About W.K. Kellogg Foundation
The W.K. Kellogg Foundation supports children, families, and communities as they strengthen and create conditions so all children can achieve success as individuals and as contributors to the larger community and society. Upon establishing the foundation in 1930, breakfast cereal innovator W.K. Kellogg instructed future trustees and staff to “Use the money as you please so long as it promotes the health, happiness and well-being of children.” To this day, the foundation envisions, and works toward, a nation that marshals its resource to assure that all children have an equitable and promising future – a nation in which all children thrive.
To advance this mission, the foundation implements an array of change-making tools – grantmaking, impact investing, communications, contracting, networking, and convenings – and uses an innovative networked organizational design to prioritize investment decisions and maximize effectiveness toward achieving the desired ends and improvements for children and their families. A commitment to racial equity, community engagement and leadership development is woven into each endeavor as essential to the creation of a social context in which all children can thrive. Their grant-making focuses on education and learning; food, health, and well-being; and family economic security.
The overall work of the foundation is guided by the following values:
- We believe in helping people help themselves through the practical application of knowledge and resources to improve their quality of life and that of future generations.
- We believe all people have the inherent capacity to effect change in their lives, in their organization, and in their communities. We respect individuals and value their collective interests, strengths, and cultures.
- We believe stewardship requires fidelity to the spirit and to the intent of the founder and the wide use of resources. We believe in being responsible, prudent, selfless, and exercising good judgment.
- We believe innovation of thought and action leads to enduring and positive change in both formal and informal systems.
- We value integrity of purpose and action, and believe it is essential to all of our affairs.
This is a powerful time to be on the front lines of innovative philanthropy and we hope you’ll consider joining us! To learn more about the foundation, please visit www.wkkf.org and everychildthrives.com.
The Opportunity
The Director of Talent Planning & Acquisition leads the design, development and execution of enterprise-wide workforce planning, career pathing, talent acquisition, and succession planning strategies that enable the organization to attract, acquire, and retain the human capital needed to achieve its mission and strategic priorities. Through the lens of the foundation’s DNA, by leveraging workforce insights, and in partnership with leaders, this role strengthens organizational capability and ensures a competitive, future-ready workforce that delivers on WKKF’s strategic plan and organizational ends.
Key Responsibilities:
- Model and drive leadership, capacity building, accountability, care and concern, strategic thinking and business acumen within respective team(s) and across the foundation.
- Model organizational vision, strategy, values, purpose and culture, both inside and outside the organization.
- Drive results through successful accomplishment of organizational ends and avoidance of executive limitations.
- Empower, coach and develop people, modeling agile practices and demonstrating WKKF’s commitment to racial equity, community engagement and leadership.
- Engage WKKF staff and external constituents, delivering timely, consistent, aligned, authentic communications at all levels.
- Drive innovation by delivering industry insights and seek out and promote continuous learning and improvement within assigned area(s) of expertise.
- Deliver high performance through data driven decision making, problem solving, and results focus.
- Serve as an active member of the Steering Committee.
- Lead a high performing team:
- Provide clear and consistent communications on roles, responsibilities, and expectations.
- Ensure team effectiveness and provide timely performance feedback and coaching in a manner that engenders performance excellence and strong customer service.
- Ensure cross-functional training and plan for the team’s staffing requirements.
- Collaborate with talent and human resources team to attract, retain, develop, and grow diverse talent.
Specifically, the Director of Talent Planning & Acquisition is responsible for the following:
Strategic Talent Planning
In partnership with the THR leadership team:
- Lead an enterprise-wide talent planning strategy aligned with organizational priorities, workforce needs, and long-term business objectives.
- Partner closely with executive and senior leaders to identify current and future workforce requirements, critical capabilities, and talent risks. Leverage insights from internal talent mobility, retirement projections, and other forms of attrition. Monitor labor market trends, talent availability, and workforce analytics to inform talent strategies and decision-making.
- Support succession planning efforts by identifying future talent needs and partnering on leadership readiness strategies.
- Oversee the implementation of approved networked org structure changes and ensure job architectures, position classifications, and job descriptions remain accurate, current, and aligned with business needs.
- Provide strategic oversight of the foundation’s competency framework by defining critical skills and capabilities needed to support job architecture and ensure organizational success.
- Plan effective ways to introduce career pathway opportunities, balancing organizational needs with employee professional and personal growth to retain top talent.
