Director, Onboarding and Employee Experience

Socket.dev; Pennsylvania; On-site; USD 91,000 - 143,000; Full time

Job summary

The School District of Philadelphia is seeking a Director, Onboarding and Employee Experience to lead onboarding, orientation, induction, and employee engagement initiatives that strengthen culture and retention. This executive role partners across HR functions to deliver consistent, high-quality support during employment transitions.

Responsibilities include designing onboarding pathways, ensuring compliance, monitoring completion, and developing dashboards to analyze retention and engagement.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in Human Resources, Organizational Development or a related field.
• Seven years of full-time, paid, professional, progressively responsible human resources or related leadership experience in a large district, governmental agency or corporation, with at least three in supervisory capacity.
• Master’s degree preferred.
• All work experience related to the position must be included on the resume.

Responsibilities

• Leads District-wide onboarding strategy and designs pathways.
• Coordinates new employee orientation and ensures compliance before start dates.
• Improves time-to-productivity and develops customer service standards.
• Creates employee service excellence expectations and fosters belonging.
• Monitors onboarding completion and tracks employee engagement.
• Develops executive dashboards and collaborates with HR partners.

Skills

Employee engagement

Organizational culture

Change management

Customer service

Adult learning

Leadership development

Project management

Facilitation

Strategic planning

Supervisory skills

Education

Bachelor’s degree in Human Resources / Organizational Development

Master’s degree

Tools

HRIS

Job description

Title: Director, Onboarding and Employee Experience

Department: Office of Talent

Reports To: DeputyChief, Talent Acquisition

Salary Range: $91,317 - $142,730

The School District of Philadelphia is committed to becoming the fastest improving District in the country and transforming the educational opportunities it offers to our city’s more than 198,000 students. The District seeks leaders who have a passion for working with schools and communities who are committed to ensuring all students achieve. Serving a population as diverse as ours requires creativity, commitment and vision. Will you join us?

Job Summary

The Director, Onboarding and Employee Experience serves as the District's strategic leader responsible for creating an exceptional employee experience from offer acceptance through successful integration into the School District of Philadelphia. The Director develops, implements, and continuously improves comprehensive onboarding, orientation, induction, customer service, hospitality, and employee engagement initiatives that foster organizational culture, accelerate employee success, improve retention, and strengthen workforce effectiveness. The incumbent serves as the District's ambassador for employee experience by ensuring every employee - from classroom teachers to executive leaders - receives consistent, high-quality support throughout key employment transitions.

Essential Functions

• Leads District-wide employee onboarding strategy.
• Designs differentiated onboarding pathways.
• Coordinates new employee orientation.
• Ensures compliance with employment requirements before start dates.
• Improves time-to-productivity.
• Develops customer service standards for the onboarding and employee experience.
• Creates employee service excellence expectations.
• Improves employee satisfaction.
• Leads hospitality initiatives.
• Builds an employee-centered culture.
• Develops programs which nurture the organizational culture and promoting belonging.
• Increases employee engagement and fosters collaboration.
• Promotes organizational values.
• Supports leadership development initiatives.
• Provide structured support for new hires, employee transition for internal promotions, transfers, interim appointments, leadership transitions; school-based and central office employees.
• Collaborates with Recruitment, Talent Support Services for HRIS, Employee Relations, Professional Learning, Communications, Payroll, School Leaders and Executive Leadership; maintains strategic partnerships to ensure a seamless employee experience.
• Monitors onboarding completion.
• Tracks employee engagement.
• Analyzes retention trends; conducts employee surveys.
• Develops executive dashboards.

Minimum Requirements

• Bachelor’s degree from an accredited college or university in Human Resources, Organizational Development or a related field.
• Seven years of full-time, paid, professional, progressively responsible human resources, organizational development, employee experience, talent operations or related leadership experience in a large school district, governmental agency or corporation, at least three of which have been in an administrative or supervisory capacity.
• Master’s degree preferred.

OR

• Master’s degree from an accredited college or university in Human Resources, Organizational Development or a related field.
• Five years of full-time, paid, professional, progressively responsible human resources, organizational development, employee experience, talent operations or related leadership experience in a large school district, governmental agency or corporation, at least three of which have been in an administrative or supervisory capacity.
• All work experience related to the position must be included on the resume.

Knowledge, Skills and Abilities

• Demonstrated knowledge of:
  • the principles of employee engagement.
  • organizational culture.
  • change managementadministration and best practices.
  • customer service principles.
  • adult learning principles and practices.
  • leadership development.
  • project management and project management tools.
  • facilitation approaches to engage adults in collaboration.
  • the principles and practices of strategic planning.
  • supervisory methods and techniques.
• Demonstrated ability to:
  • effectively set goals, hold individuals accountable, and supervise the work of others.
  • lead effective, collaborative team meetings.
  • exercise excellent attention to detail.
  • maintain records, analyze data, and use data to identify key levers for decisions.
  • exhibit discretion and tact when dealing with confidential and sensitive matters.
  • communicate effectively, both orally and in writing.
  • establish and maintain effective working relationships.

Disclaimer

The above statements are intended to describe the general nature and level of work being performed by people assigned to this classification. They are not to be construed as an exhaustive list of all responsibilities, duties, and skills required of personnel so classified.

Nondiscrimination

The School District of Philadelphia provides equal employment opportunities to all employees and applicants for employment without regard to race, color, age, creed, religion, sex, sexual orientation, ancestry, national origin, disability, pregnancy, marital status, gender identity, or genetic information. Please refer to Board Policy 348 for further information regarding the District's commitment to Nondiscrimination in Employment Practices.