Director, People Systems and Operations

Position Overview:

KIPP NYC is seeking a Director, People Systems and Operations to lead the design, innovation, implementation, and maintenance of HR and People systems that are reliable, secure, integrated, and strengthen the organization’s people, payroll, and workforce operations.

At KIPP NYC, we believe strong people systems create the conditions for our employees to do their best work in service of students and families. The Director, People Systems and Operations will play a critical role in building the systems, processes, and data infrastructure that support a seamless and high-quality employee experience across our schools and Shared Services Team.

Reporting to the Managing Director, People Operations & Total Rewards, the Director serves as the organization’s architect and owner of the Human Capital Management (HCM) platform and related HR technologies, partnering closely with teams across People, Payroll, Finance, IT, and organizational leaders.

This individual will bring strong project management, systems thinking, operational excellence, and employee-centered design to complex cross-functional workstreams. They will drive employee lifecycle governance, improve service delivery, strengthen operational handoffs, and create scalable processes that support employees across the network. This role is responsible not only for maintaining systems, but also for ensuring technology and business processes work together to deliver  an accurate, efficient, compliant, and high-quality employee experience. 

The Director will also bring KIPP NYC’s People data to life—moving beyond reporting to interpret trends, surface insights, identify opportunities, and translate data into actionable recommendations that inform People Team strategy and broader organizational priorities. 

This is a full-time position with a hybrid schedule, requiring a minimum of three in-person days per week based out of our KIPP NYC Midtown Manhattan office. The role also includes travel to KIPP NYC campuses across the Bronx, Brooklyn, and Manhattan. The cadence and frequency of school visits will be determined by your leadership team.

Duties and Responsibilities:

General responsibilities include (but are not limited to):

People Systems Strategy, Design & Optimization

• Serve as the systems leader and subject-matter expert for KIPP NYC’s HCM ecosystem, including Core HR, Payroll, Time & Attendance, Benefits, Recruiting, Onboarding, Compensation, Performance Management, and related People technologies.

• Develop and execute a multi-year People technology roadmap aligned with organizational strategy, evolving business needs, and the employee and manager experience.

• Lead the design, configuration, integration, testing, implementation, and ongoing optimization of People systems, workflows, and automation, ensuring technology solutions simplify and strengthen business processes rather than replicate inefficient legacy practices.

• Oversee integrations across HCM, Payroll, Finance, benefits, recruiting, identity and access management, and other enterprise systems; diagnose and lead the resolution of complex system and integration issues.

• Establish and maintain standards for system architecture, configuration, testing, documentation, release management, security, and ongoing system maintenance.

Data Governance, Controls & People Operations

• Establish and maintain People data governance standards, including data definitions, ownership, authoritative sources, role-based access and security, validation, quality controls, and recurring audits and reconciliations.

• Ensure the accuracy and integrity of employee and organizational data across the employee lifecycle, including jobs, positions, compensation, locations, reporting relationships, and employment status.

• Develop and maintain processes and controls that support data integrity and payroll accuracy, including appropriate segregation of duties, automation, reconciliations, documentation, and standard operating procedures; ensure the accurate preparation, review, and approval of required federal, state, local, and other regulatory People data reporting.

• Develop scalable reporting, analytics, dashboards, and service metrics, and translate workforce and service data into actionable insights, identifying trends and areas of risk or opportunity, and using those insights to inform People Team priorities and broader organizational strategy.

• Strengthen People service delivery and the employee experience through employee and manager self-service, workflow improvements, service metrics, and technology-enabled support, including the Payroll inquiry and ticketing strategy.

Project Management & Change Leadership

• Lead complex, cross-functional People technology implementations, upgrades, integrations, and operational improvement initiatives from scoping through implementation and stabilization.

• Establish disciplined project governance, including clear ownership, timelines, milestones, dependencies, risks, decision-making, implementation readiness, and measures of success.

• Coordinate work across People, Payroll, Finance, IT, Communications, school-based teams, and other stakeholders to ensure clear accountability, effective handoffs, successful execution, and a seamless, high-quality employee experience.

• Lead change management for significant system and process changes, including stakeholder engagement, communications, training, documentation, and post-launch support.

• Select and manage technology vendors and consultants, including project scope, Statements of Work, deliverables, timelines, performance, costs, and escalation of implementation or service issues.