Head of People, US

We are looking for a Head of People, US to serve as a strategic second to our Global People Director, and close partner to our US leadership team. This role will be instrumental in shaping our people and talent strategy across our US office and leading initiatives to create a high performing and inclusive culture. 
Now in our twelfth year, Milltown Partners is expanding our People function with this critical US-focused role; the first of its kind in the US team. This position will suit someone who enjoys working in a rapidly scaling, values driven business. You will support a team predominantly across offices in New York and San Francisco, and work closely with the Global team in London.
This will be a challenging and rewarding role. You must be someone who enjoys hands-on building and scaling a people function. This will be a standalone role in this geography (alongside a US based Talent Acquisition Manager) and you will be someone happiest when flexing between strategic partnership, designing and executing flawless employee experiences, and navigating the internal challenges and complexities that comes with growth and US employment law. 
You will be based in New York where we work out of our Chelsea/Flatiron office 3 days a week (Tuesday-Thursday). 
RESPONSIBILITIESStrategic People Partnership: Business partner with Global People Director and key US Stakeholders- Partner with our Global People Director, and broader Global people and talent team, to develop and execute a US people strategy aligned with our global vision and US growth plans. You will firmly wear your US hat, but we operate as one organization, and practices and philosophies are globally developed. - Support the US leadership team, providing strategic guidance on performance and development for our restless and driven team. As part of this, you will also play a proactive role across resourcing, talent planning, and team effectiveness initiatives. - Proactively lead efforts to identify skills gaps that align with Milltown’s growth strategy. You will take a keen interest in understanding who we are and where we’re going. We’re of the belief that our talent efforts are a key driver in getting us there. 
Performance & Growth: Drive excellence across our US team- Lead performance, pay and goal setting processes across our US offices, including localised benchmarking.  - Drive performance, compensation, and L&D initiatives tailored to the US teams. We have a global cadence but you will be empowered to build on top of this to align with our current US priorities. - Provide expert guidance on performance, employee relations and workplace investigations matters. - Partner with our global Talent Acquisition team, including the US Talent Acquisition Manager, to shape our hiring plan and strategy. You will play a leading role in helping these offices establish their presence in the market and effectively onboard new talent. 
Learning & Development: Design high-quality learning experiences- Partner with the Global People Director to adapt and implement our global L&D programme for our US team. - Support the running of training and coaching programmes for the US team, including logistics and facilitating. - Originate and design global training with the US and Global teams, adding to our global programme. 
People Operations: Deliver seamless people processes and systems- Design a thoughtful and smooth end-to-end employee experience, paying particular attention to comms, whether people understand what’s expected of them, and team engagement. - Drive US-specific people projects and initiatives around DEI, employee engagement, and culture. - Ensure our US people policies are culturally appropriate and clearly signpost the team.  - Manage and maintain US-specific people data to ensure accuracy and compliance- Support payroll and benefits administration for US employees. 
US Employment Law & Compliance: Ensure compliance across our team- Ensure full compliance with employment law and HR policies across our US market, particularly New York and California. You will partner with a lawyer when needed, but you should bring a comprehensive understanding of multi-state legislation. - Work closely with our Professional Employer Organization (JustWorks) to maintain compliance with federal, state, and local employment regulations.

Skills And Experience

• This role would suit a hands-on Head of People / People Lead / HR Business Partner who has played a leading role in building a People function from the ground up. 
• Significant US employment law expertise, particularly New York and California. You must have a strong understanding of the legislation that matters day to day. 
• Strong written and verbal communicator. You understand that strong comms and storytelling brings a team along on a journey. 
• Proven experience of being a strategic partner to leadership. You understand when to step in, how to offer advice while empowering the right people to lead, and how to challenge. 
• Technology-minded with a keen interest in experimenting with AI to drive efficiency and quality. 
• Collaborative, proactive, and capable of building trusted relationships across all levels.
• Right to work in the US (we can’t sponsor visas for this role).

What We Offer In Return

• Competitive and fair base salary determined through annual industry benchmarking. Salary bands are transparent internally and backed by a robust compensation philosophy. 
• Discretionary, twice-yearly bonuses. We want everyone at Milltown to share in our collective success and feel ownership of our growth. 
• Professional development opportunities. You will partner with your Development Coach and have access to our programme of internal training, alongside external events and subscriptions to a broad range of content and media. 
• 26 days of annual Paid Time Off (PTO), plus Public Holidays and Christmas closure, which is in addition to your personal allowance.  
• 4% match to 401k contribution.
• Enhanced paid time off for new parents (for all parents and all routes to welcoming a child).  
• Generous medical, dental and vision insurance options, including support for dependents.
• $100 monthly commuter benefits.
• Variety of team events, such as socials, external guest speakers and annual firm celebrations.
• Generous selection of breakfast foods, snacks and drinks in the office, plus a weekly team lunch.

ABOUT USMilltown Partners is a global advisory firm working with influential organisations and individuals on the communications and public policy challenges that define their reputations. We are an Employee Ownership Trust which means that we’re fully independent; the people who work here own the company and share in its success. We will continue to do what we've always done: take the long view, build a business aligned to our values, invest in our people and their development, and innovate to improve the quality of our advice by combining our deep sector-specific knowledge and research-driven approach.Our clients are category-definers in their field: groundbreaking technology companies and their founders; global businesses and their CEOs; prominent individuals and renowned institutions. Technology and innovation are at the heart of our business and problem-solving approach, and we root our strategies in data insights and research on the audiences that matter, messages that work, and communications channels that deliver.
DIVERSITY, EQUITY AND INCLUSION AT MILLTOWN PARTNERSCreating a diverse, equitable and inclusive environment is core to our values, culture and success as an employee owned business. We want to empower everyone in the team to share their best thinking and ideas, feel valued, and know they are having an impact and belong in the business, regardless of their background, age, gender, race, religion, ethnicity, sexual orientation or disability. We have an ambitious DEI programme managed by a global leadership team with three global company commitments to: improve representation of minority groups, enhance everyone's sense of inclusion, and support underrepresented communities through pro bono work. Underpinning these commitments is a focus on what it means to have an inclusive culture across all of our operations, spanning our approach to growth, our investment in attracting talent, and the scope and impact of our work for clients.