Position Summary

The Associate Director, Human Resources serves as a trusted advisor and strategic partner to regional and school leadership. This role drives organizational effectiveness, cultivates an inclusive and high-performing culture, and proactively anticipates workforce needs to ensure Rocketship remains an exceptional place to work and grow.

Operating with high autonomy, the Associate Director of Human Resources makes independent, values-aligned decisions that strengthen leadership capacity, mitigate risk, and drive long-term talent outcomes across schools and regions.

This position reports directly to the Regional Executive Director and maintains a dotted-line reporting relationship to the Director of Human Resources. This dual-reporting structure ensures this role is deeply embedded in regional priorities while staying aligned with national HR strategy, compliance, and culture. This role liaises primarily between school communities and the region and supports regional and network alignment, helping to drive strategic initiatives, talent alignment, and operational excellence.

Core Competencies

• Strategic Judgment: Applies sound judgment in complex, high-impact decisions.
• Influence without Authority: Gains buy-in and alignment across diverse stakeholders.
• Relationship Building: Develops trust and credibility at every level of the organization.
• Innovation: Challenges assumptions, designs creative solutions, and drives improvement.
• Coaching & Development: Elevates leaders and teams through tailored guidance and feedback.

Essential Functions

Strategic Partnership & Leadership

• Serve as a thought partner to regional and school leaders, translating organizational strategy into actionable people plans that drive engagement, retention, and performance.
• Make independent, sound HR decisions; balance compliance with business judgment and empathy.
• Anticipate workforce trends and recommend proactive strategies to address turnover, leadership readiness, and culture health.
• Lead and coach leaders through organizational change, conflict, and performance management with discretion and composure.
• Collaborates with the recruiting team on a weekly basis to review hiring progress, share key updates, and provide regional leadership with timely recruitment insights and data.

Relationship Building & Influence

• Build deep, trust-based partnerships across executive, school, and support teams to influence without authority.
• Foster strong collaboration with Talent, Program, and other cross-functional partners to align systems and practices.
• Act as a cultural leader who models open communication, inclusivity, and professional accountability.
• Maintains key partnerships with the Recruitment team and external talent pipelines.

Leadership Development

• Design and deliver targeted development sessions for school and regional leaders to strengthen performance management, coaching, and compliance acumen.
• Partner with the Talent team to identify developmental gaps and co-create scalable solutions that enhance the employee experience.
• Use data and feedback (surveys, exit trends, engagement) to shape culture and inform action planning.

Employee Relations & Risk Management

• Lead and resolve complex employee relations matters with fairness, urgency, and discretion.
• Conduct objective investigations and provide clear, consistent recommendations.
• Coach managers on performance management and disciplinary actions, ensuring equitable application of policies and values alignment.

Operational Excellence

• Drive HR project execution and process improvements across regions.
• Partner with Talent Operations and Legal to ensure compliance with all applicable federal, state, and local employment laws.
• Use data analytics to identify trends and measure the effectiveness of human resource initiatives.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree required; advanced degree or HR certification (PHR/SPHR/SHRM-CP/SCP) preferred.
• 8+ years of progressive HR experience, including direct HRBP or HR leadership experience in a multi-site organization.
• Proven ability to make autonomous, strategic HR decisions in complex or ambiguous environments.
• Advanced critical thinking, problem-solving, and influencing skills.
• Expertise in employee relations, organizational development, and change management.
• Exceptional interpersonal and communication skills, with the ability to tailor messages to varied audiences.
• Deep commitment to Rocketship's mission and values.

Additional Details

• This role is hybrid, and will require consistent travel to schools based on needs.
• Travel up to 30% may be required across regions.
• Requires independent transportation to schools within the region supported.

$95,000 - $105,000 a year

Physical Demands:

The physical demands described here are representative of those that must be met by an employee to successfully perform the essential functions of this position. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the functions. While performing the duties of this position, the employee is regularly required to talk, hear, and communicate with both adults and children. The employee frequently is required to use hands or fingers, handle or feel objects, tools, or controls. The employee is frequently required to stand; walk; sit; and reach with hands and arms. The employee must occasionally lift and/or move up to 50 pounds and occasionally climb ladders. Specific vision abilities required by this position include close vision, distance vision, and the ability to adjust focus. The noise level in the work environment is moderate to high.

Compensation:

Commensurate with qualifications and experience, plus excellent health and wellness benefits, 403b retirement plan, flexible spending account (FSA), and generous paid time off.