Chief Human Resources Officer - Brearley : Job Details

Posted Wednesday, July 9, 2025 at 4:00 AM

The Position

The Brearley School (School) seeks an experienced, strategic, and hands-on Chief Human Resources Officer (CHRO) to guide and direct its Human Resources office, to ensure that its policies and systems support the School community, and to help build an organizationalculture that reflects our commitment to diversity, equity, inclusion and belonging. This position will lead in the areas of employee relations and benefits plan design and selection, and participate in change management projects, and recruitment and retention strategy. In addition, the CHRO will play a key role in ensuring the School's human resource policies and practices comply with applicable federal and state employment laws, are regularly benchmarked against peer organizations, and are aligned with the School's mission and vision. This position will lead a significant line of work developing and implementing systems and processes to ensure compliance across all lines of Brearley's work force and will play a key role in fostering a culture that helps to create an extraordinary environment in which to teach and learn.

The Organization

Founded in 1884, The Brearley School is a center of intellectual exuberance, attracting students from across and beyond New York City. Our mission has long combined outstanding academics with an insistence on a larger purpose: to cultivate in our students a commitment to the greater good. In pursuit of this goal, we actively strive to build, nurture, and sustain a diverse faculty and student body. We are committed to creating an inclusive, equitable and antiracist school community.

• Maintain knowledge of employment practices to ensure adherence to federal, state, and local legal requirements, and advise management on needed actions, ensuring policies and procedures reflect best practices and compliance with existing laws affecting employees, including employment law.
• Create and/or update policies, procedures, guidelines, and provide all-level training as needed.
• Ensure all HR policies and processes foster diversity & inclusion within the organization.
• Create objective measures and standardize reporting to help leadership understand trends that affect the employee experience in the organization, including but not limited to retention, training, performance, compensation, and working in a school environment.

Talent Management, Employee Relations, and Workforce Planning:

• Oversee robust recruitment, hiring, and onboarding processes that yield a strong, diverse pool of candidates for staff and administrative hires.
• Ensure benefits-related programs convey the School's core values and commitment to DEIA.-
• Establish and maintain processes for updating job descriptions regularly.
• Facilitate talent and workforce planning across teams.
• Provide talent coaching – shaping leadership opportunities (upward or in the depth of the position), performance development plans, compensation strategies, and career-growth trajectories.
• Develop and implement performance management processes in compliance with the Brearley mission and vision and in partnership with the office of Equity and Community Engagement; lead efforts to adapt these in a timely and organic manner as the School grows.
• Develop and implement effective ways of accessing materials and information relating to Human Resources functions.
• Be the primary point for contact for grievances, harassment, and discrimination complaints for staff and administration.
• Ensure supervisors develop their management skills and provide proactive guidance to supervisors and employees on employee relations issues within their teams and across the organization.
• Partner with internal stakeholders to implement strategies for employee engagement and retention.

Compensation and Benefits:

• Oversee annual design of benefit plans, negotiations with benefit carriers, and regular reviews of benefits offered; oversee development and distribution of employee benefits packages, materials and notices.
• Work closely with the COO and Chief Accounting Officer to coordinate with outside consultants and contractors (as requested) in the review and design of compensation structure, periodic compensation benchmarking, and pay equity reviews.
• Provide support and training to managers to expand their understanding of compensation and benefits, confirm effective communication at all levels, verify staff understand how to access benefits, and maintain compliance.
• Oversee and work with the Benefits and Payroll Manager on matters related to open enrollment communications.

Qualifications

The ideal candidate must possess:

• Master's degree in Business Administration, Human Resources or related field.
• At least fifteen years o f strategic human resource leadership experience, including leading an HR team.
• Strong working knowledge of applicable federal and state employment laws and of best practices for risk mitigation.
• Demonstrated proficiency in the knowledge of Ceridian Dayforce or other human capital management system, (Workday, ADP, iCIMS, etc.) with an emphasis on maximizing its functionality and leading implementations.
• Demonstrated success in all areas in which Human Resources functions, within a collaborative, fast-paced, and diverse environment and an evolving culture.
• Outstanding interpersonal, problem-solving, and mentoring skills.
• Exceptional ability to meet individuals with empathy and maintain confidentiality.
• Demonstrated success in working with and gaining the trust and respect of multiple constituencies, including senior executives and staff at all levels, managing projects from idea to outcomes; strategic thinking; innovating; and navigating nimbly and effectively through changing and ambiguous situations.
• Demonstrated success centering equity and inclusion in human resources work, collaborating effectively with those leading these efforts to conduct comprehensive needs analyses, creating effective organizational structures and implementing change models – including intentional efforts to transform organizational culture – while proactively driving ongoing work.
• Track record of handling confidential and sensitive matters with discretion.

Additional preferred skills and knowledge:

• An understanding of and commitment to the mission and shared values of the School
• Senior Professional of Human Resources Certification (SPHR) or SHRM Certified Senior Professional (SHRM-SCP)
• Strong working knowledge of applicable federal and state employment laws and of best practices for risk mitigation.
• Bilingual in English and Spanish.

Key Relationships

The CHRO will report directly to the CFO/COO and will work closely with other leaders across the organization. The CHRO will manage a Benefits and Payroll Manager.

The annual salary range for this role is between $195,000 to $215,000. The final salary offer will depend on a candidate's qualifications of at least fifteen years of experience directly relevant to this role, potential to contribute, and consistent with internal equity.

Brearley offers a comprehensive benefits packageand generous paid vacation time.

Brearley is a non-profit organization whose headquarters and staff are based in New York, New York.

How to Apply

To apply for this position, please forward a resume and cover letteroutlining your interests and qualifications. Resumes should include exact start and end dates (month and year) of employment. Please submit all application materials via this link . Applications will be accepted until August 1, 2025.

The Brearley School is an Equal Opportunity/Affirmative Action employer and values a diverse workforce. We strongly encourage and seek applications from people with disabilities; people of all gender identities and sexual orientations; people of color; and veterans.