VP of Human Resources

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National Collegiate & Youth Olympic Sports League – Build a World-Class Organization

About Us

We are launching a transformational professional and youth sports league with $2.5 billion in equity capital ebing raised. Our mission is to revolutionize Olympic sports in America by creating a sustainable ecosystem that spans professional competition, comprehensive youth development, and world-class infrastructure.

 

Our Scope & Scale:

 

  • School Partnerships: Licensing NCAA Division I brands from 50 schools in Year 1, scaling to 300 schools by Year 6
  • Sports Coverage: 12 Olympic sports (soccer, volleyball, lacrosse, hockey, baseball, softball, and more)
  • Geographic Reach: 4 regions, 200+ teams competing across the United States
  • Youth Development: Comprehensive programs from Grassroots (U10) through U23
  • Season: Mid-August through mid-May competition schedule
  • Infrastructure: $5B+ campus development, proprietary transportation fleet, world-class facilities

 

The People Challenge:

 

  • Year 1: Build from 0 to 2,500+ employees
  • Year 3: Scale to 8,000+ employees
  • Year 6: Manage 15,000+ full-time employees plus 25,000+ part-time/seasonal staff
  • Talent Pools: Professional athletes, coaches, youth development staff, campus operations, transportation, corporate headquarters
  • Complexity: Multi-state operations, union negotiations, athlete contracts, seasonal workforce, diverse skill sets

 

This is one of the largest organizational buildouts in modern sports history, requiring world-class HR leadership from day one.

Position Overview

The VP of Human Resources will be the senior HR executive responsible for building and leading all people operations, talent acquisition, organizational development, compensation, benefits, employee relations, and compliance. Reporting to the Chief Operating Officer (or CEO), you will be a key strategic partner architecting the company’s talent strategy and organizational culture during this once-in-a-generation startup launch.

 

Compensation Package: $850,000 total compensation

  • Base Salary: $500,000
  • Performance Bonus: $150,000 (target)
  • Equity Grant: $200,000 annually (vesting over 4 years)

Key Responsibilities

1. Strategic HR Leadership & Organizational Design

  • Strategic Partner: Serve as a key member of the executive leadership team, advising on organizational strategy, structure, and people implications of business decisions
  • Organizational Design: Architect the organizational structure for a startup scaling from 0 to 15,000+ employees in 6 years, including reporting relationships, spans of control, and role definitions
  • Workforce Planning: Develop comprehensive workforce plans that align with business growth, including hiring forecasts, skill gap analyses, and succession planning
  • Culture Building: Define and implement the company’s core values, culture, and employee experience that attracts top talent and drives performance
  • Change Management: Lead organizational change initiatives as the company scales rapidly, including restructures, new systems, and process improvements

2. Talent Acquisition & Recruitment

  • Recruiting Infrastructure: Build a best-in-class recruiting function capable of hiring 2,500+ employees in Year 1 and maintaining velocity through Year 6
  • Hiring Targets:
    • Year 1: 2,500+ hires (coaches, athletes, campus staff, corporate team)
    • Year 2-3: 3,000-4,000+ additional hires annually
    • Year 4-6: 2,000-3,000+ hires annually plus seasonal/part-time
  • Talent Pipelines: Build relationships with universities, coaching associations, athlete development programs, and industry to create robust talent pipelines
  • Employer Brand: Develop compelling employer value proposition and recruiting brand that positions the company as the premier destination for sports talent
  • Recruiting Team: Build and lead a team of 30-50 recruiters, sourcers, and coordinators
  • Recruiting Technology: Implement ATS, candidate relationship management, and recruiting analytics systems
  • Diversity Hiring: Ensure diverse candidate pipelines and equitable hiring processes across all roles

3. Compensation & Benefits

  • Compensation Strategy: Design comprehensive compensation philosophy and structures across diverse employee populations (athletes, coaches, corporate, operations)
  • Market Competitiveness: Conduct market analyses and ensure pay equity and competitiveness across all roles and geographies
  • Total Rewards: Design and implement competitive benefits programs including:
    • Health, dental, vision insurance for 15,000+ employees
    • Retirement plans (401k with matching)
    • Paid time off and leave policies
    • Performance bonuses and incentive programs
    • Equity compensation for key roles
    • Athlete-specific benefits (training facilities, nutrition, sports medicine)
  • Union Negotiations: Lead collective bargaining negotiations with athlete unions and coach associations
  • Payroll Oversight: Partner with Finance to ensure accurate, timely payroll for large, complex workforce

