Associate Vice President for Human Resources

Mount Holyoke College is seeking an Associate Vice President for Human Resources (AVP) who will play the key role in continuing, developing, and implementing strategies and initiatives that advance Mount Holyoke’s efforts to be an organization that is fueled by a skilled workforce, and a diverse, vibrant, and inclusive culture.

This is an exciting opportunity to work in close partnership with the President, Senior Leadership Team, HR team, faculty, staff, and students on campus to develop and implement a bold vision for Mount Holyoke as an organization that attracts top talent, ensures they are highly engaged in the mission of educating students, develops them in their careers, and maximizes their contributions.

Mount Holyoke College is a world-renowned women’s college that is gender diverse. Since 1837, it has built and fortified a spirited, engaged and intellectually adventurous community, taught by an innovative faculty dedicated to their students and passionate about their disciplines. The first and oldest of the Seven Sisters Colleges, Mount Holyoke prepares students with the skills necessary to become confident leaders in a rapidly changing world. Mount Holyoke is ranked consistently as one of the top liberal arts colleges in the country by U.S. News & World Report, and its students go on to make a difference across a wide variety of professional and civic endeavors. For more information on Mount Holyoke College, please visit website.

The AVP reports to the Vice President for Finance and Administration, provides leadership for a diverse team of approximately 11 staff (10 FTE), and manages an annual operating budget of approximately $2 million. The AVP will be responsible for leading the functional areas of employment, employee relations, labor relations, compensation, payroll, benefits, compliance, policy and procedure development, HRIS, and performance management and training.

The AVP will lead with imagination, empathy, and a people-centered approach, collaborating with administrative and academic departments across campus. The AVP will develop and implement effective HR policies and operations that support the College’s mission, foster an inclusive and collegial campus community, and position Mount Holyoke to attract and retain a highly qualified and diverse workforce. The AVP will be responsible for key campus compliance efforts that support employees, including Title IV, Title VI, Title VII, Title IX and 504.

There will be many opportunities for the new AVP to innovate and implement best practice approaches, with a constant eye toward increasing the effectiveness of employees in accomplishing the core mission of the College.

The successful candidate is a trusted partner and advisor, with the courage and ability to inspire and manage change. The AVP is an excellent listener, supportive manager, and an articulate and tactful communicator. With senior leadership, the AVP will translate the College’s strategic vision into forward-thinking HR operational plans. The full position profile can be found here.

Tom Phillips and Charlotte Harris of Koya Partners have been exclusively retained for this search. To express your interest in this role please submit your materials here. All inquiries and discussions will be considered strictly confidential.

The College is committed to the elimination of all forms of discrimination whether based race, color, religion, national or ethnic origin, sex, sexual orientation, age, handicap or disability, veteran/uniformed services status, or gender identity.  We have also committed ourselves to the active recruitment of candidates from diverse backgrounds.

Mount Holyoke College believes in the right, indeed the necessity, of free inquiry and free expression for every member of the college community. The College aims to provide an environment hospitable to open interchanges of knowledge and opinion in the terms of reasoned discourse. The citizen’s rights to free speech, free movement, free association, peaceful assembly, and orderly protest extends to every member of the College. So do the citizen’s responsibility to uphold the law and the civilized person’s obligation to respect the rights and feelings of others.

Koya Partners, a part of the Diversified Search Group, is a leading executive search and strategic advising firm dedicated to connecting exceptionally talented people with mission-driven clients. Our founding philosophy—The Right Person in the Right Place Can Change the World—guides our work as we partner with nonprofits & NGOs, institutions of higher education, responsible businesses, and social enterprises in local communities and around the world.

For more information about Koya Partners, visit www.koyapartners.com.