Chief Human Resources Officer

Rochester Institute of Technology; City of Rochester (NY); On-site; USD 275,000 - 375,000; Full time

Job summary

Rochester Institute of Technology in Rochester, NY seeks an experienced Chief Human Resources Officer to lead the HR enterprise with strategic vision and people-centered leadership. The CHRO will partner with senior leaders to translate momentum into workforce strategies that attract, develop, and retain top talent across a complex university system.

Reporting to the Senior VP and CFO, the CHRO will drive workforce planning, total rewards, employee relations, and HR technology modernization,

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree required.
• Advanced degree in HR, organizational development, business administration, higher education, law, public administration, or related field preferred.
• Senior-level HR leadership experience in a large, complex, mission-driven organization.
• Ability to align people strategy with institutional priorities and lead through change.

Responsibilities

• Lead the HR enterprise and talent strategy for a large private university.
• Drive workforce planning, total rewards, and employee relations.
• Modernize HR systems and service delivery, including Workday implementation.
• Foster inclusion, belonging, and stakeholder partnership across the University.

Skills

HR leadership

Change management

Strategic thinking

Communication

Education

Bachelor's degree

Advanced degree preferred

Tools

Workday

Job description

Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT) seeks an experienced, strategic, and people-centered human resources executive to serve as its next Chief Human Resources Officer (CHRO). This is a distinctive opportunity to join one of the nation's largest private universities at a moment of institutional momentum and thoughtful transformation.

Founded in 1829, RIT is nationally recognized for its powerful combination of technology, the arts, design, experiential learning, cooperative education, applied research, and career-focused academic programs. The University enrolls approximately 17,100 students on its Rochester campus, from all 50 states and more than 100 countries, employs approximately 4,300 faculty and staff, and has international locations in Croatia, Dubai, and Kosovo. RIT is also home to the National Technical Institute for the Deaf (NTID), the world's first and largest technological college for deaf and hard-of-hearing students. NTID and RIT's longstanding commitments to access, inclusion, and opportunity are central to the University's culture and to the way RIT thinks about communication, accessibility, belonging, employee experience, and institutional community.

RIT's mission and vision are clear and expansive: to leverage the power of technology, the arts, and design for the greater good, and to shape the future and improve the world through creativity and innovation. With President William H. Sanders in the early phase of his presidency, RIT is entering an important new chapter. The institution's Strategic Framework 2035 provides a clear path forward as the University elevates its academic and research profile, deepens the conditions that enable faculty and staff to thrive, and strengthens the systems, culture, and organizational capacity needed for its future.

The next CHRO will help translate this momentum into a forward-looking people strategy that enables RIT to meet its strategic objectives. This work will require disciplined execution, trusted and transparent partnership, modern HR systems and practices, strategic workforce planning, seasoned change management skills, and strong manager capability. It will also require a contemporary understanding of the evolving workforce, changing employee expectations, and the talent and organizational capacity needed for a more complex, interdisciplinary, externally engaged, and research-intensive university.

Reporting to the Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer, the CHRO will serve as RIT's senior-most human resources leader and an enterprise partner to executive, academic, administrative, governance, and people leaders across the University. The CHRO will steward the full scope of the HR enterprise, including talent strategy, workforce planning, employee relations, total rewards, organizational effectiveness, learning and leadership development, HR operations, technology, data, policy, compliance, and service delivery, while ensuring that HR is aligned with institutional priorities and responsive to the needs of staff, faculty, managers, and leaders.

The next CHRO will lead an HR organization that has made meaningful progress through significant change, including Workday implementation, development of a staff career architecture, benefits modernization, and evolution of the HR business partner model. RIT now seeks a highly seasoned people leader who can convert this foundational progress into sustained value by stabilizing and optimizing systems and core processes, strengthening HR service delivery, investing deeply in the HR team, advancing confidence and cohesion after a period of change, and empowering HR professionals to serve as strategic and trusted university partners.

The successful candidate will bring substantive senior-level HR leadership experience and breadth across the full HR enterprise, along with the judgment, credibility, courage, emotional intelligence, business acumen, and relational skills to align people strategy with institutional priorities and lead through complexity, ambiguity, and change. The next CHRO must balance optimism with realism, strategy with execution, and care for people with disciplined decision-making while modernizing systems and services, using data and market insight to inform decisions, evolving total rewards with credibility and sustainability, and strengthening trust, communication, organizational effectiveness, accessibility, well-being, belonging, and service excellence.

A bachelor's degree is required; an advanced degree in human resources, organizational development, business administration, higher education, law, public administration, or a related field is preferred. Relevant professional certifications or demonstrated equivalent executive experience in complex, mission-driven organizations will also be valued. The successful candidate will bring senior-level HR leadership experience across the full HR enterprise in a large, complex, matrixed, or mission-driven environment. They will also demonstrate the ability to align people strategy with institutional priorities, guide change, strengthen systems and service delivery, use data to inform decisions, build and invest in HR teams, strengthen manager capability, and foster trust, transparency, collaboration, accessibility, and accountability.

All applications, nominations, and inquiries are invited. Applications should include, as two separate documents, a CV or resume and a letter of interest addressing the themes in the leadership profile.

Additional information about the position, including a leadership profile, can be found at www.wittkieffer.com.

WittKieffer is assisting the Rochester Institute of Technology in this search. For fullest consideration, candidate materials should be received by October 30, 2026.

Application materials should be submitted using WittKieffer's candidate portal.

Nominations and inquiries can be directed to: Sarah Palmer and Tyler Workman

[e-mail]

Salary Range: The anticipated salary range for this role is $275,000-$375,000, commensurate with experience. Highly qualified candidates who require compensation above the advertised range will be considered on a case-by-case basis.

In compliance with NYS's Pay Transparency Act, the salary range for this position is listed above. Rochester Institute of Technology considers factors such as (but not limited to) scope and responsibilities of the position, candidate's work experience, education/training, key skills, internal peer equity, as well as market and organizational considerations when extending an offer. The hiring process for this position may require a criminal background check and/or motor vehicle records check. Any verbal or written offer made is contingent on satisfactory results, as determined by Human Resources. RIT provides equal opportunity to all qualified individuals and does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, creed, age, marital status, sex, gender, religion, sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, national origin, veteran status, or disability in its hiring, admissions, educational programs, and activities. RIT provides reasonable accommodations to applicants with disabilities under the Rehabilitation Act, the Americans with Disabilities Act, the New York Human Rights Law, or similar applicable law. If you need reasonable accommodation for any part of the application and hiring process, please contact [e-mail]. Determinations on requests for reasonable accommodation will be made on a case-by-case basis.