Associate Director, People Strategy & Systems

Braven; Chicago (IL); Hybrid; USD 84,000 - 90,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Unlimited vacation time

401K match up to 5%

Health insurance (employee + depend.)

One-month sabbatical after 4 years

Fertility and family-building benefits

Job summary

Braven seeks an Associate Director, People Strategy & Systems in Chicago. The role drives cross‑functional People projects, details roadmaps, and ensures cohesive, scalable People processes across the organization.

You will partner with Head of People and team leads, shaping enterprise‑level initiatives and ensuring clear, efficient communications and timely execution. This is a hybrid, full‑time exempt role.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree required.
• At least 5 years of work experience, with experience managing multiple projects.
• Outstanding communication and interpersonal skills; agile, organized, and able to connect processes.

Responsibilities

• Develop and manage project plans across People functions.
• Track progress, deadlines, and milestones; convene cross‑functional partners.
• Create decks, memos, and artifacts to aid collaboration and outcomes.
• Elevate learnings and propose improvements from pre- and post‑mortems.
• Coordinate with executives and departments to align People processes.

Skills

Project management

Change management

Communication

Collaboration

Education

Bachelor’s degree

Tools

CAPM / PMP / PMI-ACP / CSM / PSM certifications

Job description

Job Title: Associate Director, People Strategy & Systems

Team: People & Operations

Location: Hybrid in Chicago (IL)

Employment Type: Full-time

FLSA Classification: Exempt

Start Date: ASAP

About Braven

Braven is a national nonprofit that prepares promising college students to secure a strong first opportunity after college graduation through a career-accelerating program.

We work with higher education and employer partners to offer a life-changing experience that begins with a semester-long course for college students followed by support that lasts through graduation.

Together, our ambition is to help rebuild the middle class and revitalize the American Dream.

To learn more, take a look at Braven’s Jobs.

About the Role

In order to achieve its ambition of serving 80,000-100,000 Fellows over the next decade, Braven is hiring an Associate Director, People Strategy & Systems who will manage cross-functional people team projects that impact the organization and own tactical steps on keeping people functions cohesive. The Associate Director, People Strategy & Systems finds energy in detailing out roadmaps to get from start to finish of major People processes, systems, and structures. The ideal candidate listens for criteria (high-level timelines, key stakeholders to bring along in moments of change, etc.) to achieve enterprise-level impact in the people function and outline the details on how to get there.

As a member of the People & Culture team, you will work with the Head of People, People workstream leads, and partners across departments on keeping projects moving, monitoring progress, elevating time-sensitive actions to the Head of People, making recommendations when initial plans need to shift, and communicating across various stakeholders with the goal of delivering clear and efficient processes. This role requires an individual with outstanding communication and interpersonal skills who is agile, can connect the dots between processes, is discreet and organized, and has the confidence to ask pertinent questions, grasp concepts quickly, and think beyond specific tasks.

This role reports directly to the Head of People.

What You’ll Do

Project Management and People Strategy Support (60%)

• Utilize systems to create visible project plans for processes and projects across People functions
• Proactively track and communicate progress toward goals for each project.
• Tracks deadlines
• Convene relevant, cross-functional partners to drive toward project completion
• Facilitate efficient meetings with clear outcomes
• Surface trends and propose next steps in real-time to keep projects and meetings moving forward
• Develop decks, memos, and/or other artifacts that aid in project collaboration and meeting facilitation toward desired outcomes
• Follow through on action steps and follow up with key partners who have competing priorities toward completing actions relevant for projects
• Elevate key learnings and provide recommendations for continuous improvement as a result of consistent pre- and post-mortems, reflection, and feedback
• Take initiative to recommend and implement best practices in project management
• Partner with Internal Communications to align on communication plans on projects that impact our people. Build in communication to relevant stakeholders into each project plan.
• Partner with the Strategy and Finance Teams to align People processes and projects with other processes that impact organizational operations and impact
• Partner with the executive support team to schedule engagements with other staff across departments

People Team Operations and Strategic Input (40%)

