Director of Employee Experience

About Pac-12 Conference

The Pac-12 Conference has a century-old heritage of excellence in athletics and academics, with over 500 NCAA team championships won by its student-athletes. As it transitions into a new era, the conference is reshaping its identity with nine member universities, a state-of-the-art broadcast production center in San Ramon, California, and an innovative commercial approach designed to enhance brand value, fuel revenue growth, and support student-athletes effectively. The current members include Oregon State University and Washington State University, with seven new members joining by the 2026-27 season.

Role Overview

Reporting to the Vice President of People Operations, the Director of Employee Experience will collaborate closely with department leads to cultivate an exceptional work environment and a high-achieving culture. The role emphasizes enhancing employee engagement, onboarding, internal communication, learning and development, recognition initiatives, and cultural programs across the organization.

Location and Compensation

The main office resides in San Ramon, CA; however, candidates may work remotely from California, Washington, Oregon, Colorado, Idaho, Texas, and Utah. Salary will be determined based on location, skills, experience, and qualifications.

Key Responsibilities

• Lead the strategic design and ongoing enhancement of employee experience programs to boost culture, engagement, and connection within the workforce.
• Collaborate with leaders to pinpoint and address areas for raising employee satisfaction and morale across departments.
• Research best practices and trends to propose improvements in employee retention and workplace atmosphere.
• Work alongside VP of People Operations to reinforce company culture, develop workforce capabilities, elevate leadership effectiveness, and improve overall performance.
• Create, manage, and execute initiatives for leadership development, talent readiness, and succession planning.
• Devise and lead onboarding processes to smoothly integrate new hires into Pac-12's culture.
• Implement programs tailored for a remote/hybrid work setting that encourage culture building and employee connection.
• Orchestrate engagement forums and company-wide meetings to enhance transparency and alignment.
• Develop and manage employee feedback mechanisms such as surveys, onboarding reviews, retention interviews, and exit conversations.
• Partner with the Chief Operating Officer on organizational effectiveness strategies to ensure engaged employees and smooth adoption of new processes.
• Support change management by designing communication and engagement plans to keep staff informed and involved during transitions.
• Identify and mitigate obstacles to change adoption during organizational growth and transformation phases.
• Collect and analyze employee data to offer insights on operational or organizational hurdles.
• Create reporting tools that inform leadership about employee experience trends and retention rates.
• Explore and integrate AI tools that can enhance employee experience and HR operations.
• Advocate actionable recommendations to boost employee satisfaction and engagement.

Required Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in Human Resources, Organizational Development, Employee Relations, or a related discipline.
• Between 7 to 10 years of experience in areas such as employee engagement, organizational development, HR, learning and development, or talent management.
• Proven success in fostering organizational culture and engagement, especially with remote employee populations.
• Hands-on experience designing organizational operating frameworks.
• Expertise in driving cross-functional process improvements and change management.
• Strong communication, facilitation, and stakeholder relationship skills.
• Ability to influence senior executives despite lacking direct supervisory authority.
• Excellent project management and execution skills.
• A balance of strategic vision and practical implementation capability.
• Experience supporting organizational growth and transformational change efforts.
• Analytical prowess in evaluating organizational data and deriving insights.
• Professionalism, sound judgment, and discretion.
• Preference for candidates with experience in professional sports, collegiate athletics, media, or entertainment sectors.

Key Competencies

• Expertise in Employee Experience and Engagement.
• Ability to Shape and Maintain Organizational Culture.
• Change Management Proficiency.
• Competence in Learning and Development Programs.
• Effective Internal Communication Skills.
• Execution of Employee Listening and Feedback Systems.
• Relationship Building and Facilitation.
• Strong Program and Project Management.
• Data Analysis and Insight Generation.