Senior Director of People Operations

$165k - $205k

United States

Full-time

11-50

Apply for this job

Contact employer

🔴 Closes on:

Jul 28, 2026

Job Description:

Common Defense is looking for a Senior Director of People Operations—a strategic, collaborative, and values-aligned executive leader—who shares in our vision for an inclusive democracy where everyday people are civically engaged in the decisions that impact their lives. As a key member of our executive team, the Senior Director will guide Common Defense's people operations during a time of rapid growth and transformation. They serve as a trusted thought partner and organizational leader, working collaboratively across the organization to create people-centered strategies that support our highly talented team, fostering a culture rooted in accountability, trust, inclusion, and rigorous practice. Join us!

For more information about this and other positions, please visit our website.

About Common Defense

Common Defense is the nation's largest grassroots organization of progressive veterans, military family members, and civilian allies working to build a more inclusive, equitable, and just democracy. Through organizing, advocacy, civic engagement, leadership development, and strategic campaigns, we mobilize veterans and military families to advance social, economic, and racial justice while combating extremism and strengthening democratic institutions. Common Defense operates affiliated 501(c)(3), 501(c)(4), and political entities and employs approximately 50 staff members located throughout the United States. Together, we hold these core organizational values:

EQUITY Rooted in history we reckon with the past and strive to uphold dignity, fairness, and respect in our relationships with everyone.
PROGRESS Fueled by love and unwavering optimism in the face of oppression and violence we are committed to building a better future.
JUSTICE We believe accountability is core to achieving peace and prioritize being in solidarity with directly impacted communities.
POWER Knowing our shared interests we choose to gather our collective strength and counter the cynicism of corruption and patronage.

Position Overview

The Senior Director of People Operations will be an organizational leader and integral member of Common Defense’s executive leadership team. The Senior Director will work across teams to integrate a culture of collaboration, continuous learning, and accountability, translating organizational goals into actionable people-centered strategies–holding these practices and values during a time of rapid growth for the organization. They will build a people operations team, provide direct supervision for staff and external consultants, including management of our external HR firm. This position will report to the Executive Director and, in partnership with the executive leadership team, will shape and implement initiatives that strengthen Common Defense’s culture, leadership, and overall effectiveness. This work will include:

People Strategy and Human Resources Leadership

HR Leadership: Develop and execute an HR strategy that complements a people strategy that balances people-centric approaches with performance-driven outcomes, ensuring it supports Common Defense’s mission, employee experience and engagement, and effectively advances our mission.
Performance & Leadership Development: Cultivate an environment of continuous learning and growth by refining systems of performance management, leadership development, and organizational accountability. Equip leaders with frameworks to support and elevate staff, ensuring high-impact contributions across Common Defense.
Recruitment Strategy: Develop and implement a values-aligned talent acquisition vision, establishing the best recruitment practices and building a pipeline of talent for future roles. Evaluate and enhance the full recruiting process, serving as an advisor to ensure recruitment of exceptional talent.
Talent Development & Growth: Lead the design and implementation of people-centered approaches to onboarding, professional development, and career pathway planning that enhance retention, foster leadership, and support long-term staff engagement.
Compensation & Benefits Administration: Partner with Common Defense’s external Human Resources consulting firm to steward the administration and strategic evolution of Common Defense’s compensation and benefits programs. Ensure fair, equitable, and sustainable practices that support employee experience and align with Common Defense’s mission.

Organizational Strategy, Culture, and Effectiveness

Cultural Stewardship: Cultivate and sustain a values-driven workplace culture that reflects Common Defense's deep commitment to equity, justice, progress, and collective power. Champion organizational practices that amplify different perspectives, foster courageous conversations, and ensure that inclusivity and belonging are reflected in both our policies and our daily interactions.
Transformational Change Management: Guide Common Defense’s evolution by ensuring that shifts in strategy, structure, or policy are carried out with intention—balancing clarity and efficiency with deep engagement, so that transformation is not just effective, but also people-centered, values-driven, and rooted in collective success.
Deepening Engagement and Alignment: Design and implement a comprehensive employee engagement strategy that nurtures belonging, purpose, and cohesion across the organization. Elevate structures and practices that ensure every team member is invested in and accountable to Common Defense’s mission and shared outcomes.
Leadership Communication & Development: Equip leaders and managers with tools and best practices that amplify clarity, trust, and motivation. Ensure leadership at all levels cultivates a supportive and inclusive environment, models transparency, and strengthens team effectiveness.
Data-Driven Decision-Making: Develop and refine organizational systems that harness data and insights to enhance leadership development, inform people strategy, and measure the impact of culture and engagement initiatives in alignment with our programmatic OKRs.

Labor-Management Relations Support

Strengthening Union Collaboration: Foster a constructive, mission-aligned partnership with Common Defense’s labor union (CWA), ensuring labor-management relations uphold Common Defense’s values of worker power and collective bargaining.
Compliance with Collective Bargaining Agreements: Oversee the administration and implementation of our collective bargaining agreement, ensuring alignment with Common Defense’s goals and operational sustainability. Ensure that all HR policies, performance management systems, and compensation structures align with Common Defense’s collective bargaining agreement, reinforcing a fair and legally compliant work environment.
Proactive Labor Relations & Conflict Resolution: Engage in thoughtful, solutions-oriented collaboration with union representatives to proactively address concerns, advance shared priorities, and sustain a workplace environment rooted in fairness, respect, and transparency.

Required Qualifications

You have 15+ years of progressively responsible leadership experience in organizational development, change management, human resources, people operations, leadership development, and/or in programmatic work and 10+ years of managerial, supervisory, or other related experience in a nonprofit setting, including management experience in a unionized setting, ideally with advocacy, organizing, labor, civic engagement, movement-building, and/or social justice organizations.
You have alignment with Common Defense’s mission and values with a strong commitment to supporting a multiracial team that represents diversity of lived and professional experiences of the veteran community across the United States.
You have a track record of modeling a productive and collegial approach to our labor management processes and have experience serving as a management representative in labor-management settings, including grievance administration, contract interpretation, labor-management committees, bargaining preparation, and employee relations matters.
You have experience overseeing human resources functions for a geographically distributed, multi-state, and/or fully remote workforce.
You have experience helping organizations navigate periods of growth, strategic change, restructuring, cultural transformation, or significant organizational evolution.
You are a trusted thought partner and can move across all levels of an organization while holding individual perspectives alongside shared objectives.
You are a highly-skilled people manager practitioner who takes a coaching approach to your work and enjoys supporting staff to improve and grow as managers and leaders.
You are a highly-relational and collaborative leader who nurtures a collective sense of purpose while maintaining rigorous standards of accountability for yourself and the others.
You are a proactive project manager who can hold a big picture vision while also tracking the details of and maintaining momentum for day-to-day management.
You have excellent communication skills, written and verbal, and are a skilled facilitator who can guide groups towards a shared sense of purpose supported by clearly-defined outcomes.