• Develop detailed project plans for key People projects and processes to align with organizational priorities
• Provide strategic input on the timing of milestones and communications while updating planning documents and executing on action steps
• Track relevant and timely dates, in alignment with People team goals, to inform and/or involve alignment team members and the CEO on key People processes
• Develop and manage People team systems and structures to support progress to goals on at least an annual, quarterly, and weekly basis
• Lead the planning and logistics of People team stepbacks
• Improve team practices in alignment and strategy-aligned tactical steps via team meetings and tech tools
• Assist the Head of People in partnering with the Office of the CEO, Finance, and the Strategy Team to coordinate interconnected processes, schedule key dates, and align responsible, transparent communication to key stakeholders
• Support the people team in understanding interests and needs across the organization that will inform People tactics via surveys and service level agreements
• Create slides to update and engage key partners in People processes, projects, and policies
• Communicate with contractors and draft contracts for review by the Head of People
• Serve as the knowledge management captain of the People team by understanding best practices in knowledge management and supporting teammates, as needed

Minimum Requirements

• Bachelor’s degree

• At least 5 years of work experience, with experience managing multiple projects at once

Preferred Qualifications

• Work Experience: 3 years in the non-profit field
• Technical Skills and Knowledge: Project management experience (CAPM, PMP, PMI-ACP, CSM, PSM certified) and experience supporting and/or leading organization-wide change initiatives in People work a plus
• Organized, self-motivated, detail-oriented, and productive
• Manages up. Not shy about reminding leadership of key dates while remaining empathetic and patient.
• Fast learner. Reflective in practice. Desire to learn, grow, give, and accept feedback.
• Ability to connect the dots between key projects, processes, and how the People team serves people within Braven in support of our mission
• Ability to understand strategy; provide input and translate to project tasks
• Ability to work independently, prioritize and manage multiple projects simultaneously, and meet deadlines
• Balances seeing the bigger picture across impacts to the organization and communication while responding through thoughtful planning
• As a member of the People team, accepts the challenge and responsibility to be a model culture carrier. You firmly believe that people are the joy and major asset toward our mission. You build relationships, model our core values, and follow processes and policies.
• High degree of professionalism. Treats sensitive information with confidence.

• Curious and collaborative
• Strong soft skills to work well with people up and down the organization, stewarding strong relationships through excellent communication skills
• You exemplify Braven’s core values
• Your experiences have informed your belief in Braven’s mission and have prepared you to work with, or for, Braven’s student Fellow population

Please know that no one ever meets 100% of the preferred qualifications. If much of this describes you, we encourage you to apply.

Work Demands

• Ability to travel about 3 times per year, i.e., staff retreat, department planning

Additional Requirements

• Authorized to work in the U.S.
• Braven doesn’t offer employment visa sponsorship

Application & Interview Process

While the interview process may vary slightly, the general process will be:

• Phone screen with Talent Team member
• Performance Task
• Interview with Hiring Manager
• Panel Interview with Key Partners
• Reference Checks

Compensation

Braven offers opportunities for salary growth over time. We believe in compensating staff members fairly relative to one another, their qualifications, and their impact on the organization, and we take internal and external equity seriously. Given our commitment to equity, Braven does not negotiate salary offers; instead, each offer is carefully determined using external and internal benchmarks.

The hiring range is determined by role scope, qualifications, and internal equity, with annual growth based on performance. Braven does not base compensation on individual candidate salary expectations and is committed to maintaining internal equity. The hiring ranges for this role by geographic market are set forth in Chicago at $83,600-$90,000. This is based on a 50-hour work week. This is a full-time, regular, exempt, and benefits-eligible position where you will be working at 100% capacity.

Braven also provides competitive, comprehensive benefits, recognition, and career development. While Braven reserves the right to change benefits at any time, current benefits include:

• Unlimited vacation time in addition to org-wide holidays and week-long shutdowns in July and the end of the calendar year (this is a minimum of 20 days per year)
• Braven supports your path to parenthood and beyond with $25,000 in lifetime Carrot benefits for fertility, family-building, and hormonal health
• Match of your 401K contribution up to 5% of your base annual salary, starting your first full month
• Coverage of 85% of health insurance premium for employee and dependents
• A one-month paid sabbatical after 4 years on staff

Please note that Braven is firm in its compensation philosophy; therefore, only candidates who believe our total rewards package aligns with what they are looking for in their next opportunity are encouraged to apply.

Location

We gather in the office 3 days a week (Tuesday through Thursday) and work remotely 2 days a week (Monday and Friday). Therefore, we require teammates to live within commuting distance of Chicago. We believe in the magic, connection, and collaboration that happens when people work together face-to-face, and we believe in giving people flexibility to focus, balance personal priorities, and save themselves two commutes per week.

Braven is an equal opportunity employer and considers qualified applicants for employment without regard to race, color, creed, religion, national origin, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity and expression, age, disability, veteran status, or any other protected factor. We encourage talented individuals of all backgrounds to apply.