Head of People and Culture

Overview

We’re on a mission to promote disability inclusion by empowering educators and engaging students and communities. The Nora Project was founded in 2016 to create a dignified place for disability studies in Pre-K to 12 education through curriculums that dispel myths, stereotypes and harmful attitudes, and that cultivate disability pride and advocacy. The Nora Project curriculums are used in more than 70 schools across eight states, Canada, and England. In addition to curriculum, The Nora Project offers robust professional development programs, training and coaching for educators to support them as they identify, anticipate and plan for students’ needs and build communities of belonging. As we grow, we seek team members who share our commitment to relentless inclusion, showing up as learners, and honoring our teammates.

The purpose of this role is to help foster a collegial, progress-driven, inclusive, social justice-oriented work culture for our team members, including full-time and part-time employees and contractors, as well as manage the human resources processes and systems we need to fulfill our mission. The Head of People and Culture will be responsible for developing and implementing policies around talent development, job coaching and support, and staff recruitment and onboarding, among other culture-related duties. The role will not include payroll or benefits administration, which will be handled by the organization’s Business Manager. The Head of People and Culture will serve on the central support team and work closely with our Executive Director.

Success in this role looks like:

• The Nora Project has a diverse and rich culture that empowers team members with tools and strategies for soliciting and giving feedback and managing conflict with confidence and kindness.
• The policies and processes of The Nora Project reflect the highest value the organization places on equity and inclusion, ensuring team members can and do work together effectively across lines of difference.
• Team members have clarity about their roles and what is expected of them; they understand, participate in, and learn from a thorough talent-management and review process.
• Team members feel they’re growing and learning and see how they could advance in our organization.
• Team members feel supported in understanding The Nora Project’s HR policies and accessing their benefits.
• Recruitment and promotion policies and processes include transparency, and integrate the organization’s core values.
• Employee onboarding processes are efficient, thorough, and supporting.

Qualities, strengths, and experience that will be helpful in this role are:

• Alignment with our credo of relentless commitment to inclusion, showing up as a learner, and honoring our teammates
• Strong commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion; the ability to work effectively with diverse people across lines of difference; lived experience of having a disability is especially helpful
• Prior experience with HR generalist work (i.e. employee relations, performance management, benefits and compensation policy and analysis, workplace policies) and the employee life cycle (recruitment, selection, promotion, onboarding, offboarding)  
• High emotional intelligence; the ability to calmly manage conflict
• Open, honest, & direct communication; the ability to communicate effectively in 1:1 and group settings
• Growth mindset; the ability to see challenges as opportunities
• Organized; the ability to juggle multiple projects while maintaining a strong attention to detail

A note to potential candidates: Research shows that candidates from marginalized populations are less likely to apply for jobs unless they believe they meet every single one of the qualifications in a job description. The Nora Project is committed to building a diverse, equitable, and inclusive organization. We strongly encourage interested individuals to apply, even if they don’t believe they have every quality, strength, and experience listed above. We especially encourage applicants with the lived experience of disability to apply for roles in our organization. All necessary supports and accommodations will be provided without question upon onboarding.