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Key Responsibilities and Required Skills for Chief People Officer

💰 $200,000 - $350,000

Human ResourcesExecutive LeadershipPeople & Culture

🎯 Role Definition

The Chief People Officer (CPO) is a member of the executive leadership team responsible for setting and executing a holistic people strategy that drives organizational performance, culture, talent acquisition, retention, development, and compliance. The CPO partners with the CEO, CFO, and business leaders to align workforce planning, compensation, performance management, and organizational design with business objectives, while creating an inclusive, high-performance culture supported by modern HR technology and data-driven people analytics.

📈 Career Progression

Typical Career Path

Entry Point From:

  • Senior Vice President, Human Resources
  • Global Head of Talent / Head of People Operations
  • VP of People & Culture

Advancement To:

  • Chief Operating Officer (COO)
  • CEO (for HR executives with broad cross-functional leadership)
  • Board Director / Non-Executive Director focused on people, governance and compensation

Lateral Moves:

  • Chief Diversity & Inclusion Officer (CDIO)
  • Head of Talent & Learning
  • Chief Human Resources Officer (CHRO) at a larger enterprise

Core Responsibilities

Primary Functions

  • Define and lead the enterprise people strategy, translating company vision and long-term business objectives into a multi-year HR roadmap that includes talent acquisition, retention, leadership development, total rewards, and organizational design.
  • Serve as a strategic advisor to the CEO and executive leadership team on organizational structure, workforce planning, succession planning, and executive hiring to ensure the company has the right leadership bench for current and future growth.
  • Own the design and delivery of global compensation and benefits programs, ensuring market competitiveness, internal equity, regulatory compliance, and alignment with overall business strategy and financial objectives.
  • Build and scale a high-performing talent acquisition function to attract senior executives, technical leaders, and diverse talent through employer branding, sourcing strategies, campus and early-career programs, and strategic recruitment partnerships.
  • Lead the development and execution of performance management frameworks that drive accountability, measurable outcomes, continuous feedback, calibration, and coaching across all levels of the organization.
  • Architect and implement organization design initiatives—spans of control, role clarity, job families, and career ladders—to optimize productivity and enable scalable growth across geographies and business units.
  • Establish and maintain HR policies, employee handbooks, contract frameworks, and compliance protocols across multiple jurisdictions, including employment law, immigration, data privacy (e.g., GDPR), and regulatory reporting.
  • Drive a measurable diversity, equity, inclusion and belonging (DEIB) agenda that integrates into talent programs, recruitment, promotion practices, pay equity audits, employee resource groups, and supplier diversity.
  • Oversee HR operations, HRIS selection and implementation (e.g., Workday, SuccessFactors, Greenhouse), payroll, HR analytics, and service delivery to ensure reliability, data integrity, and exceptional employee experience.
  • Implement people analytics and workforce intelligence to provide actionable insights on attrition, hiring velocity, productivity, engagement, and cost of labor; present these metrics regularly to the executive team and Board.
  • Design and oversee leadership development, mentoring, coaching, and high-potential programs that accelerate bench strength and prepare leaders for expanded responsibilities.
  • Lead cultural transformation initiatives that reinforce company values, employee engagement, communication cadence, recognition programs, and change adoption during rapid scaling, restructuring, or M&A activity.
  • Own employee relations strategy, conflict resolution, investigations and remediation processes while maintaining confidentiality, legal defensibility, and consistency across the organization.
  • Partner with finance to develop and manage HR budgets, people-related forecasting, headcount planning, and scenario modeling tied to business outcomes and fundraising or IPO readiness.
  • Direct the integration of people processes and harmonization of culture during M&A transactions, including due diligence, integration planning, retention strategies and communication plans to minimize disruption and retain critical talent.
  • Lead crisis response teams for workforce disruptions (e.g., layoffs, natural disasters, pandemic response), delivering clear communication, compassionate offboarding, and legally compliant separation programs.
  • Manage executive compensation and governance: design short- and long-term incentive plans, equity programs, vesting structures and provide transparency to the Compensation Committee and Board.
  • Build and manage relationships with external partners and vendors (executive search firms, benefits brokers, legal counsel, learning providers) to deliver scalable solutions and ensure contractual terms support business needs.
  • Champion employee experience improvements across the lifecycle—from onboarding and internal mobility to alumni engagement and boomerang hire strategies—to drive retention and employer brand.
  • Ensure mental health, well-being and workplace safety programs are integrated into people policies and that managers are trained to support the health and resilience of their teams.
  • Advise on global mobility policies, expatriate packages and immigration strategy to support international talent deployment and compliance.
  • Establish and communicate key HR metrics, dashboards and narratives for Board-level reporting and investor due diligence relating to people risk, culture health and talent strategy.

