Senior Manager, Employee Experience & Development

Minnesota United FC; Golden Valley (MN); Hybrid; USD 70,000 - 80,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Health coverage

Retirement savings plans

Paid time off

Job summary

Minnesota United FC is seeking a Senior Manager, Employee Experience & Development to design, implement, and continuously improve programs that shape how employees feel and grow within the Club. You will lead onboarding, recognition, and development for both full-time and frontline staff, partnering across the People Operations team and with stadium and events functions.

Reporting to the VP of People Operations, you will translate engagement data into action, foster an inclusive workplace, and

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree or equivalent in a related field and practical experience in employee experience, engagement, learning, culture, or related discipline.
• Experience designing and delivering manager development and employee listening programs.
• Experience translating data into actionable insights.

Responsibilities

• Own end-to-end employee experience programs and touchpoints from onboarding to daily moments.
• Serve as internal advocate for the employee perspective and highlight needs to leadership.
• Lead programs for part-time/frontline staff and connect development to coaching needs.
• Oversee onboarding and recognition programs and ensure alignment with Club beliefs.
• Partner with Stadium Operations, Events, Marketing, and other functions to keep part-time staff engaged and connected.

Skills

Program design

Facilitation

Data interpretation

Employee engagement

Culture initiatives

Cross-functional collaboration

AI tools curiosity

Education

Bachelor's degree in HR/OD/Business/Communications

Equivalent combination of education and experience

Tools

Dayforce

HRIS

DiSC certification

Job description

Minnesota United FC (MNUFC) is a professional soccer club competing in Major League Soccer (MLS), the top tier of soccer in North America. As a club driven by passion and community, we operate under the oversight of the U.S. Soccer Federation, a member of FIFA. Our headquarters are in Golden Valley, MN, with soccer operations based at the MNUFC Training Center in Blaine. On matchdays, we call Allianz Field in St. Paul home—one of the premier soccer-specific stadiums in the country.

Position:

The Senior Manager, Employee Experience & Development is part of the People Operations department for Minnesota United FC (MNUFC), a sports business located in the Twins Cities area of Minnesota and a member of Major League Soccer (MLS), the top tier soccer league in North America.

Position Summary:

The Senior Manager, Employee Experience & Development is a builder – someone who wakes up every day thinking about how MNUFC helps its people grow, perform, and feel genuinely connected to the Club. Reporting to the Vice President, People Operations, this role owns the programs and touchpoints that shape what it feels like to work at MNUFC.

This is a role for someone who can move fluidly between designing a program, facilitating a conversation, activating a cultural moment, and reading engagement data for patterns worth acting on. It requires curiosity, discipline, and the ability to translate the Club's beliefs into practices people actually experience.

The role will strengthen the existing foundations, while building out the areas where we have real opportunity. This role partners closely across the People Operations team and with leaders throughout the Club to make MNUFC a place where our people can do their best work.

Why You’ll Love It Here:

Our beliefs shape everything we do here. Our work matters. Our people matter. We can do hard things. We're better together. And the proof is in the practice. This role exists because we're building a Club where our people feel supported and set up to do their best work – and we need someone who wants to help shape that.

What You’ll Do:

Employee Experience

• Own the end-to-end experience of what it feels like to work at MNUFC – designing and continuously evolving the programs and touchpoints that shape how our people feel about the Club, from onboarding through the everyday moments.
• Serve as the internal advocate for the employee perspective – helping leaders see and act on what our people need.
• Own the strategic experience of MNUFC's part-time employees – the people who help us deliver a world-class matchday experience and who carry the Club's culture to our fans.
• Steward the onboarding and recognition programs, ensuring they continue to reflect our beliefs and evolve as the Club grows.
• Partner across Stadium Operations, Events, Marketing, and other functions to ensure part-time staff feel valued and connected to the Club's beliefs.

Manager & Leadership Development

• Own how MNUFC develops its managers and leaders – designing and running the programs, resources, and moments that build our people leadership capability.
• Partner with the Director, Workplace & Employee Relations to connect development to real-time coaching needs – with the Director owning in-the-moment coaching on complex situations and this role owning the underlying capability build.
• Bring a point of view on what great leadership looks like at MNUFC and how we grow it intentionally.

Employee Listening & Engagement

• Own the Club's employee listening practice – how we regularly hear from our people, what we do with what we learn, and how we hold ourselves accountable to acting on it.
• Design and maintain engagement measurement, including annual surveys, pulse checks, and lifecycle listening moments.
• Translate listening data into meaningful insights that shape decisions at every level of the Club.

Culture & Beliefs in Action

• Own how MNUFC's beliefs show up in the everyday practices, moments, and rituals of the workplace.
• Partner with department leaders to embed culture in the way teams actually work – not as a separate program, but as part of how we operate.
• Serve as a steward of the Club's culture – quietly and consistently coaching how we live our beliefs day to day.

Cross-Functional Partnership & Communications

• Build strong, credible relationships with employees and leaders across all functions of the Club.
• Support employee-facing internal communications – including messaging clarity and consistency of voice – in partnership with the VP, People Operations on strategic and executive-level messaging.
• Represent People Operations in cross-functional conversations related to culture, development, and employee experience.

Additional Responsibilities

• Contribute to broader People Operations priorities and Club-wide initiatives as needs evolve.

What You’ll Bring:

• Bachelor's degree in Human Resources, Organizational Development, Business, Communications, or a related field, or an equivalent combination of education and experience.
• 6–8 years of progressive experience in employee experience, engagement, learning and development, culture, or a closely related discipline.
• Experience designing and delivering manager development, employee listening programs, and culture initiatives.
• Experience with employee engagement surveys and translating data into action.
• Experience in a fast-paced, high-visibility environment – professional sports, hospitality, live events, or comparable settings a plus.
• Facilitation experience and comfort leading rooms of employees and leaders.
• Familiarity with Dayforce or a comparable HRIS platform preferred.
• DiSC certification or working familiarity preferred.
• Prior work with part-time or frontline employee populations a plus.

Skill & Attributes:

• A builder – someone who can create something meaningful from a blank page.
• A high level of care for how people experience the Club, matched by discipline about what actually moves the needle.
• Deep commitment to fostering an inclusive, respectful, and high-performing workplace.
• Genuine alignment with MNUFC's beliefs and belief in the power of a values-driven workplace.
• Strong facilitation, communication, and program design skills.
• Comfort with data – able to read engagement and lifecycle metrics for patterns and translate them into decisions.
• Demonstrates curiosity about AI tools and emerging technologies, with a willingness to learn and leverage them to enhance productivity, collaboration, or decision-making.
• The ability to hold both empathy and rigor at the same time.
• Curiosity about what makes people thrive at work.
• High collaboration instincts, especially across functions and levels.
• Ability to prioritize effectively – knowing that the goal is impact, not activity.
• This is a hybrid-role based in Golden Valley, MN, with regular presence at Allianz Field in St. Paul and the Training Facility in Blaine, MN
• Some evening and weekend work required, particularly around match days and major events.

Minnesota United FC values the contributions of our team members and is committed to transparency in our compensation practices. The compensation range for this full-time (exempt) role is $70,000 - $80,000 annually, with the final offer based on experience and qualifications. We provide a competitive benefits package that includes health coverage, retirement savings plans, paid time off, and additional perks to support you both personally and professionally.

MNUFC is an equal opportunity employer. We welcome all qualified applicants and do not discriminate based on race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, disability, protected veteran status, or any other characteristic protected by law.