VP of People

Agathos AEC Inc; Houston (TX); On-site; USD 180,000 - 260,000; Full time

Job summary

Agathos AEC Inc. is seeking a VP of People to lead talent acquisition, performance management, and people programs across its platform.

Based in Houston, you will build a platform-level team, align HR strategy with growth, and partner with portfolio leaders to scale culture and capabilities. You will own employer branding, learning and development, licensing readiness, and workforce planning to support expansion across states and business lines, with up to 50% travel.

Qualifications

• 12-15 years of progressive HR/People leadership experience.
• Bachelor's degree in HR, Business, or related field and a professional HR certification.
• Experience building and leading People/HR teams.

Responsibilities

• Own and evolve the platform-wide talent acquisition strategy and partnerships to enable full-cycle hiring across all companies.
• Lead the platform's performance management framework and elevate accountability through scalable programs.
• Develop and drive an employer branding strategy to attract top AEC talent nationwide.
• Enhance employee engagement through programs like quarterly recognition and ongoing surveys.

Skills

HR leadership

Talent acquisition

Performance management

Employer branding

Learning & development

Stakeholder management

Education

Bachelor's degree in HR or Business

SHRM-SCP or SPHR certification

Job description

Agathos AEC is a leading network of architecture and engineering design firms dedicated to collective growth, innovation, and operational excellence. By joining our platform, employees become part of a broader ecosystem that provides best-in-class resources, technology, and career development opportunities across the AEC industry. Agathos AEC, Inc. currently has four portfolio companies: JMPE Engineering, Inc. (Santa Barbara, CA, with offices in Santa Maria and Bakersfield), Peterson Engineering, LLC (Pensacola, FL), Plump Engineering, Inc. (Anaheim, CA), and Tecton Architects, Inc. (Hartford, CT). The platform has grown to approximately 170 employees, with plans to grow to approximately 250-300 employees by year-end 2027. Agathos AEC continues to invest in talent, partnerships, and infrastructure to build a best-in-class architecture and engineering platform with broad design service lines, diverse end markets, and national reach.

About the Role

The VP of People leads the People function for the entire Agathos AEC platform, reporting directly to the CEO and based in Houston, Texas. This role owns talent acquisition, performance management, employer branding, employee engagement, learning and development, and engineering and architecture licensing readiness across the Agathos platform. The VP of People will build a small team at the platform level and manage the existing team of People professionals already embedded within the operating companies, augmenting that team with functional experts and professionally trained People leaders who understand how to operate at scale. While there is significant work to do, this is not a ground-up build. The team has already put key foundations in place across the platform including a job leveling framework, first time performance management rolled out on a best-in-class technology platform, enterprise recruiting relationships and third-party partnerships supporting full-cycle, full-scope hiring, a quarterly employee recognition and awards program, and a baseline employee engagement survey process. The VP of People will take ownership of this foundation, build on it, and own People as a core function for the company going forward.

Responsibilities

• Talent Acquisition: Own and build on the enterprise recruiting relationships and third-party partnerships already established, which support full-cycle, full-scope hiring across corporate and all four operating companies, ensuring a consistent, high-quality hiring experience.
• Performance Management: Own and evolve the platform-wide job leveling framework and the performance management program already rolled out on a best-in-class technology platform, extending it to support continued growth and accountability.
• Employer Branding: Build and drive an employer branding strategy for Agathos AEC to strengthen the platform's reputation and attract top AEC talent nationally.
• Employee Engagement: Build on the quarterly employee recognition and awards program and the baseline employee engagement survey process already in place, driving continued engagement across corporate and portfolio companies to support retention and a strong, unified culture as the platform scales.
• Learning & Development: Build learning and development programs that support career growth for architects, engineers, designers, and business professionals across the platform.
• Licensing Readiness: Own engineering and architecture licensing readiness platform-wide - utilizing best in class tools already in place tracking licensure pathways, exam support, and state requirements across all four operating companies.
• Team Building: Build and lead a small People team to support the platform as it grows from ~170 to ~250-300 employees by year-end 2027.
• Workforce Planning: Partner with the CEO and portfolio company leadership on workforce planning to support continued growth, new service lines, and expansion into new end markets and geographies.
• HR Infrastructure: Refine and improve existing scalable People policies, programs, and infrastructure appropriate to a multi-entity holding company operating across multiple states.
• Reporting: Track and report People metrics and progress to the CEO and platform leadership.

Qualifications

• 12-15 years of progressive Human Resources/People leadership experience, including experience scaling a People function within a growth-stage or multi-entity/holding company environment.
• Bachelor's degree in Human Resources, Business, or a related field, and a professional HR certification (e.g., SHRM-SCP or SPHR), required.
• Demonstrated experience building and leading People/HR teams.
• Experience designing and running performance management, employee engagement, and learning and development programs.
• Strong track record in employer branding and talent strategy.
• Experience in or knowledge of the architecture and engineering design industry, including engineering and architecture licensure requirements, strongly preferred.
• Excellent executive-level communication and stakeholder management skills, with experience partnering directly with a CEO and senior leadership.
• Ability to work from Houston, Texas, with up to 50% travel across the Agathos AEC platform.

Why Join Agathos AEC

This is an opportunity to build and shape the People function for a growing, national architecture and engineering platform - partnering directly with the CEO and firm leadership to scale the teams, programs, and culture behind Agathos AEC's continued growth.

Equal Opportunity Statement:

Agathos AEC is committed to creating a diverse environment and is proud to be an equal opportunity employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, disability, or veteran status.