Secondary Functions

  • Oversee HR operations teams to deliver accurate payroll, benefits administration, and HR case management with SLAs and continuous improvement.
  • Support ad-hoc people analytics requests and exploratory analyses to inform strategic decisions such as hiring freeze impacts, cost-savings scenarios, or DEI program ROI.
  • Coordinate cross-functional change management plans, communications and training for large-scale initiatives such as HRIS rollouts, performance calibration cycles, and reorganizations.
  • Maintain vendor and partner scorecards, monitor SLAs and negotiate contracts to ensure HR vendors deliver quality, cost-effective services.
  • Facilitate regular talent reviews, calibration sessions and succession planning workshops with business leaders to surface readiness gaps and mobility opportunities.
  • Develop and deliver manager training on coaching, performance conversations, inclusive leadership, and legal HR obligations.
  • Support local HR leaders in interpreting global policy into compliant, culturally relevant local practices and employment contracts.
  • Contribute to employer branding campaigns, recruitment marketing and EVP refinement to improve candidate conversion and new hire time-to-productivity.
  • Lead periodic compensation benchmarking exercises and total rewards communications to ensure clarity and transparency around pay and benefits.
  • Partner with legal and compliance teams on employment litigation support, regulatory audits, and risk mitigation strategies.

Required Skills & Competencies

Hard Skills (Technical)

  • Strategic HR Leadership: proven ability to define and operationalize enterprise people strategies aligned with business goals.
  • Talent Acquisition Strategy: building and scaling recruiting functions, executive search, campus programs, and employer branding.
  • Organizational Design & Workforce Planning: modeling structures, role mapping, span of control, and headcount forecasting.
  • Total Rewards & Compensation Design: salary structures, equity programs, benefits strategy, pay equity analysis, and incentive programs.
  • HR Technology & HRIS: hands-on experience selecting and deploying systems such as Workday, SAP SuccessFactors, Greenhouse, Lever, or BambooHR.
  • People Analytics & Data Literacy: proficiency with HR analytics tools, dashboards, turnover models, and presenting data-driven recommendations.
  • Change Management: structured approaches (ADKAR, Kotter) for leading transformation, reorganizations, and culture shifts.
  • Employment Law & Global Compliance: knowledge of multi-jurisdictional labor laws, immigration, GDPR and employment contracts.
  • Learning & Leadership Development: program design for leadership pipelines, succession plans, and professional development curricula.
  • M&A Integration & Separation Planning: executing due diligence, retention planning, and post-merger people integration.
  • HR Operations & Payroll Governance: operational oversight of payroll, benefits carriers, and vendor management.

Soft Skills

  • Executive Presence & Board Communication: ability to influence the Board, present people metrics and align HR priorities with investor expectations.
  • Strategic Thinking & Business Acumen: understanding of P&L impacts, cost modeling and aligning people programs to growth targets.
  • Influencing & Stakeholder Management: credible partner to the CEO, CFO and business leaders to build alignment and drive decisions.
  • Empathy & Emotional Intelligence: trusted thought-partner who can navigate sensitive employee relations and culture issues with care.
  • Coaching & Mentoring: skilled at developing leaders and creating a culture of continuous feedback.
  • Resilience & Change Agility: capacity to lead through ambiguity, rapid growth, and high-pressure situations.
  • Communication & Storytelling: translating HR metrics and programs into compelling narratives that drive action.
  • Cross-cultural Sensitivity: experience leading diverse global teams and designing inclusive policies.
  • Conflict Resolution & Mediation: ability to handle complex employee matters calmly and fairly.
  • Confidentiality & Integrity: trusted custodian of sensitive employee and executive data.

Education & Experience

Educational Background

Minimum Education:

  • Bachelor's degree in Human Resources, Business Administration, Psychology, Organizational Development or related field.

Preferred Education:

  • Master's degree in Human Resources, MBA, Organizational Psychology, or related advanced degree; SPHR, SHRM-SCP or equivalent certifications valued.

Relevant Fields of Study:

  • Human Resources Management
  • Organizational Psychology
  • Business Administration
  • Industrial/Organizational Psychology
  • Labor Relations

Experience Requirements

Typical Experience Range:

  • 12–20+ years of progressive HR experience with at least 5–8 years in senior leadership roles (VP/SVP/Head of People) and multiple years partnering with executive teams.

Preferred:

  • Experience scaling high-growth technology or global organizations, leading cross-functional HR teams, managing international compliance, and reporting to the CEO/Board. Demonstrated success in building modern HR functions, implementing HRIS, driving DEI outcomes and managing M&A-related people workstreams.
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