Director of Talent and HR

We are hiring a Director of Talent & HR for our client.
About the client

A fast-growing national art education franchise with 15+ locations and an ambitious expansion plan is transforming art education. With a growing network of schools across the country and six new franchise locations signed this year alone, they're building a company where creativity and community come together. Our mission is to become the best place to work in the arts
About This Role

This is a builder's role, not an administrator's.
Their day-to-day HR operations are in good hands: you'll inherit a two-person team that manages payroll, onboarding logistics, and ADP administration. What they don't have; and what you'll create is the strategic layer: scalable talent systems that work not just for our corporate team, but for a national network of franchise schools.
You'll design hiring playbooks our franchise owners can run themselves. You'll build the pathway that turns our best part-time teachers into tomorrow's full-time leaders. And you'll make our people operations sharper, faster, and ready for significant growth.
What You'll Own:

Design end-to-end recruitment playbooks for franchise schools: sourcing channels, job posting templates, structured screeners, interview guides, and audition-style teaching demos
Advise franchise owners on hiring practices and tools (ATS platforms, assessments such as Predictive Index) - you build the system; they make the hires
Continuously improve the playbook based on what's working across the network
Talent Development & Internal Mobility

Build a development pathway that identifies high-potential part-time employees (we have ~250 part-timers, many promotable) and grows them into full-time roles
Source and adapt training and coaching curriculum - you don't need to write it from scratch, you need to find what's great and make it ours
Partner with school leadership to spot and develop emerging talent
Own recruiting for corporate roles as they open, building non-traditional pipelines through art schools, universities, and creative communities
Design recruiting approaches that evaluate energy, mindset, and behavior - not just credentials
HR Operations & Team Leadership

Lead a team of two handling payroll and HR administration
Modernize our HR operations: reduce manual processes (I-9 verification, handbook signing, onboarding paperwork) through better use of technology
Oversee multi-state compliance, employee relations, and performance management with sound judgment and care
How They'll Measure Success (Year One)

Improved retention across our school teams
Faster time-to-hire, at corporate and across the franchise network
More part-time team members promoted into full-time roles
Who You Are

Experienced in a multi-unit, multi-location, or fast-growing brand - this matters more than the titles you've held
A proven builder: you can point to systems, programs, or playbooks you created that others now run
Extroverted and genuinely people-oriented, and equally analytical - you make talent decisions with data, not just instinct
Mid-career, hungry, and coachable, with real room and ambition left to grow
Comfortable with a creative workforce - our teams are artists, and you know how to bring structure without crushing spirit
ADP Workforce Now experience strongly preferred (your team lives in it daily)
Performance bonus eligibility
Health, dental, and vision insurance; paid time off
Hybrid schedule: 2 days per week in Englewood and Montclair, NJ offices (with flexibility toward 1 day per week after onboarding for longer commutes), plus travel to school locations a few times per month
A creative, mission-driven environment and a role you'll build in your own image

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