Associate Director of People & Culture

Primary Role:

The Associate Director, People & Culture serves as a key strategic and operational partner supporting PAX sapiens' global workforce across its offices in the United States, Austria, and China. As a member of a small, collaborative People & Culture team, this position is expected to contribute across a broad range of HR and organizational initiatives while maintaining primary ownership of assigned functional areas. This role leads talent acquisition, onboarding and offboarding, internship programming, and employee engagement initiatives across the organization while partnering closely with organizational leadership to strengthen culture and advance organizational priorities. The Associate Director operates with a high degree of autonomy and serves as a trusted advisor to managers and leaders across multiple countries and functions.

Reports to:

Director, People & Culture

Job Type:

Full-Time, Exempt, Salaried

Compensation:

The Hiring range for this position is: $110,500 - $120,000 annually

Benefits:

• Benefits for our US-based employees include:
• 15 paid vacation days a year
• 8 paid holidays
• 10 days paid annual sick leave
• Medical, Dental and Vision Benefit options for employees and family members
• Employee Assistance Program
• Hybrid Work from Home/ In-office schedule
• Professional Development Funds

Location:

This position is located at the PAX sapiens headquarters in Broomfield, CO. The PAX office operates on a hybrid in-office/work from home model with Tuesdays and Thursdays in-office.

Primary Responsibilities:

Talent Acquisition & Employee Lifecycle

• Lead full-cycle recruitment for positions across all PAX sapiens offices and programs.
• Partner with managers across multiple countries to identify hiring needs and develop recruitment strategies.
• Manage candidate sourcing, screening, interviewing, reference checking, offer development, and candidate communications.
• Evaluate recruiting processes and recommend improvements to support effective hiring and a positive candidate experience.
• Develop, coordinate, and continuously improve onboarding and offboarding experiences for employees globally, working with local office leadership to support engagement and successful transitions.
• Ensure a consistent and positive employee experience across geographically dispersed teams.
• Support the retention of high-performing, mission-aligned employees through monitoring employee experience and recommending initiatives that strengthen engagement and organizational connection.

Internship Program Development & Management

• Design and implement a global internship program serving PAX sapiens offices and programs.
• Partner with leaders across the organization to identify internship opportunities and staffing needs.
• Develop consistent internship standards while accounting for local requirements and office-specific needs.
• Evaluate program effectiveness and recommend continuous improvements.

Culture, Employee Engagement & Organizational Development

• Partner with leadership to develop and implement culture initiatives aligned with organizational values and strategic priorities.
• Lead organization-wide culture projects, employee engagement efforts, and community-building initiatives.
• Develop and implement engagement initiatives that strengthen connection and collaboration and foster a cohesive organizational culture across multiple offices, countries, and time zones.

People & Culture Partnership & Operations

• Serve as a trusted thought partner to the Director of People & Culture on strategic people initiatives, organizational challenges, organizational design, workforce planning, and opportunities for continuous improvement.
• Provide backup support across core People & Culture functions to ensure continuity of service and operations.
• Assist with the development and implementation of HR programs, policies, and organizational initiatives as needed.
• Support special projects and emerging organizational priorities as assigned.

Required Education, Knowledge, Skills and Competences:

Education & Experience

• Bachelor's degree in Human Resources, Business Administration, Organizational Development, Psychology, or a related field required.
• Minimum of 5 years of progressive experience in human resources, talent acquisition, people operations, or organizational development.
• Demonstrated experience managing full-cycle recruitment processes across multiple position levels.
• Experience designing or administering employee engagement, organizational culture, or talent development programs.

Knowledge, Skills & Competencies

• Strong knowledge of recruiting best practices and talent acquisition strategies.
• Understanding of HR practices, employment laws, and employee lifecycle processes.
• Exceptional interpersonal relationship-building and stakeholder management skills.
• Strong project management and organizational skills with the ability to manage multiple priorities simultaneously.
• Excellent verbal and written communication skills.
• Ability to work independently while collaborating effectively across teams and functions.
• Demonstrated discretion and ability to handle sensitive and confidential information.
• Strong analytical, problem-solving, and process improvement skills.
• Demonstrated ability to build relationships and work effectively across cultures, time zones, and geographically distributed teams.
• Commitment to fostering an inclusive, engaging, and mission-driven workplace culture.

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience working in nonprofit organizations, mission-driven organizations, or international organizations.
• Experience supporting geographically distributed or international teams.
• Experience in a rapid growth organization, particularly entrepreneurial or startup organizations undergoing rapid growth.
• Mandarin language proficiency is a strong plus. German and/or Spanish language proficiency is a plus.

Physical Work Demands:

• Able to sit at a computer for extended periods of time.
• Able to bend at the waist and reach on a daily basis.
• Able to lift and move up to 25 lbs. regularly.