Vice President of Human Resources and Employee Experience

Metropolitan State University, a member of the Minnesota State Colleges and Universities system, and five (5) time recipient of the Insight into Diversity Higher Education Excellence in Diversity (HEED) Award is seeking to hire a Vice President for Human Resources and Employee Experience. This is a full-time position, reporting to the university President. The Vice President of Human Resources and Employee Experience is a transformational Human Resources senior professional who will lead Metropolitan State University in creating a Human Resources team that enables the university’s aspiration to be an employer of choice in higher education. This senior leader will bring a lens of equity, inclusion, and anti-racism to all aspects of their work, focusing on building and maintaining a welcoming and inclusive culture that supports, engages, values, and develops our university employees.   The Vice President works closely with the president, colleague vice presidents, deans and directors, faculty, staff, students and the Minnesota State Colleges and Universities Vice Chancellors to support a high performing workforce focused on the success of all students. They will form an especially strong and collaborative partnership with the Vice President for Equity and Inclusion to help achieve the vision of building an anti-racist and inclusive university and a workforce that mirrors the diversity of our students. The Vice President for Human Resources and Employee Experience serves as a member of the President’s Executive Council and President’s Cabinet and is a key advisor to the president on matters involving employee engagement, well-being and healthy bargaining unit relationships.   The successful candidate will have a record of accomplishment, which demonstrates the following leadership competencies:  

• Communicates effectively by presenting ideas and proposals clearly and concisely, while also listening carefully to understand differing points of view.
• Builds trust by demonstrating respect, creating transparency, keeping commitments, and actively working to restore trust when necessary.
• Collaborates effectively by working authentically and openly with colleagues inside and external to the organization. Exhibits a spirit of true partnership that benefits all parties engaged in the project.
• Builds organizational capacity to meet future challenges by identifying and removing barriers to innovation, collaborating across divisional, institutional and system boundaries.
• Is a champion and advocate for equity, inclusion and anti-racism by interrogating policies, procedures, and ideas to interrupt systemic racism, demonstrating inclusivity in work processes and teams, encouraging and promoting the diversification of staff to mirror the diversity of our students, and in actively seeking out and inviting alternative viewpoints in planning, discussions and decision making.

 

  Responsibilities:   The Vice President will:

1. provide strategic university and human resource leadership by:

• cultivating talent and the employee experience with a focus on retaining and attracting employees with a passion for the mission of Metro State.

 

• supporting our goal to be an effective and efficient organization through a continuous improvement practice that seeks high value process improvement.

 

• analyzing problems and partnering with managers and supervisors to develop creative solutions to complex human resource issues.

 

• supporting managers and supervisors across the institution in performance assessment, development of employees’ talents, and management of employees.

 

• Working with the VP for Equity and Inclusion to measure campus climate and organizational engagement, as directed by the president, and using the data to guide our improvement efforts.

 

• building and developing a creative, agile and service oriented team of human resource professionals.

2. lead the university’s effort to create a positive employee experience by:  

• partnering with the president and other campus leaders to advance initiatives and lead change to create an inclusive and equitable work environment.

 

• partnering with the VP of Equity and Inclusion to develop a culturally competent, inclusive and anti-racist workforce to support the needs and aspirations of our students.

 

• demonstrating strong interpersonal and communication skills and the ability to work effectively with a wide range of diverse constituencies.

 

• demonstrating a practice of working appropriately with sensitive information and issues and understand and avoid conflict of interests between the role of the HR leader and campus operations and activities.

3. be responsible for:

• preparing for and participating in Labor Relations Meet and Confer or Labor-Management meetings with the President and Cabinet members, including agenda development and follow up.

 

• assisting the Provost and Executive Vice President for Academic and Student Affairs in working effectively with our Faculty Association on personnel and contract matters.

 

• formulating and recommending human resource policies and procedures to advance the mission, vision, and strategic goals of the university.

 

• effective budget preparation and fiscal management.

4. act as the liaison, in partnership with the University’s president, between the Minnesota State Vice Chancellors and labor relations staff, other state and local government agencies, and other external organizations as directed by the President on matters concerning human resources and employee relations.   Minimum Qualifications:  

• Master’s degree in human resources, labor relations, psychology, higher education administration, or related field.
• At least 7 years of professional experience in human resources, with 5 years’ experience supervising and leading a team.
• Proven experience in the implementation, management, and review of Human Resources functions.
• Knowledge and understanding of equity, inclusion, and anti-racism principles.
• Evidence of contributions to advancing equity, inclusion, and anti-racism initiatives with proven impacts.
• Knowledge and experience related to federal and state laws and regulations, as related to higher education (i.e.: Affirmative Action, Title IX, ADA, Respectful Workplace, etc.).
• Experience with bargaining and contract administration and in supporting managers across the institution in contract administration.
• Ability to identify and address problems with confidentiality, diplomacy, and integrity.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills.
• Proven experience in working collaboratively with leadership teams.

Preferred Qualifications:

• Doctoral or JD degree in related human or social science field.
• Professional HR certification (SHRM-SCP, SPHR).
• Mediation training, conflict resolution training.
• HR leadership experience in higher education, non-profit, or government.
• 8 or more years of professional human resources experience.