Director of People Services - job 1 of 2

About Nava

Nava is a consultancy and public benefit corporation working to make government services simple, effective, and accessible to all. Since 2013, federal, state, and local government agencies have trusted Nava to build transformative digital services to help people access public benefits. Meeting our mission is an opportunity to restore trust between people and public institutions. We focus on populations that are the least protected because the stakes are higher.

As a client services company, we work with government agencies to improve how people apply for benefits, navigate their health care, and more. We bill for our time, selling our expertise and problem-solving methodology to government clients. Our clients hire us to help improve their products and services so that their users and beneficiaries have a better customer experience.

These end-users—the humans who benefit from our work—are at the core of everything we do. We research beneficiaries’ needs to help our government clients better deliver on their missions, providing everyone at Nava opportunities to do meaningful, impactful work.

Position summary

This Director of People Services is for leading all aspects of the company’s people services function and the execution of a strong employee experience. You will build and manage a high-performing team responsible for delivering people services and solutions in a high-growth environment. Your team will help cultivate and sustain a diverse and inclusive environment where employees feel valued and able to do their best work. You will build strong relationships with employees, serve as a thought partner to people managers, and stay informed of federal, state, and local guidelines affecting people operations and human resources.

This seasoned, values-based leader is responsible for managing all People functions to include the vision, strategy, and execution of a strong employee experience and talent management; supporting organizational effectiveness as a delivery-first professional services company; culture programs aimed at advancing our mission; diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives to enhance all aspects of the workplace; and partnering across organizational boundaries with the delivery, growth, and operational teams to improve business results. This person is an integral member of company executive leadership and will report to the COO.

Opportunities & Challenges

Nava provides the opportunity to do meaningful, impactful, mission-oriented work. As a public benefit corporation, the people who work at Nava have a fiduciary duty to our stated mission: to improve the accessibility, effectiveness, and simplicity of government services. When identifying and pursuing opportunities we must ensure that we are well suited to win and deliver successfully, but also evaluate the work against our mission and values. This is a high bar, but it's why we're here, and it informs what we do and how we operate across all phases of the business.

You will work as part of a remote-first team to deliver the highest quality internal support and solutions to employees at scale in a fast-growing company. Nava is ~450 people today, and the Director of People Services will be integral to helping Nava scale gracefully over the next several years and become a more mature delivery and consulting firm. Critical to this role will be the ability to continuously enhance delivery of people services, and you will play an instrumental role in developing our employees’ experience, skills, and sense of well-being. As a proven leader, you bring joy to your team’s work and the work of all at Nava, build trust in all interactions, elevate your team and company employees, serve as a role model for others, and understand the challenges and business realities of our industry. You will be able to recognize, balance, and double down on what makes Nava different from competitors, while being able to mature our company and team with sound decisions, practices, and techniques. You will also be able to skillfully deploy a high-touch human resources business partner model.

Like all executives at Nava, we are seeking “T-shaped” candidates – people with vertical depth of expertise in People Services who are strong horizontal leaders and communicators across organizational boundaries. In particular, we are looking for a leader who will deeply understand our goals, business, delivery approach, and mission, before bringing their expertise to the table to help us get there.

• Management of the company's policies, procedures and handbook, including the development and management of people policies in accordance with organizational goals, industry trends, and labor laws and regulations.
• Monitoring and supporting the company’s people systems and databases, including the HRIS, as well as recommending software for addressing the needs of employees.
• Effectively interpreting key laws and regulations as they affect employees, including the ADA, ADEA, EPA, FLSA, FMLA, ACA, IRCA, and other important federal and state standards.
• Identifying and supporting all required compliance standards, as well as responding to and maintaining support for any annual or other audits, including those specifically related to government contractors.
• Nava is a unionized workplace, so this role must negotiate and administer negotiated labor contracts and agreements, while ensuring effective working relationships between company management and the union.
• Ensuring the accuracy of all benefits enrollments in company systems to provide employees and vendors with accurate and timely information, responding to 401(k) inquiries from employees related to enrollment, plan changes, and contribution amounts, enrollment of employees with carriers and processing life status changes.
• Managing a high-level of service and timely responses to benefits inquiries from managers and employees on plan provisions, benefits enrollments, status changes and other general inquiries, assisting employees with benefits claim issues and plan changes, assisting with the open enrollment process, partnering with benefits brokers to craft practical benefit plans for employees, and providing required notices and ensuring benefit plans are managed in compliance.
• Ensuring accurate and timely processing and support of all leave-of-absence requests and disability paperwork.
• Overseeing the management of employee relations processes and procedures to enable effective management, conflict resolution, and problem solving, including identifying and implementing appropriate employee action and accountability practices.
• Identifying a fair and inclusive process appropriate for employee concerns or grievances including overseeing employee fact-finding and ensuring adherence to employee relations policies and practices.
• Providing strategic support, thought partnership, and coaching to all levels of the company, including monitoring changes across the company to identify potential employee relations risks and develop plans to address proactively.
• Providing guidance and coaching to managers of all levels to address employee behavior and performance, including guidance and assistance with the development and delivery of appropriate performance feedback or action plans including corrective/disciplinary actions.

