Senior Manager, Talent

DonorsChoose makes it easy for anyone to help a teacher in need, moving us closer to a nation where students in every community have the tools and experiences they need for a great education.

Since 2000, more than 5 million people and partners have contributed $1 billion to support 2 million teacher requests for classroom resources and experiences. Projects range from art supplies to build the set for a school musical, to books and puzzles that affirm students’ identities, to bird seed for an at-home science project. We proudly serve all US public schools, public charter schools, and Head Start centers, and we combat systemic inequity by driving a majority of donations to schools that have been historically underfunded due to economic and racial inequity.

DonorsChoose has been recognized as a best place to work by GOOD Magazine and the Nonprofit Times, while Fast Company named DonorsChoose one of the 50 Most Innovative Companies in the World—the first time a charity has made this list. Our dedicated team works from across the United States bring classroom dreams to life.

The People and Talent team strives to make DonorsChoose the best nonprofit to work for, respected internally and externally for delivering a best-in-class people experience and cultivating a diverse, inclusive, and mission-driven team. We work to ensure our staff can remain laser-focused on advancing the DonorsChoose mission by delivering a positive, productive, safe, and equitable employee lifecycle experience. Ultimately, we want our number one draw for talent to be that there is no better place they could work to do more for teachers and students in public education.

The Senior Manager, Talent reports to the Director, Talent Management and is an essential part of the People & Talent leadership at DonorsChoose. As DonorsChoose undergoes a multi-year strategic plan for the first time in organizational history, we are looking to scale our current People & Talent work to fit with our unique, mission-driven work culture. As the Senior Manager, Talent, you will work to ensure that People & Talent programs support the long-term strategic goals of the team and organization.

You will be responsible for:

• Managing our talent acquisition function from a strategic perspective, including developing the Talent Acquisition team  who will report to you. 
• Supporting the Director, Talent Management with implementing an org-wide L&D strategy, including onboarding and management training delivery.

In the first 6-9 months of the role, you will:

• Learn how we do Talent Acquisition and People work at DonorsChoose (60%)
  • Become an expert on our talent acquisition process- including org-wide hiring plans pertaining to our hiring  planning and DEI related KPIs- and identify areas of improvement in the recruitment strategy and process
  • Manage and develop three Talent Acquisition team members responsible for driving recruitment and hiring outcomes
  • Cultivate relationships across an array of teams and hiring managers with whom the People & Talent team work closely through the entire employee lifecycle
  • Own the vendor relationships for our recruitment tech stack, including Greenhouse (our ATS), and other external relationships with search consulting partners
• Support the implementation of an org-wide L&D strategy, including onboarding and leadership development training delivery (40%)
  • Familiarize yourself with strategy, program policies and procedures related to core work areas and as needed in support of the L&D program goals; work alongside the Director, Talent Management to make recommendations on the best strategic paths forward using people data to drive decision making
  • Partner with internal teams to support new hires’ onboarding and induction activities; conduct regular training for employees & managers (e.g. New Hire People & Talent Onboarding) 
  • Support Director, Talent Management in delivery of overall L&D strategy, including refreshed onboarding/offboarding, and org-wide effectiveness and leadership development initiatives

Beyond 6-9 months, you will:

• Manage talent acquisition from a strategic, big-picture perspective (40%)
  • Continue to act on the priorities above and 
  • Own hiring pipeline data to ensure equitable and inclusive processes; partner with the Manager, People Analytics to ensure hiring and performance data is captured in data reporting accurately; uses metrics to create reports and identify areas of improvement
  • Works closely with the communications team to ensure that employment branding initiatives are reflected in our hiring and onboarding experience
• Support the implementation of an org-wide L&D strategy, including onboarding and management training (60%)
  • Own program design and management of formalized onboarding program aligned with our talent philosophy, talent management strategy, and L&D learning goals
  • Integrate data (both quantitative and qualitative)  into everything you do, from how you advise people and help deliver high-impact programs to how you suggest improvements to people processes that scale
  • Support Director, Talent Management with thought partnership in the design, development, and delivery of other people programs, including manager development, performance management, employee engagement, and staffing design as it pertains to talent management
  • Advise and collaborate with people managers to support them through personnel and employee development questions in support of operating and growing healthy, engaged, and successful teams; loop in Director, Talent Management and escalate appropriately.

This role may be perfect for you if you:

• Have a professional background in Human Resources, Learning & Development program management, or a related field
• Have a 3-5+ years of prior experience in designing, delivering, and program managing org-wide Learning & Development, Talent Management, and/or Recruitment programs or something similarly aligned
• Have at least 3+ years of experience as a people manager and empowering people through coaching and training
• Have demonstrated experience effectively partnering with cross-functional teams and colleagues to implement new initiatives and influencing without direct hierarchical authority
• Have experience organizing and evaluating data from multiple sources, then creating and implementing strategic action steps
• Are passionate about creating, enhancing, and growing a strong and engaging company culture rooted in diverse lived experiences.
• Actively participate and seek out experiences that push your perspective along our DEI outcomes.

Bonus points if you:

• Have experience working in tech-forward nonprofits or edtech companies
• Have held a role such as Talent Programs Manager or in Training & Development, HR Business Partner, or some similar role

Our compensation philosophy ensures that we are both externally competitive with tech-forward nonprofits of a similar size and internally fair in our pay practices. The following ranges represent the target offer range given the scope and experience expectations for this role.

• The hiring salary range for this role is $86,000-$99,000 
• We have a hiring salary range of $95,000-$110,000 for specific higher cost of labor locations, which include NYC, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Seattle, Boston, and Washington, D.C.

Once employees are hired, the salary range for their role increases to ensure that employees are able to receive performance-based raises and grow in their role. We are open to a variety of experiences, and recognize that the person we hire may be less experienced or more senior than this job description as posted. If that’s the case, an updated salary range will be shared with candidates if they move forward in our hiring process.

In addition, we offer full-time staff 25 paid vacation days per year and 11 paid holidays, a rich employer-paid individual and family health plan, a matching 401(k) plan (up to 5% of base salary), annual professional development stipend, and casual and flexible work environment. To learn more about what it is like to work for DonorsChoose, visit our careers page.

In this role, you’ll have the option to work a flexible hybrid schedule in our NYC office, or to work fully remotely from CA, CO, CT, DC, FL, GA, IL, IN, ME, MA, MD, MI, NJ, NY, OR, PA, RI, TX, VA, WA, or WI. 

Candidates who are not in the NYC area should expect to travel to our NYC office on an as-needed basis, about 4-6 times per year. All work-related travel expenses will be covered by the organization and proper safety precautions will be taken to prevent the spread of COVID-19. 

DonorsChoose is a fully vaccinated workplace and all new employees, regardless of their work location, will be asked to share proof of full vaccination against COVID-19 within two weeks of their hire date or request an exemption from this policy due to a disability or sincerely held religious belief or practice.

Please submit your resume and answer the application questions online. Since we’re trying to get to know you through our hiring process, we ask that you please refrain from using AI writing tools to craft your response to our application questions. A cover letter is optional and may be addressed to Eunice Cho, Talent Management Director.

The DonorsChoose team works toward a nation where students in every community have the resources needed for an excellent education. To do this we hire and support a diverse team of the best and the brightest talent available.

We are an organization increasingly representative of the varied races and ethnicities, genders and sexual orientations, religious and political beliefs, and abilities that comprise our nation. DonorsChoose focuses on attracting, retaining, and advancing diverse talent because it makes us more effective, high-performing, creative, and resilient.  

If you are passionate about our mission, highly skilled in your field, and looking for a place where you can bring all of yourself to work, we want you.