4. Employee Relations & Culture

  • Employee Experience: Design and implement programs that create exceptional employee experience from onboarding through offboarding
  • Employee Relations: Build ER function to handle employee issues, complaints, investigations, and conflict resolution
  • Performance Management: Implement performance review systems, goal-setting frameworks, and continuous feedback mechanisms
  • Recognition Programs: Design and launch employee recognition and reward programs that reinforce company values
  • Employee Engagement: Measure and improve employee engagement through surveys, focus groups, and action planning
  • Internal Communications: Partner with Communications team on employee messaging, town halls, and leadership communications

5. Learning & Development

  • Onboarding: Create comprehensive onboarding programs for all employee types (athletes, coaches, staff) that accelerate time-to-productivity
  • Leadership Development: Build leadership development programs for managers and executives
  • Coach Development: Partner with Athletic Department on coach training, certification, and ongoing development
  • Athlete Development: Support athlete personal development programs (financial literacy, career planning, media training)
  • Skills Training: Identify skill gaps and implement training programs (technical skills, soft skills, compliance)
  • Career Pathing: Create clear career progression frameworks across all departments

6. HR Compliance & Risk Management

  • Employment Law: Ensure compliance with all federal, state, and local employment laws across multi-state operations
  • Policy Development: Create comprehensive employee handbooks, policies, and procedures
  • I-9 & Immigration: Manage work authorization verification for domestic and international employees (athletes, coaches)
  • Workers Compensation: Oversee workers comp programs, including athlete injury management
  • Unemployment Claims: Manage unemployment insurance and claims
  • EEOC/Compliance: Ensure EEO compliance, handle EEOC charges, maintain required postings and recordkeeping
  • Background Checks: Implement thorough background screening programs (critical for youth sports)
  • Safety Programs: Partner with Operations on workplace safety, especially for campus and transportation operations

7. HR Systems & Analytics

  • HRIS Implementation: Select and implement comprehensive HRIS (Workday, SuccessFactors, or similar) to manage 15,000+ employee records
  • HR Technology Stack: Build integrated HR tech stack including:
    • HRIS/Core HR
    • Applicant Tracking System (ATS)
    • Performance Management
    • Learning Management System (LMS)
    • Time & Attendance
    • Benefits Administration
  • People Analytics: Build people analytics capabilities including dashboards, reporting, and predictive analytics
  • Data Security: Ensure HR data privacy, security, and compliance with regulations
  • Reporting: Provide regular workforce metrics to executive team (headcount, turnover, time-to-fill, diversity, engagement)

8. Team Building & Leadership

  • HR Team: Build and lead comprehensive HR organization including:
    • Year 1: 40-50 HR professionals (recruiting, operations, ER, comp, L&D)
    • Year 3: 100-120 HR professionals
    • Year 6: 150-175 HR professionals
  • Regional HR: Deploy HR business partners and generalists to support regional operations
  • Center of Excellence: Build COE model with specialized expertise (comp, benefits, talent, L&D, analytics)
  • HR Operations: Create efficient HR service delivery model with shared services and employee self-service
  • Team Development: Develop high-performing HR team with clear roles, goals, and career paths

Required Qualifications

Experience:

  • 15+ years of progressive human resources experience
  • 7+ years in senior HR leadership roles (VP, SVP, or CHRO level)
  • Proven track record building HR functions in high-growth or startup environments (2,000+ employee buildouts)
  • Experience managing HR through rapid scaling (3x-5x headcount growth)
  • Demonstrated success as strategic business partner to C-suite executives

 

HR Expertise:

  • Deep expertise across all HR functions (talent acquisition, comp/benefits, employee relations, L&D, compliance)
  • Strong knowledge of employment law and HR compliance in multi-state environments
  • Experience with union negotiations and collective bargaining (athletes, coaches)
  • Expertise in compensation philosophy, market benchmarking, and equity programs
  • Track record implementing HRIS and HR technology systems

 

Leadership & Business Acumen:

  • Exceptional leadership and team-building skills with ability to attract, develop, and retain top HR talent
  • Strategic thinker who connects people strategy to business outcomes
  • Strong business acumen and ability to understand complex business models
  • Excellent executive presence and communication skills
  • Data-driven decision maker who uses analytics to drive insights

 

Education:

  • Bachelor’s degree required (HR, Business Administration, Psychology, or related field)
  • MBA or Master’s degree preferred

