The Chief People Officer (CPO) is a senior executive leader responsible for orchestrating a coherent people and culture strategy that unlocks a high performing, engaged workforce; directly driving innovation, productivity, and long-term business growth.

 

In close partnership with the CEO, the CPO serves as a cultural anchor, trusted strategist, and disciplined executor. This role leads the evolution of MCDC’s people strategy to support organizational stability, leadership alignment, operational excellence, and sustainable growth, while ensuring integrity, accountability, and trust are consistently lived across the organization.

 

Typical Duties and Responsibilities

 

Strategic Leadership & Culture

• Partner with the CEO to design and execute a comprehensive people and culture strategy aligned with MCDC’s mission, values, and business priorities.

• Serve as a steward of leadership alignment, cultural integrity, and organizational coherence, particularly during periods of transition or change.

• Lead a clear reset in how Human Resources is experienced across the organization, shifting from a transactional function to a trusted, strategic enterprise partner.

• Executive Partnership & Organizational Effectiveness

• Act as a key advisor and thought partner to the CEO and executive leadership team on talent, culture, leadership effectiveness, and organizational design.

• Establish and reinforce leadership cadence, communication discipline, and mutual accountability across senior leaders.

• Support the development of high-performing leadership teams and scalable operating models.

Talent Strategy & Workforce Excellence

• Design and implement an inspiring, end-to-end talent strategy encompassing workforce planning, recruiting, development, performance management, and retention.

• Lead leadership development and succession planning to ensure continuity and readiness at all levels of the organization.

• Ensure hiring, onboarding, and advancement practices consistently attract and retain top-caliber talent aligned with MCDC’s values and future direction.

• Trust, Engagement & Accountability

• Lead initiatives that strengthen employee engagement, trust, and follow-through on commitments, using data and feedback to guide visible action.

• Oversee employee engagement measurement and ensure insights translate into meaningful improvement.

• Model calm, clarity, civility, and grace—especially during moments of tension or ambiguity.

• HR Operations, Compliance & Risk Management

• Ensure strong, compliant HR operations across compensation, benefits, employee relations, and regulatory requirements.

• Mitigate operational, cultural, legal, and reputational risk through disciplined systems, sound judgment, and proactive leadership.

• Lead, develop, and hold accountable the HR/People team to operate with credibility, discretion, and enterprise-level impact.

• Governance & Board Interaction

• Interface with the Board at the request of the CEO and within clearly defined governance boundaries.

• Support the CEO in preparing people-related insights or materials for Board discussion when appropriate.

Leadership Attributes

• Integrity, accountability, discretion, and calm.

• Exceptional communicator with the ability to translate strategy into clarity and action.

• Sound judgment, emotional maturity, and executive presence.

• Comfortable operating in ambiguity while providing structure and direction.

• Bias toward coherence, clarity, and follow-through.

• All other duties as assigned

 Measures of Success (12-24 Months)

• Improved leadership alignment, trust, and execution discipline.

• Positive trends in employee engagement, retention, and leadership effectiveness metrics.

• Stronger talent pipelines and improved quality of hires.

• Reduced organizational drift and siloed behavior.

• A visible shift in how Human Resources is perceived and experienced: strategic, accountable, and trusted.

• A people infrastructure that positions the CEO and Board for success.

Qualifications

Job Specifications

• A minimum of 10 years of progressive senior-level leadership experience in people strategy, human capital, or organizational leadership roles.

• Demonstrated success leading through executive transition and organizational change.

• Senior leadership experience within nonprofit, mission-driven, or purpose-led healthcare organizations is strongly preferred and considered critical to success in this role.

• Experience leading people strategy within organizations of comparable size, complexity, and geographic footprint, including multi-site or distributed operations.

• Proven ability to partner directly with CEOs and executive teams; Board experience preferred.

• Track record of enterprise-level HR, culture, and leadership transformation.

• Experience supporting organizational growth and financial turnaround environments.