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Yellow Brick Road Early Childhood Development Center · 1 day ago

Vice President of People

Twin Cities Area

Full-time

Onsite

Director/Executive

$150K/yr - $180K/yr

10+ years exp

Yellow Brick Road is a growing, multi-state early childhood education platform backed by Avathon Capital. The Vice President of People is responsible for building and scaling the people strategy to support operational excellence, sustainable growth, and cultural integrity.

Education

Responsibilities

Develop and execute a people strategy aligned with YBR’s growth plan, operating model, and private-equity expectations

Serve as a strategic advisor to the CEO and leadership team on talent, org design, compensation, succession, and culture

Build scalable people infrastructure to support organic growth and M&A integration

Own end-to-end talent lifecycle: workforce planning, recruiting, onboarding, development, performance management, and retention

Partner with operations to address staffing shortages, turnover, and bench strength, particularly in regulated ECE roles

Lead leadership development for Directors, Assistant Directors, and Regional leaders

Champion YBR’s mission, values, and culture across all locations

Design and implement engagement, recognition, and communication strategies that resonate with a frontline workforce

Act as a steward of culture during periods of change and growth

Ensure compliance with federal, state, and local labor laws, licensing requirements, and ECE-specific regulations

Oversee HR policies, employee relations, performance issues, and investigations with consistency and professionalism

Build systems and processes that balance empathy with accountability

Design competitive, sustainable compensation and benefits programs aligned with market realities and margin targets

Support incentive structures that drive retention, performance, and leadership accountability

Partner with Finance on headcount planning, labor modeling, and productivity metrics

Implement and optimize HRIS and people systems to support scale

Develop people KPIs (turnover, time-to-hire, engagement, absenteeism, etc.) and provide clear reporting to leadership and investors

Bring discipline, rigor, and insight to people-related decision-making

Qualification

HR leadership experienceEmployment law knowledgeData-driven decision makingMulti-site managementCompensation designBusiness acumenMission-driven passionEmotional intelligence

Required

10+ years of progressive HR/People leadership experience, ideally in multi-site, labor-intensive environments (ECE, healthcare, retail, hospitality, services)

Experience in PE-backed or high-growth organizations

Proven experience scaling people operations across multiple states

Experience supporting M&A integration is a plus

Hands-on, pragmatic, and solutions-oriented leadership style

Comfortable operating at both strategic and tactical levels

High emotional intelligence with the ability to lead through influence

Balances care for people with accountability and performance

Deep knowledge of employment law and compliance

Strong business acumen and partnership mindset

Data-driven with the ability to translate insights into action

Passion for mission-driven organizations and early childhood education