Preferred Qualifications

  • Sports Industry Experience: Previous HR leadership in professional sports leagues, teams, NCAA athletic departments, or sports organizations
  • Startup Experience: Led HR for venture-backed startups through Series B+ or IPO
  • Large-Scale Recruiting: Built recruiting teams that hired 1,000+ employees annually
  • Certifications: SHRM-SCP, SPHR, or other advanced HR certifications
  • Multi-Site Operations: HR experience in organizations with 10+ locations or multi-state operations
  • Technology Implementation: Led enterprise HRIS implementations (Workday, SuccessFactors, Oracle)
  • Youth Sports: Understanding of compliance, safety, and background check requirements for youth programs

Success Metrics – First 18 Months

First 90 Days:

  • Complete organizational design for Year 1 (departmental structures, headcount plans, reporting relationships)
  • Build core HR team (recruiting, HRBP, comp, compliance) – 15-20 hires
  • Implement interim HR systems (ATS, HRIS, payroll)
  • Develop initial HR policies, handbook, and onboarding programs
  • Launch employer brand and recruiting campaigns
  • Begin key executive searches (Athletic Directors, Coaches, Campus Directors)

Months 4-6 (Q2):

  • Achieve hiring velocity: 400-500 hires per month
  • Complete compensation philosophy and salary structures
  • Launch benefits programs and complete open enrollment
  • Implement performance management framework
  • Deploy regional HR business partners
  • Establish employee relations protocols and investigation procedures

Months 7-12 (Q3-Q4):

  • Complete Year 1 hiring goals: 2,500+ total hires
  • Achieve 95%+ offer acceptance rate for critical roles (coaches, athletes, athletic directors)
  • Implement comprehensive HRIS (Workday or similar)
  • Conduct first employee engagement survey (target: 75%+ favorable)
  • Launch leadership development programs
  • Achieve 90%+ retention for Year 1 hires
  • Complete union negotiations for athlete and coach contracts

Months 13-18 (Year 2, Q1-Q2):

  • Scale HR team to 75-100 professionals
  • Maintain hiring velocity for Year 2 expansion (50 additional schools)
  • Achieve 4.5+ Glassdoor rating (employer brand)
  • Implement people analytics dashboards for executive team
  • Launch diversity, equity & inclusion programs
  • Prepare HR function for continued scale (300 schools by Year 6)

Why This Role is Exceptional

Build Something Historic:

  • This is the largest sports league launch in modern history, creating a new ecosystem for Olympic sports in America
  • You’ll build an organization from zero to 15,000+ employees in 6 years
  • Opportunity to shape company culture and values from inception

Scope & Impact:

  • Manage one of the most complex workforce buildouts in recent memory
  • Direct impact on thousands of athletes’ careers and youth development programs
  • Strategic seat at the table with founding executive team

Resources & Support:

  • $2.5B in equity funding provides resources to build world-class HR function
  • Strong executive support for people-first culture
  • Autonomy to design and implement HR strategy with minimal constraints

Compensation & Upside:

  • Highly competitive compensation package ($850K total)
  • Significant equity upside as company grows and potentially goes public
  • Opportunity for advancement to CHRO role as organization matures

Professional Growth:

  • Expand skill set across sports, startup, and scale-up HR
  • Build network across NCAA, professional sports, and HR communities
  • Position yourself as thought leader in sports HR

Application Process

Timeline:

  • Applications Reviewed: Rolling basis, priority given to early applications
  • First Round: Virtual interviews with COO and CFO (1 hour)
  • Second Round: Full-day onsite with executive team and board members
  • Final Round: Case presentation on Year 1 HR strategy and organizational design
  • Offer: Anticipated within 2-3 weeks of final interview

 

What to Include:

  • Resume highlighting HR leadership and scale-up experience
  • Cover letter addressing:
    • Your experience building HR functions in high-growth environments
    • Your approach to Year 1 priorities (recruiting, systems, culture)
    • Why you’re passionate about this opportunity
  • 3-5 professional references (please do not contact without permission)

 

Confidentiality: Please indicate in your cover letter if you require discretion during the interview process.

Equal Opportunity Employer

We are committed to building a diverse and inclusive organization that reflects the communities we serve. We are an equal opportunity employer and do not discriminate on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, disability, veteran status, or any other legally protected characteristic.

 

This is a once-in-a-career opportunity to build a world-class people organization. Let’s create something extraordinary together.

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