VP of People Operations & Culture

Food Connect

Philadelphia (Philadelphia County)

On-site

USD 95,000 - 125,000

Full time

14 days+

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Benefits offered by this job

Paid vacation

Paid sick leave

Birthday leave

Work anniversaries

US holidays

Long service leave

401k

Healthcare benefits

Remote work options

Flexible schedule

Work-life balance

Job summary

Food Connect Group is seeking a VP of People Operations & Culture to architect and scale our people infrastructure. You will partner with the CEO and Board to translate bold mission into structured execution, build performance systems, and strengthen governance and communication across departments.

Your leadership will shape culture, ensure governance, and drive talent strategies as the organization grows—supporting responsible, sustainable scale with a high-performing team.

Qualifications

Experience leading HR in nonprofit or mission-driven orgs.
Ability to translate vision into structure and processes.
Strong communication and stakeholder management.
Familiarity with governance, compliance, and reporting.

Responsibilities

Partner with CEO and leadership to design scalable people systems.
Develop performance management, goal setting, and accountability.
Strengthen organizational design and reporting models.
Drive culture, change management, and employee relations.
Oversee HR compliance across markets and onboarding/offboarding.

Skills

Leadership

Strategic thinking

Organizational design

People analytics

Change management

HR compliance

Communication

Job description

About Us: Food Connect is building the infrastructure that ensures good food reaches people who need it most: efficiently, equitably, and with dignity. Food Connect is a multi-market nonprofit technology and logistics organization operating at the intersection of food access, health, and last-mile infrastructure. As we scale, we are transitioning from startup systems to institutionalized leadership infrastructure.

Now, we are intentionally strengthening the systems, leadership infrastructure, and cultural foundation that will support the next phase of scale. This is an opportunity to help shape the backbone of an organization that is redefining how food systems work.

The VP of People Operations & Culture will play a central role in building a thriving workplace culture, strengthen the people and governance systems to support the work, and enhance performance management systems and processes required to move from entrepreneurial growth to institutional excellence.

Location: Hybrid, 70% remote with 30% in-person meetings/travel Position Type: Full-time, Salaried Salary Range: $95,000 - $125,000 Reports To: Chief Executive Officer

Role Overview

The VP of People Operations & Culture is the architect of Food Connect’s people infrastructure. This executive leader partners with the CEO, leadership team, and Board to:

Translate bold vision into structured execution
Build performance systems that elevate excellence
Create processes and decision-making clarity across departments
Strengthen trust, transparency, and communication
Ensure governance and compliance

If you are someone who thrives at the intersection of systems, leadership psychology, and mission-driven growth, and you are excited by the challenge of transforming a scaling nonprofit into a high-performing institution, this role is the right fit.

You will help design the structure that allows Food Connect to scale responsibly, sustainably, and boldly. This role is responsible for designing and strengthening how Food Connect’s people, leaders, and teams operate as the organization scales.

This role partners closely with the CEO and team to ensure that organizational structure, leadership capacity, performance systems, culture, and people analytics are aligned with Food Connect’s mission and growth goals.

Core Responsibilities

Strategic Partner to the CEO

Serve as a trusted thought partner to the CEO on organizational design, leadership effectiveness, and scaling decisions.
Translate strategic priorities into clear roles, accountability, and decision structure
Identify people and organizational risks early including capacity gaps, leadership strain, and burnout.
Support leadership planning with data driven insights

Organizational Design and Effectiveness

Design and evolve org structure, role clarity, and reporting models
Implement RACI or similar accountability frameworks across departments
Partner with team leaders to ensure clean handoffs between execution and people systems
Support restructuring, growth phases, and change initiatives with clear communication and transition planning
Culture and change management
- Translate Food Connect’s values into clear behaviors and expectations
- Ensure culture shows up in how leaders lead, teams communicate, and decisions are made
- Lead change management efforts during periods of growth or transition
- Monitor culture health and intervene early when misalignment appears
Audit and refine organizational structure to support growth
Define and document decision structures and escalation pathways
Partner with senior leaders to reduce bottlenecks and strengthen delegation
Ensure major transitions are supported by structured communication plans

Performance Management

Design and operationalize a clear, consistent, and measurable performance management system that reinforces accountability, growth, and fairness.
Build and implement a structured annual goal-setting process aligned to organizational strategy
Establish performance check-ins and leadership review rhythms
Standardize documentation practices for feedback, performance improvement, and corrective action
Develop clear guidelines for managing underperformance, including formal Performance Improvement Plan (PIP) frameworks
Train managers on delivering candid, constructive, and well-documented performance conversations
Ensure performance decisions are consistent, transparent, and aligned with documented expectations
Track performance trends and identify systemic capability or capacity gaps
Create clear job descriptions with measurable expectations and success metrics

Employee Relations

Serve as a trusted resource for employees and leaders to navigate workplace concerns constructively.
Establish clear channels for employee relations and communication
Lead employee and team building activities that support a thriving culture aligned with organizational values
Implement safeguards and reporting pathways
Ensure consistent and legally sound handling of workplace issues
Design manager training programs focused on communication, feedback, andaccountability
Implement structured learning plans tied to role expectations in partnership withmanagers leading it
Build training systems for compliance, performance management, and workplaceconduct

Recruitment & Hiring

Improve hiring readiness by ensuring roles are clearly defined with measurable successcriteria
Partner with hiring managers to design structured interview processes
Implement standardized evaluation tools and scoring frameworks
Implement and refine onboarding and offboarding processes to support strong workculture and organizational values
Train managers on objective candidate assessment and management
Ensure employment decisions are aligned with best practices and well-communicated

HR & Compliance