COMPANY OVERVIEW
Founded in 2015 by Melinda French Gates, Pivotal expands opportunity and equality for all people through high-impact investments, philanthropy, and advocacy. We accelerate social progress by removing barriers that hold people back. Our impatience with the status quo is fueled by an optimism that progress is always possible.
Inspired by our founder, we reach across communities and sectors to bring together changemakers who can scale up proven ideas and catalyze new ones. We learn from their experiences, amplify their resources, then step back so they can lead. We strive to be creative and innovative in our work and flexible in the approach we take to solving problems.
ROLE DESCRIPTION
The Senior Director, Talent Management & Development is part of the People & Culture (P&C) team and is a strategic leader responsible for the strategy, design, and execution of multi-entity people programs—including strategic workforce planning, the performance development program (PDP), professional development coaching, learning & development, talent reviews, succession planning, and more. They will also serve as the hub of Learning & Development programming across the organization, aligning trainings to the rhythm of business.
This senior leader partners with the Senior Vice President, Chief People & Culture Officer in the development and implementation of a Talent Management strategy that aligns with the broader organizational strategy and supports a cohesive employee experience across all entities. This position supervises team members responsible for delivering key people programs for the entities—including talent acquisition, onboarding/offboarding, performance development, and the administration, interpretation and org-wide action planning from the annual organizational health pulse. This position is responsible for building inclusive, innovative, scalable Talent Management and Development programs that advance individual, team, and organizational development while ensuring alignment with Pivotal’s mission and values. This role partners closely with senior leadership, and functional partners to support talent growth, manager capability, and continuous improvement, while advancing a cohesive employee experience across entities.
ROLE RESPONSIBILITIES
Learning & Development
- Analyze organizational L&D needs and collaborate with team members to align learning initiatives with strategic objectives.
- Develop the roadmap for learning and development, connecting with other teams and departments to ensure learning sessions are timely and balanced.
- Develop, deliver and measure the effectiveness of learning content, curating learning paths based on roles and skill needs (as applicable), applying principles of adult learning to enable training effectiveness.
- Lead the development, delivery, and facilitation of a comprehensive leadership development program aligning with career pathways and performance goals
- Lead the development and delivery of the coaching program in collaboration with external partners, aligning offerings with organizational goals and leadership needs.
- Operationalize the Pivotal Competency Model (PCM) as a foundational L&D tool, embedding it into learning programs and development planning, and translating it into capability-building resources, growth-based development guides, and manager enablement tools aligned to career progression.
- Maintain in-depth knowledge of people development best practices, learning science, and talent strategy trends to ensure people programs remain evidence-based, impactful, and aligned with Pivotal’s values and organizational needs.
Cross-Entity Talent Management (TM) Strategy
- Partner with the Senior Vice President, Chief People & Culture Officer in the creation, development, and delivery of a scalable long-term Talent Management strategy and operating model.
- Serve as primary owner for the strategy design of the following cross-entity P&C initiatives (“P&C programs”): strategic workforce planning, the performance development program (PDP), the Pivotal Competency Model (PCM), learning & development (L&D) programs, talent reviews, and succession planning.
- Provide oversight and thought partnership for talent acquisition, onboarding/offboarding, and organizational health pulse initiatives, which are owned and implemented by a direct report(s); this includes supporting strategic alignment, capacity planning, and the integration of these efforts into broader people systems.
- Co-lead annual organizational health survey, deriving insights and creating action plans based on results to support organizational health.
- Partners with the Senior Vice President, Chief People & Culture Officer on leadership integration strategy, facilitating knowledge transfer and team alignment, coaching and transition planning.
- Advise Senior Vice President, Chief People & Culture Officer and the Executive Leadership Team (ELT) on workforce planning, engagement trends, and organizational health across all entities.
- Lead the design, delivery, and facilitation of talent reviews and succession planning across entities, including talent diagnostic and plan to bridge gaps.
- Collaborate with the Senior Director, People & Culture and entity-aligned generalists to ensure people programs, career pathways and leadership integration are implemented consistently across entities while respecting governance requirements.
- Partner with P&C colleagues to develop and leverage tools, processes, analytics, and dashboards to analyze/report on and support P&C programs.
Cross-Entity Leadership
- Supervise, train, and mentor direct report(s), providing direction through clear expectations and regularly conducting check-ins and providing performance feedback while supporting individual development.
- Manage the cross-entity P&C programs budget, ensuring strategic allocation of resources.
- Support cross-entity team members through ongoing consultation, capacity-building, and knowledge-sharing to strengthen delivery of core people functions.
- Interview, hire and onboard new team members.
Perform other job-related duties as assigned.
CORE COMPETENCIES
To perform this role successfully, individuals must demonstrate the skills and behaviors aligned with our Pivotal Principles that define what success looks like across all roles. These competencies reflect the expectations for how we work together, lead, grow, and deliver impact for all employees regardless of function or level.
