Leads the People function and recruiting strategy, shaping organizational culture and overseeing talent acquisition, performance, compensation, employee relations, and workforce planning as the company grows.
Sr. Director of People
📜 Description
- Build and lead the in-house People function and own the full employee lifecycle.
- Design onboarding, learning and development, and performance management programs.
- Create compensation philosophy and leveling frameworks that support clarity and retention.
- Lead full-cycle recruiting for technical and non-technical teams.
- Maintain employee policies and ensure multi-state employment compliance.
- Use engagement data to drive retention plans and embed company values in communications and team rituals.
🛠️ Requirements
- 10+ years of progressive HR or People leadership experience, including at least 3 years leading the People function at an early-stage or high-growth startup.
- Prior experience at a startup with fewer than 40 employees.
- Experience building compensation and leveling frameworks and designing successful onboarding programs.
- Experience owning full-cycle recruiting or managing recruiters and external agencies.
- Strong knowledge of multi-state employment law and compliance; California and Colorado experience preferred.
- Experience managing HRIS and payroll systems; Gusto and Lattice are a plus.
- Demonstrated use of AI to enable HR workflows.
- Strong communication, relationship-building, judgment, and discretion; able to work across strategy and hands-on execution.
✨ Benefits
- Equity
- Benefits
Full job description
Sr. Director of People
Marvin Behavioral Health
About Marvin Behavioral Health
Marvin Behavioral Health is on a mission to end the mental health crisis facing today's healthcare workforce. Marvin partners with many of the country’s top hospitals, including Cedars-Sinai, Jefferson Health, Geisinger, and the Harvard Department of Psychiatry, to provide a proprietary mental health care platform for their physicians, nurses, and staff.
Services include confidential teletherapy with specialized therapists, an AI coaching model built specifically for the healthcare workforce, medication management/psychiatry, as well as well-being and crisis management workshops. All programming is geared towards supporting the healthcare workforce and improving key outcomes including retention, burnout, team effectiveness and resilience.
The Role
Marvin is at an inflection point where it’s time to bring the People function in house, and we’re looking for an experienced leader who is excited to build the practice from the ground up. Reporting to the Head of Operations, Anna Millhiser, you’ll own the entire employee lifecycle by defining creative programs that determine how we hire, onboard, develop, compensate, and retain the team behind our mission. You’ll lead in-house recruiting, design compensation philosophy and level frameworks, and build programs to help our team grow. Most importantly, you’ll ensure Marvin’s values show up in how we hire, reward, and recognize our team and you’ll have the data to back it up. This is a perfect opportunity for builders that want to create systems, not just run them, and to build a company that’s making a real difference in the lives of healthcare practitioners across the country.
What You’ll Own
Onboarding. Design a thoughtful and scalable onboarding program that enables employees to become successful quickly, and ensures that all employees are deeply aligned with Marvin’s mission of ending healthcare burnout.
Learning and Development. Build training for managers and individual contributors so that all employees are successful and continue to grow in their careers.
Performance Management. Build a scalable performance management program that holds employees accountable and rewards those that exceed expectations.
Compensation Philosophy. Design a thoughtful compensation philosophy and leveling framework to ensure that employees are rewarded and retained. Ensure that there is clarity and alignment throughout the organization as it relates to pay and role.
Talent Acquisition. Own the in-house recruiting function to support the buildout of technical and non-technical teams, reducing the need for external recruiters.
Policy and Compliance. Write and maintain the employee handbook and policies, ensure compliance in all of the states that Marvin operates.
Data and Metrics. Own the engagement survey and work with cross functional leaders to turn the results into action plans that drive retention. Keep leadership team abreast with relevant measurable results of People and Talent programs.
Culture. Ensure company values are woven into hiring, performance, and recognition programs. Own internal communications and rituals such as all-hands and team offsites.
What You Bring
10+ years of experience in progressive leadership roles in the HR or People function, including at least 3 years leading the people function at an early-stage or high-growth startup
Prior experience at an early stage startup (fewer than 40 employees)
Built and launched compensation and leveling frameworks
Owned full-cycle recruiting for technical and non-technical roles, or managed recruiters/external agencies to deliver hiring goals
Designed onboarding programs with demonstrable success
Strong knowledge of multi-state employment law and compliance, preferably in California and Colorado
Experience managing HRIS and payroll systems (Gusto and Lattice a plus)
Demonstrated experience using AI to enable HR workflows
Exceptional written and verbal communication skills
Ability to build trusting relationships across all stakeholder departments
Thrives in ambiguity and can move seamlessly between strategy and hands-on execution
Exercises sound judgement and discretion with sensitive employee and company information, including compensation, performance, and employee relations matters
Nice to Have
Healthcare, digital health, or clinical workforce experience
Experience managing contractor or 1099 workforces alongside W-2 employees
Passion for mental healthcare and/or employer benefits programs
Location & Compensation
Los Angeles, California (ability to work onsite 2 days/week)
Base Salary Range: $180,000 - $200,000 plus equity and benefits
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