals; tangible examples of success in creating employee development programs and a culture of employee support; demonstrated cases of increasing employee engagement across a wide variety of talent, experiences, and activities; and the establishment and maintenance of strong employee relationships.
• Consistent record of fostering, supporting, and implementing policies that contribute to wellness in an organization.
• Experience with compensation frameworks and establishing guidelines to support compensation and classifications.
• Experience leading negotiations with faculty and with staff on salary and benefits matters.
• Knowledge of employee benefits programs, including retirement plans and ancillary benefits.
• Ability to serve as the primary point of contact for union leadership and members, fostering positive, constructive relationships and addressing concerns related to contract terms, grievances, and labor issues.
• Knowledge to oversee the interpretation, application, and enforcement of collective bargaining agreements (CBAs), ensuring compliance with terms and resolving any possible disputes.

The successful candidate must have a bachelors degree with an advanced degree preferred. Additionally, the following qualifications are preferred:

• SHRM Senior Certified Professional (SHRM-SCP) or SHRM Certified Professional (SHRM-CP) credentials.
• Extensive higher education experience strongly preferred, including an understanding of the needs and differing responsibilities of faculty employees vs. staff employees and shared governance structures in a higher education context; or alternatively large (1000+ employee) non-profit experience including navigating board-employee dynamics and a unionized workforce.
• Familiarity with California-specific labor and employment requirements.
• Knowledge of labor laws, regulations, and union operations, and ability to build and maintain positive working relationships with union representatives and internal stakeholders.
• Previous experience managing complex collective bargaining activities, from negotiation preparation through contract execution and ongoing implementation, with demonstrated ability to achieve favorable outcomes for the organization and employees.

The annual salary range for this position is $200,000-$250,000, plus moving allowance and signing bonus. CalArts offers excellent benefits, including medical, dental, retirement, paid time off, and tuition benefits.

California Institute of the Arts (CalArts) seeks to employ faculty and staff who can engage our diverse communities of learners at the highest levels of artistic endeavor and critical thinking. Across the range of practitioners from artists to scholars and librarians, we welcome candidates who possess a demonstrated worldview and cultural competency to support teaching and mentoring undergraduate and graduate students of varied backgrounds, capabilities, perspectives, social identities, and gender expressions. CalArts is an equal opportunity employer.

CalArts has retained Opus Partners (www.opuspartners.net) to support this recruitment. Craig Smith, Senior Partner, Ann K. Adams, Associate Partner, and Marisea Rivera, Senior Associate, are leading the search. Inquiries, applications, and nominations should go to [email protected]. The search process will unfold with the greatest possible attention to candidate confidentiality.

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Human Resources

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