Build and Maintain Trust
Act with integrity and foster an inclusive and collaborative work environment.
- Is Inclusive – Advance a culture of equity and belonging.
- Act with Integrity – Tell the truth, take responsibility for your actions, meet your commitments, and act ethically.
- Collaborate – Build trusting relationships and treat people with dignity and respect.
Drive Impact
Deliver high-quality work that is aligned with Pivotal Strategic Initiatives.
- Solve Problems – Identify issues and seek diverse perspectives to develop potential solutions.
- Propel Work Forward – Take initiative, prioritize work appropriately, and complete work on time.
- Center Stewardship – Use resources responsibly, consider and manage risk, and follow Pivotal policies and procedures.
Learn and Grow
Demonstrate a commitment to continuous individual and organizational development.
- Contribute Constructively – Participate in advancing individual, team, and organization-wide well-being and resilience.
- Occupy Growth-Mindset – Embrace challenges, learn from mistakes, and focus on improvement.
- Share Knowledge – Document work appropriately, assess outcomes, and share explicit and tacit learning.
REQUIRED QUALIFICATIONS
- Minimum of 12 years of progressive HR or people program experience or an equivalent combination of advanced training and experience.
- Minimum of 8 years of experience leading others, with demonstrated commitment to staff development and experience fostering equity and belonging within a team.
- Minimum 3-5 years in a leadership or cross-functional role with people or programmatic oversight.
- Proven ability to lead cross-functional and cross-entity initiatives with multiple stakeholders.
- Experience advising senior leadership and managing change initiatives.
- Proven record of designing and implementing innovative HR programs, policies, and processes.
- Experience with vendor management.
- Experience managing complex projects independently with demonstrated ability to be organized and show attention to detail, meet aggressive timelines, and keep everyone informed of project status in a proactive way.
- Experience with Workday or other HR technology systems.
- Proficiency using Microsoft 365 (Outlook, Word, Excel, PowerPoint, OneNote, and SharePoint).
- Fluency in use of systems necessary to role (e.g., Salesforce, Workday).
PREFERRED QUALIFICATIONS
- Experience with Greenhouse or other Applicant Tracking Systems.
- SHRM Certified Professional (SHRM-CP) or SHRM Senior Certified Professional (SHRM-SCP) or other similar HR certification.
- Certifications in leadership development/training, coaching, change, and other related programs.
- Experience in social impact or mission-driven environments with governance distinctions highly preferred.
EMPLOYMENT DETAILS
The Salary range for this position is $281,600-$294,500. This position is based in Pivotal's Seattle, WA office.
Benefits for full-time employees currently include medical, dental, vision, life, disability, and long-term care insurance, fertility benefit, caregiving support, 144 hours of vacation, 96 hours of sick leave, 401k, HSA, FSA, an opportunity to earn a discretionary annual target performance bonus and more. Eligibility for and the amount of benefits provided are governed by the terms of the applicable plan documents.
To perform this job successfully, an individual must be able to perform each essential function satisfactorily. Please note this job description is not designed to cover or contain a comprehensive list of duties or responsibilities that are required of the employee for this job. Duties, responsibilities, and activities may change at any time, in Pivotal’s discretion, with or without notice.
Pivotal values diversity and is strongly committed to providing equal employment opportunity for all employees and all applicants seeking employment. All employment decisions at Pivotal are based on the candidate’s or employee’s capabilities and qualifications without regard to race (including traits associated with race, including hair texture and protective hairstyles such as afros, braids, locks, and twists), color, creed, religion, sex, gender, sexual orientation, gender expression or identity, pregnancy, childbirth, breastfeeding, age, national origin, ancestry, citizenship or immigration status, caste, veteran or military status, marital, parental, or familial status, disability (including sensory, physical, or mental disability), medical condition, genetic information or predisposing genetic characteristics, domestic violence victim status, political ideology, or any other status or characteristic protected by applicable law. Pivotal complies with federal, state, and local equal opportunity and disability laws and makes reasonable accommodation consistent with those laws for applicants and employees with disabilities. Please contact [email protected] for assistance and/or reasonable accommodation due to a disability during the application or recruiting process.
Applications may be submitted via the Pivotal Ventures Careers page.
Top Skills
What We Do
Founded by Melinda French Gates, Pivotal Ventures accelerates social progress in the United States by removing barriers that hold people back.
Pivotal Ventures expands opportunity and accelerates equality in the United States through high-impact investments, partnerships, and advocacy. We focus on areas where social progress has stalled—and where we can have the biggest impact.
Like Melinda, we’re clear-eyed about the stubborn problems our country faces. But we also see those problems as potential turning points in our nation’s story. Our impatience with the status quo is fueled by an optimism that progress is always possible—especially when we seize the moment together.
We do not review or return unsolicited requests for funding or other types of support.
For media inquiries, please reach out to [email protected]



.png)





