Chief People Officer

Sonesta International Hotels; Newton (MA); On-site; USD 260,000 - 290,000; Full time

Job summary

Sonesta International Hotels seeks a Chief People Officer to lead enterprise-wide people strategy from the Newton, MA office. You will partner with Legal and senior leaders to optimize organizational design, talent acquisition, compensation, benefits, and compliance across multi-state operations.

You will drive HR analytics, workforce planning, and learning initiatives, shaping culture and performance while aligning with growth and profitability goals.

Qualifications

• 15+ years of progressive HR leadership experience.
• Experience as CPO or Chief Human Resources Officer preferred.
• Demonstrated executive partnership with Legal and senior leadership.
• Deep knowledge of employment law, compensation, benefits, and workforce planning.

Responsibilities

• Develop and execute a comprehensive people strategy aligned with enterprise growth, operational performance, and long-term objectives.
• Partner with executive leadership on organizational design, workforce optimization, and leadership capability.
• Drive governance, regulatory compliance, and proactive risk mitigation across all HR disciplines.
• Oversee HR analytics, reporting and data infrastructure to inform executive decisions.

Skills

HR leadership

Executive partnership

Regulatory compliance

HR analytics

Education

Bachelor's degree

MBA or advanced degree

Tools

HRIS systems

Job description

We’re Sonesta International Hotels. The 8th largest hotel company in the U.S.—and growing fast.

We’re Sonesta International Hotels. The 8th largest hotel company in the U.S.—and growing fast.
An epic blend of full-service and focused hotels in major cities, Sonesta’s uniquely diverse portfolio of owned, managed, and franchised properties makes us everywhere you want to be. Driven by the human side of hospitality, we deliver service with passion, loyalty with purpose, and experiences that truly connect.

Together We Thrive

— bringing quality, value, and amazing hospitality to every guest, every stay, across 1000+ properties in eight countries and counting.

Job Description Summary

The Chief People Officer (“CPO”) is responsible for enterprise-wide people strategy, ensuring strong governance, compliance integrity, and operational excellence across all Human Resources (“HR”) functions. Balancing business savvy and strategic vision with pragmatic solutions and innovative thinking, the CPO is expected to collaborate with the company’s executive leaders to build organizational capability, support growth initiatives, mitigate employment risk, and drive measurable business performance across a distributed work environment. Reporting to the company’s EVP, General Counsel and Head of People, and based in the company’s Newton, MA office, this role provides direction and oversight in the design and delivery of HR programs and services across the company, including organizational design, talent acquisition and workforce planning, performance management, learning and development, compensation and benefits, employee engagement, compliance, HR data and analytics, and other programs that attract, develop, and retain talent. The CPO will be passionate about people, shaping culture, and driving a positive and engaged workforce.

Job Description

As the leader of the HR function, the CPO’s responsibilities will include:

Enterprise Strategy, Governance & Executive Partnership

• Develop and execute a comprehensive people strategy aligned with enterprise growth, operational performance, and long-term business objectives.
• Serve as a strategic advisor to executive leadership on organizational design, workforce optimization, succession planning, and leadership capability.
• Nurture a culture of caring, accountability, service excellence, and operational rigor.
• Partner closely with Legal to ensure robust governance, regulatory compliance, and proactive risk mitigation across all HR disciplines.
• Collaborate and lead workforce due diligence, labor cost modeling, organizational restructuring, and talent transitions in support of the company’s franchise growth strategies, acquisitions, and dispositions.

Corporate & Field HR Operations

• Foster and manage the Corporate HR function, and also oversee Field HR functions, ensuring consistent policy execution and service delivery across all locations.
• Establish scalable HR operating models that support decentralized field operations while maintaining enterprise standards and compliance integrity.
• Drive continuous improvement of HR systems, processes, and service frameworks to enhance efficiency and employee experience.
• Serve as a visible, credible leadership presence across corporate and field operations.

Talent Acquisition & Workforce Planning

• Lead an integrated talent acquisition and management function to attract, hire, and retain high-performing talent across corporate and field roles.
• Develop proactive recruiting strategies and talent pipelines in competitive labor markets.
• Oversee workforce forecasting, succession planning, and organizational modeling to mitigate talent risk and ensure leadership bench strength in alignment with long-term growth plans and needs for the entire enterprise.
• Assess and drive employee engagement and create a roadmap to enable a high-performing workforce that supports the company’s strategic goals and profitability.

Total Rewards (Compensation, Benefits & Leave Programs)

• Align total rewards strategy with performance outcomes, retention objectives, and financial discipline.
• Help define and execute compensation philosophy, salary structures, incentive plans, and pay governance.
• Lead benefits strategy including health, retirement, wellness, and voluntary benefit programs to ensure competitive positioning and fiscal stewardship.
• Oversee leave administration and statutory compliance across multi-state operations.

Learning & Development

• Establish and oversee enterprise learning strategy, including leadership development, operational training, stakeholder engagement, and compliance programs.
• Design development frameworks that strengthen succession readiness and leadership capability across corporate and field operations.
• Measure learning effectiveness through performance, engagement, and retention metrics.

Employee Relations, Compliance & Risk Management

• Provide executive oversight of employee relations strategy, investigations, conflict resolution, complex employment matters, restructuring efforts, and litigation risk mitigation, in partnership with Legal.
• In collaboration with Legal, implement measures to drive compliance with all federal, state, and local employment laws across multi-state operations.
• Pursue proactive compliance audits, monitoring frameworks, and policy governance standards.

HR Data, Analytics & Systems

• Lead development of enterprise HR analytics and reporting capabilities to drive data-informed executive decision-making.
• Establish dashboards tracking labor costs, turnover, engagement, workforce trends, compliance metrics, and talent pipeline health.
• Ensure optimization and integrity of HRIS and supporting technology platforms, collaborating with IT and other functions where appropriate.

Education, Experience & Other Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree required; advanced degree (MBA, MSHRM, Masters in Organizational Leadership/Development, etc.) preferred.
• 15+ years of progressive HR leadership experience, including oversight of multi-location or field-based operations; prior experience as a CPO or Chief Human Resources Officer preferred.
• Demonstrated executive partnership with Legal and senior leadership in complex organizations.
• Proven experience leading integrated HR functions including talent acquisition, compensation and benefits, compliance, and workforce analytics.
• Deep knowledge of employment law, compensation strategy, benefits administration, and workforce planning.
• High level of comfort working within a fast-paced environment that requires the ability to multi-task, delegate, and quickly synthesize multiple sources of data to guide strategic decisions.
• Polished writing and presentation abilities, and strong executive presence and confidence to respectfully advise leaders in their courses of action.

Pay Range

Pay Range: $260,000 to $290,000. Base pay offer may vary depending on various factors, including but not limited to job related knowledge, skills and job specific overall experience

Benefits

• Medical, Dental and Vision Insurance
• Health Savings Account with Company Match
• 401(k) Retirement Plan with Company Match
• Paid Vacation and Sick Days
• Sonesta Hotel Discounts
• Educational Assistance
• Paid Parental Leave
• Company Paid Life Insurance
• Company Paid Short Term and Long Term Disability Insurance
• Various Employee Perks and Discounts
• Hospital Indemnity
• Critical Illness Insurance
• Accident Insurance

Sonesta is an equal opportunity employer. Qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, disability, protected veteran status or other characteristics protected by law.