• 10+ years of progressive People Operations management experience, including 5+ years as an senior People Operations Leader
• BS/BA required, Masters preferred; PHR or SHRM certification preferred
• Experience building People teams in a professional services context, where delivery staff and consultants may come from a large range of backgrounds and experience levels
• A seasoned, experienced leader in the field of People Operations and human resources with a customer service mindset and desire to see individuals reach their full potential
• Ability to independently implement strategies and services and in a fast-paced, dynamic, and growing environment while maintaining alignment across organizational boundaries
• Capacity and resilience to develop, build, and grow strong working relationships at all levels of leadership, management, and the organization
• High level of personal integrity, ethics, motivation, and ability to foster mutual respect and inclusion
• Experience managing high-performing employees and teams in the field of people operations and human resources
• Proficiency in GSuite, Slack, Zoom, Excel, Apple computers, and other tools used to support a remote-work environment
• Ability to work independently with little supervision
• Extraordinary discretion, confidentiality, flexibility, and willingness to work closely with a cross-functional team

• Experience with a federal government contractor is a plus, as is experience with software used to manage government contracts

Other requirements

All roles at Nava require the following:

●  Must be legally authorized to work in the United States and meet any other requirements for government contracts for which they are hired.

●  Candidates offered a job at Nava must have work authorization that does not require visa sponsorship, either currently or in the future. Please be aware that most of our positions require U.S. citizenship or a green card.

●  May be subject to a government security investigation and must meet eligibility requirements for access to classified information or applicants who are eligible for security clearances.

Perks working with Nava

● Competitive benefits: We prioritize your well-being, offering highly competitive medical, dental, and vision benefits.

● Generous time off: Enjoy 20 days of accrued PTO, 12 paid federal holidays, 5 prorated floating holidays, and unlimited sick leave.

● Annual discretionary bonus: Paid annually to eligible employees. When Nava does well, you do well.

● Parental leave: Receive 16 weeks of fully paid parental leave and weekly meal deliveries during your leave.

● Employee wellness program: Access our comprehensive Employee Wellness Program.

● Virtual doctor visits: Enjoy zero copay virtual doctor visits through UHC.

● Fertility support: Benefit from fertility support and treatment options.

● Sabbatical leave: We offer a sabbatical leave program.

● 401k contributions: We match 4% of your salary in 401k contributions.

● Flexible work arrangements: We offer flexible work arrangements to suit your needs.

● Home office setup: Receive assistance with your home office setup and a monthly phone allowance.

● Utilities reimbursement: Get a monthly partial reimbursement for utilities (where applicable).

● Learning and development: Access our comprehensive learning and development program.

● Tuition and Professional development budget: Receive a prorated annual tuition and professional development budget and a LinkedIn Learning license.

● Equity stock options: Benefit from equity stock options.

● Employee referral program: Participate in our employee referral program.

● Commuter benefits: Enjoy commuter benefits.

● Insurance coverage: Receive short and long-term disability insurance, as well as life and accidental death insurance.

● Inclusive culture: Join our diverse, inclusive, highly collaborative, and vibrant culture that supports remote work.

Location

We have fully remote options if you reside in one of the following states:

Alabama, Arizona, California, Colorado, DC, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Louisiana, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Nevada, North Carolina, New Jersey, New York, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Texas, Tennessee, Utah, Virginia, Washington, Wisconsin.

*If you are not living in one of the states listed above, unfortunately, you will not be considered for a position at this time. 

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Nava PBC equal opportunity employer that is deeply committed to diversity and inclusion in the workplace. We prohibit discrimination and harassment of any kind based on race, color, age, gender, religious or political beliefs, national origin or heritage, marital status, disability, sex, sexual orientation or gender identity, genetic information, pregnancy, status as a protected veteran or any characteristic protected by federal, state, or local laws. Our commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion not only reflects our values as a public benefit corporation but also enriches our ability to do our work. Learn more about where we are today and hope to be by 2025.

Please contact the recruiting team at recruiting@navapbc.com if you would like to request reasonable accommodation during the application or interviewing process.  

We participate in E-Verify. Upon hire, we will provide the federal government with your Form I-9 information to confirm that you are authorized to work in the U.S. This role requires you to work from the contiguous United States.