People Practices Initiatives Leader (Location Open)

The People Practices Initiatives Lead will be a key player in shaping the future of DPR’s People Practices organization and vision to being progressive and influential, overseeing the implementation and management of People Practices Initiatives within the DPR Project Management Office (PMO) model. This role involves driving key organizational initiatives, streamlining processes, and aligning People Practices objectives with the company’s strategic goals. Lead cross-functional collaboration, with a dedicated set of project leaders, to drive initiatives in talent acquisition, total rewards, organizational effectiveness, employee relations, risk management, technology, employee experience, and talent development. This includes ensuring that important threads are built into the framework of People Practices including Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, Belonging, Mental Health, and a Unique Employee Value Proposition (EVP).

Key Responsibilities

Strategic Leadership:

• Lead the development and execution of People Practices Initiatives and Change ensuring alignment with organizational and enterprise priorities.
• Partner with leadership to identify and prioritize initiatives that support business and talent strategies.
• Act as a thought leader to integrate strategic workforce, workplace and organizational concepts into company-wide initiatives. Uniquely strategically minded while also being able to lead/coach others to put concepts into specific solutions.

Program Management:

• Develop a structured framework for managing multiple concurrent People Practices projects and initiatives.
• Ensure high integration with the larger DPR Prioritization/ePMO framework wherein all DPR Objectives (and region-/function-specific initiatives) are coordinated/facilitated in a larger change management way of working.
• Define project scope, goals, and deliverables that align with business objectives.
• Establish key performance indicators (KPIs) to measure the success of initiatives and ensure continuous improvement.

Collaboration and Stakeholder Engagement:

• Work closely with HR, Talent Acquisition, Talent, T&I, L&D, DEI, Total Rewards and Organizational Development teams to align resources and efforts.
• Serve as a key liaison between business units, ensuring consistent communication and alignment.
• Present updates and findings to senior leadership, providing actionable insights and recommendations.

Process Optimization:

• Partner with the Operations Services Leader to lead projects aimed at identifying inefficiencies in current people processes and developing solutions to improve their effectiveness and scalability. Oversee the adoption of new technologies and systems that support PMO functions.
• Ensure compliance with company policies and best practices in all initiatives.

People Leadership

• Lead through coaching direct reports (Project Leaders) and through influence within the organization. Direct reports may be comprised of dedicated project leads and other leaders dedicated only during interim assignments on specific People Practices/Enterprise initiatives.

Change Management:

• Lead change management efforts to support the adoption of new programs, processes, and tools.
• Build and sustain a culture of accountability, innovation, and collaboration across People Practices.
• Ability to lead complex, culturally impactful change, requiring discipline to address and evolve old norms and practices.
• Facilitate communication, coordination, and management with PP Leadership and key organizational stakeholders to ensure alignment, transparency, and effective collaboration across initiatives
• Ability to navigate the ambiguity that can be present within the facilitation of change within a larger organization.
• People Practices and Organizational Experience
• Manage and oversee work and projects that have a high level of detail and granularity while coordinating and facilitating larger strategic goals and objectives.
• Ensure key People Practices design elements, such as philosophy, psychological safety, and DPR culture, are integrated into the design and implementation of various projects and initiatives.
• Possess strategic decision-making skills to account for DPR's enterprise-wide priorities, balancing the needs of People Practices, the workforce, and DPR's overall strategy while evaluating risks and opportunities of key organizational initiatives.
  
  

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in Business Administration / Management, Human Resources, Organizational Development, or related field is preferred.
• Strong background/experience (10 years) across the multiple functions within Human Resources, Organizational Development, Program Management and Strategic Planning is highly preferred.
• Demonstrated experience in leading large-scale initiatives is required.
• Experience in leading multiple People and/or Cultural Initiative(s) is highly preferred.
• Strong project management skills is required.
• Expertise in tools such as Microsoft Project, Workday, Monday.com, other relevant platforms is highly preferred.
• Exceptional communication and interpersonal skills with the ability to influence at all levels of the organization.
• Strong analytical and problem-solving abilities, with a focus on data-driven decision-making.
• Certification in Project Management (PMP/PMO) is preferred
• Human Resources and/or Organizational Development certification(s) (eg – SPHR, SHRM-SCP) is preferred
  
  

Preferred Skills

• Experience working within a fast-paced, matrixed organization.
• Familiarity with HR systems and workforce analytics
  
  

Nothing is more important than your health and wellness. The DPR family of companies offers comprehensive benefits programs for skilled craft and labor and experienced professionals and recent graduates.