Director of Talent (Full-Time)

South Asian Youth Action (SAYA) is committed to providing its employees opportunities for growth in a supportive community environment. With a flexible schedule and generous benefits package, SAYA provides its employees a healthy work-life balance in a fast-growing youth development nonprofit.

SAYA: Belong. Grow. Thrive.

Organization Description:

South Asian Youth Action (SAYA) is an inclusive, South Asian-focused 501(c)3 youth development organization. Through our innovative, holistic approach, we work toward educational equity by providing opportunities and resources to less privileged New York City youth, ensuring they are empowered academically, emotionally, and socially to become engaged community members.

Established in 1996, SAYA provides valuable life skills and holistic, impactful programming to underserved New York City youth. As one of the first South Asian organizations created in the United States, SAYA is the only organization of its kind in the NYC metropolitan area providing inclusive and secular comprehensive youth development services while centering our community’s experiences. Today, SAYA provides programming at nine elementary, middle, and high schools in Queens and Brooklyn, along with our Elmhurst-based community center - serving a growing number of youths across all sites each year.

A key tenet of our work is cultivating vital social and emotional learning (SEL) skills such as belonging, confidence, and self-efficacy through intentionally designed, research-based curricula. Across our organization, services tailored for different age groups include leadership and identity development, academic support that bridges learning gaps, comprehensive college preparation, and activities that nurture creativity and build positive peer connections.

Position Summary:

The Director of Talent will drive strategic talent initiatives in the area of talent recruitment and retention as well as employee engagement and performance management. To be successful in this position, you are someone who enjoys building relationships with people and thrives on fostering a strong culture of collaboration. This role requires a creative thinker, strong communicator, and problem solver.

Supervisor: Chief Financial Officer

Responsibilities:

Recruitment

• Create and implement a recruitment and retention plan resulting in an exceptional staff team that will result in better outcomes for SAYA youth
• Design a recruitment process that leads to more successful candidate leads
• Develop partnerships with colleges and other organizations with the goal of establishing pipelines for staff recruitment
• Work with colleagues to ensure job opportunities are promoted internally to existing staff, as well as to SAYA alumni when appropriate
• Conduct initial resume reviews and interview screens for applicants

Hiring and Benefit Management

• Oversee the hiring process including conducting background checks, ensuring complete employment paperwork, training on payroll system, sharing company policies and orienting new staff to the organization
• Manage all employee benefits including the health insurance plans and flex savings accounts, employee leave (workers comp, FMLA, short-term disability, etc.) new employee enrollment, maintaining coverage for current and former staff as required, and assisting staff with questions

Staff Engagement

• Organize staff appreciation and team building events
• Conduct an annual employee engagement survey, analyze results, present key findings and develop a plan to improve gaps
• Conduct exit interviews, analyze feedback to identify trends and make recommendations for improvements

Retention and Performance Management

• Drive the performance evaluation and compensation review process, with a focus on coaching managers on delivering meaningful feedback and goal setting
• Integrate career development into the broader talent management framework (succession planning, career development, mentor program, etc.)
• Identify key areas for learning to support managers and leadership development for all staff
• Develop and facilitate trainings with staff at all levels of the organization
• Partner with colleagues to organize professional development opportunities with external training organizations
• Inform current employees about continuing education opportunities that may be of interest to them, such as graduate programs and fellowships

Policy Creation and Compliance

• Keep current on laws, regulations and best practices around leave policies and employee benefits
• Maintain SAYA’s employee manual - lead revision of policies when necessary, communicate updates to all staff and ensure all policies are fairly implemented

Qualifications:

• Bachelor’s degree and 6+ years of experience in a talent/human resources role
• Master’s degree in Business Administration, Human Resources, Nonprofit Management preferred
• Experience in developing and implementing recruitment and retention strategies
• Must have strong working knowledge of City, State and federal employment laws and regulations
• Excellent verbal, written and presentation skills
• Strong attention to detail and ability to prioritize multiple projects
• Exceptional interpersonal and relationship building skills
• Ability to analyze and synthesize information from multiple sources
• Willingness to learn and grow with the organization
• Knowledge of NYC nonprofit and youth development space a plus
• Belief in SAYA’s mission

Compensation: $85,000-$95,000, commensurate with experience

• PTO starting at 25 days
• 10 paid holidays
• 12 weeks (60 days) of fully paid FMLA leave
• Employer sponsored medical benefits with generous employer contributions for employee and dependents
• Optional dental, vision, transit, and FSA benefits

To apply: Please include your resume and cover letter with your application.

SAYA is an Equal Opportunity Employer.