- Advance the organization's employer brand and employee value proposition to strengthen its position as an employer of choice.
Talent Acquisition Strategies
- Lead the organization's talent acquisition strategy, ensuring the attraction, assessment, selection, and onboarding of high-quality talent. Integrate equitable and inclusive practices throughout talent planning and acquisition processes.
- Oversee recruitment operations, processes, systems, and vendor/search firm relationships to ensure efficiency and effectiveness, enhance the candidate and hiring manager experience, and promote equitable and inclusive hiring practices.
- Develop innovative sourcing strategies and talent pipelines for critical and hard-to-fill positions.
- Ensure recruitment practices align with organizational values, build diverse candidate pools, and comply with legal requirements.
- Create an efficient and positive hiring and pre-boarding experience for new hires and change-boarding experience for internal candidates, in alignment with organizational culture and values.
Analytics, Systems, & Operations
- Establish and oversee policies, guidelines, and platforms related to talent planning and acquisition.
- Optimize applicant tracking, pre-boarding and onboarding systems (e.g., SuccessFactors), in compliance with records retention schedules and federal and state labor laws,
- Establish and monitor key performance indicators related to talent acquisition, workforce planning, candidate experience, and hiring outcomes. Identify trends, risks, and opportunities for improvement.
- Prepare and present talent insights and workforce reports to senior leadership, including monitoring reports on progress and impact.
- Partner with the THR leadership team to ensure integration of workforce planning and organizational strategy.
- In partnership with the VP of THR, develop and manage budget, including an assessment of available resources and resource requirements. Negotiate and manage vendor contracts and deliverables; oversee vendor compliance and performance.
- Lead special projects and other duties as assigned.
Candidate Profile
The ideal candidate will have the following professional and personal qualities, skills, and characteristics:
Education/ Experience
- Bachelor’s degree in a field relevant to assigned area plus a minimum of eight years related work experience in field relevant to assigned responsibilities, with strong networks and contacts and a minimum of five years of leadership experience required. Advanced degree preferred. Demonstrated success in leading and managing teams, human capital strategy, and other areas of responsibility. Successful experience working as part of a multidisciplinary team and working effectively with people from diverse cultural, social and ethnic backgrounds.
- Fluency in English required; Spanish proficiency strongly preferred.
- Foundation or nonprofit experience preferred.
Core Capabilities
- Proven experience in workforce planning and acquisition strategies and execution at a senior level.
- Deep and comprehensive understanding of the intersection between strategic talent planning and systems change, with the ability to align workforce planning, recruitment, and retention with organizational transformation and capacity-building.
- Expertise in applicant tracking, pre-boarding and onboarding systems (e.g., SuccessFactors), records retention schedules, as well as federal, state and local labor laws, regulations and compliance requirements.
- Holistic thinker who understands how to build and cultivate strategic partnerships both within and outside of the organization to accomplish strategic workforce planning objectives.
- Entrepreneurial spirit and the ability to translate concept into action; a demonstrated orientation to be innovative and agile.
- Understanding and deep commitment to equity, diversity, inclusion, and impact, integrating these values into workforce planning, and recruitment and retention.
- Strong relationship building and communication skills with the ability to have authentic dialogue around sensitive issues; highly developed emotional intelligence and active listening skills, and the ability to use interpersonal and political skills in collaborative, diplomatic ways.
- Excellent project management skills, including managing budgets, vendors, and timelines, while building strong networks inside and outside the organization.
Desired Qualities and Characteristics
- Strong alignment with WKKF’s values and DNA
- Intercultural competence
- Openness / self-awareness
- Ego-management
- Systems thinker
- Brings people together
- Change competence
- Collaborative
- Conflict competence
- Listens well
- Talent architect / people developer
- Empowers leadership
- Trust builder
- Shares accountability and responsibility
- Results-oriented
Compensation and Benefits
Salary is competitive and commensurate with experience. The salary range for this role is $167,000 - $209,000 with a generous benefits package. The exact salary that will be offered to the Director of Talent Planning & Acquisition will be determined based on a consideration of the successful candidate’s skills, experience, and aligned with the foundation’s compensation policies.
Contact
DSG | Koya has been exclusively retained for this engagement, which is being led by Erin Reedy. Submit a compelling cover letter and resume by filling out our Talent Profile. All inquiries are strictly confidential.