Director, Talent & Culture

Position Overview  

Align is seeking a Director, Talent and Culture to lead and evolve our Talent and Culture function as we grow. Reporting to the Chief Operating Officer, this role connects our business objectives, culture, and professional experience, and partners with executive leadership to design and implement talent, career development, and culture strategies. 

A core priority of this role is building and administering a structured career management and coaching program, modeled on a guidance counselor, so every professional across our lines of business understands their options, has a development plan, and sees a path to grow at Align. The ideal candidate is a people-first leader with a strategic approach to systems, data, and technology, and the appetite to grow into broader People leadership as Align scales. 

• This position works out of our Midtown Manhattan office. 
• This is a full-time position offering full benefits, a base salary in the $170,000–$200,000 range (commensurate with experience), and performance-based bonuses. 

Key Responsibilities

• Leadership & Strategy: Build and scale a high-performing Talent and Culture function in partnership with executive leadership. 
• Career Management, Coaching & Retention: Create and administer a structured career program that gives every professional a clear path to grow at Align. 
• Training & Education (ALIGN PATH**): Own Align’s company-wide training platform and career curricula, including the Analyst Program  
  **Professional Advancement and Training Hub 
• Culture & Professional Experience: Champion Align’s values and strengthen the professional experience from onboarding through performance and recognition. 
• Talent Acquisition: Shape recruiting strategy, hiring plans, and metrics to attract top talent across lines of business. 
• People Systems & Analytics: Use people systems and data to drive scalability and better decision-making. 

Leadership & Strategy 

• Build and scale a modern Talent and Culture function that supports every stage of the professional lifecycle and direct a team to execute it. 
• Partner with senior executives and management on talent acquisition and retention, organizational structure, performance management, and corporate culture. 
• Serve as a corporate change agent, implementing and communicating organizational change initiatives and programs. 
• Manage special projects and ongoing corporate initiatives as assigned by the COO. 

Career Management, Coaching & Retention 

• Create, iterate on, and administer a structured career management and coaching program for professionals across all lines of business. 
• Establish a regular cadence of career conversations and development plans for Align professional. 
• Equip managers with the tools and training to coach effectively. 
• Build and oversee coaching resources, including trained managers, mentors, and career advisors, and personally advise professionals as needed. 
• Partner with line-of-business leaders to define career paths, skills expectations, and advancement criteria by role, connected to ALIGN PATH learning. 
• Promote internal mobility so professionals can grow across lines of business. 
• Track retention, internal mobility, promotion velocity, and engagement to identify retention risks early and intervene. 

Training & Education (ALIGN PATH) 

• Own ALIGN PATH (Professional Advancement and Training Hub), Align’s company-wide training and education platform, including the Analyst Program. 
• Develop and maintain career-training curricula for all positions, from entry level through senior management. 
• Expand learning opportunities through internal and external training, development, and knowledge management initiatives. 
• Measure participation and learning outcomes, and keep content current with the skills our lines of business need. 

Culture & Professional Experience 

• Champion Align’s values and serve as steward of our culture across all lines of business. 
• Coach and consult directors and managers on morale, performance, and professional development. 
• Strengthen onboarding and orientation, including guide and mentoring programs for new professionals. 
• Evolve the performance review process to focus on continuous growth, alignment, and positive reinforcement. 
• Lead performance management, talent reviews, and succession planning. 
• Lead recognition programs and team-building events that strengthen engagement. 
• Own internal programs and communications, including event planning committees and home.align.com, in partnership with Marketing & Communications. 

Talent Acquisition 

• Partner with Align’s Recruiting Lead to shape recruiting strategy and employer branding. 
• Partner with business leaders to forecast talent needs and build proactive hiring plans. 
• Ensure recruiting processes are scalable, efficient, and aligned with Align’s standards for talent and values. 
• Develop recruiting KPIs such as time to hire, acceptance rates, and offer rejection details. 
• Create reports and dashboards that hiring managers and executives can use to plan hiring needs. 
• Improve recruiting and onboarding workflows, candidate experience, and hiring outcomes. 

People Systems & Analytics 

• Drive effective use of people systems and tools to support business growth and the professional experience. 
• Lead continuous improvement and innovation across People processes and technology. 
• Use people data and analytics to inform decisions, including retention trends and career program effectiveness. 

Required Qualifications

• 10+ years of experience leading Talent Management, Learning & Development, Human Resources, Talent Acquisition, People Operations, or Organizational Development functions. 
• Significant experience managing teams and business-critical initiatives. 
• Proven success building and scaling People programs, including onboarding, career management and coaching, and learning and development, in growing, fast-paced organizations. 
• Deep expertise across talent management, career development, performance management, leadership development, and talent acquisition. 
• Working knowledge of employee relations, compensation, and HR operations. 
• Experience designing and administering career management, coaching, or mentoring programs that improve retention and internal mobility. 
• Demonstrated ability to leverage systems and analytics to drive efficiency and business outcomes. 
• Track record of measurable business impact in a highly collaborative environment. 
• Ability to handle confidential information, including sensitive legal matters. 
• Excellent communication, relationship-building, and stakeholder-management skills. 

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience in management consulting, technology services, IT professional services, or VAR environment. 
• Experience owning a learning and development program or learning platform (LMS), ideally including early-career or analyst programs. 
• Aptitude and appetite to grow into broader People leadership, including HR operations, compensation, and benefits. 

Core Competencies

• Talent Strategy 
• Career Development & Coaching 
• Learning & Development 
• Performance Management 
• Organizational Effectiveness 
• Talent Acquisition 
• Employee Engagement 
• Change Management 
• People Analytics 
• Executive Communication 
• Cross-Functional Leadership 
• Continuous Improvement 

To support a fair, consistent, and high-quality hiring experience, some interviews may be recorded. These recordings help our team focus fully on the conversation at hand, rather than note-taking, and allow us to better evaluate and improve our recruitment process. Recordings are used solely for internal purposes such as training, quality assurance, and process improvement. Candidates will be informed in advance and asked to provide consent before any recording takes place.