Executive Director, Human Resources
About City of Hope,
City of Hope's mission is to make hope a reality for all touched by cancer and diabetes. Founded in 1913, City of Hope has grown into one of the largest and most advanced cancer research and treatment organizations in the U.S., and one of the leading research centers for diabetes and other life-threatening illnesses. City of Hope research has been the basis for numerous breakthrough cancer medicines, as well as human synthetic insulin and monoclonal antibodies. With an independent, National Cancer Institute-designated comprehensive cancer center that is ranked top 5 in the nation for cancer care by U.S. News & World Report at its core, City of Hope’s uniquely integrated model spans cancer care, research and development, academics and training, and a broad philanthropy program that powers its work. City of Hope’s growing national system includes its Los Angeles campus, a network of clinical care locations across Southern California, a new cancer center in Orange County, California, and cancer treatment centers and outpatient facilities in the Atlanta, Chicago and Phoenix areas.
The successful candidate:
The Executive Director, HR, serves as an executive leader responsible for shaping the people strategy to deliver business outcomes, while also leading entity-wide initiatives. This role provides strategic guidance, executive coaching, and organization leadership to Entity Presidents, and operational leaders, building talent, engagement, and organization solutions that strengthen culture, enhance patient outcomes, and support City of Hope’s long-term strategies. As a trusted advisor to entity executives and a key contributor to system-level HR strategy, the Executive Director HR, partners closely with executive leaders and key partners across the human resources function to align talent strategy, workforce planning and effectiveness, organization design, change management, labor strategy, and engagement. This is an influential, high visibility role responsible for enabling growth, integration, and operational excellence while contributing to system HR transformation initiatives.
Responsibilities:
- Serve as the senior HR strategic partner to executives at the entity level, shaping the people, organization, engagement plan to achieve business outcomes.
- Act as a trusted advisor to business leaders, while translating business strategies into organization design, workforce planning/effectiveness, and culture priorities.
- Develop HR strategies that represent the business needs of the entity, while championing a system mindset.
- Lead strategic workforce planning, organizational capability building, and operating model evolution required to support growth, access, and operational performance.
- Play a key role in the transformation of the Human Resources Model within assigned entity, while contributing more broadly to the overall transformation.
- Lead organizational design, integration efforts, and productivity improvement initiatives that enhance effectiveness and streamline operations. Drive engagement and change leadership strategies to support major transformations, mergers, organization changes, or expansion. Act as a change agent, driving alignment, accountability, and measurable progress across complex, matrixed environments.
- Build and strengthen leadership pipeline through succession planning and talent assessment/ leadership development in assigned entity. Evaluate and grow leadership capability, including executive coaching, performance guidance, and transition support. Coach and develop leaders to enhance effectiveness in current role and prepare for roles of broader scale / scope.
- Develop proactive, preventative strategies and plans that contribute to a positive work environment. Play an active role, in partnership with centers of expertise and key stakeholders in labor relations, collective bargaining activities, and issue resolution. Provide leadership and guidance on highly complex, sensitive and/or senior leadership matters and climate opportunities.
- Serve as the primary business partner to senior leaders, driving strong collaboration and alignment across HR disciplines to ensure coordinated strategy execution as OneHR. Foster strong partnership with HR Centers of Expertise and key partners —including Talent Acquisition, Total Rewards, Learning, Disability / Leave Management, Labor Relations, Employee Relations, and HRIS—to deliver cohesive, scalable HR programs and outcomes.
- Drive consistent use of enterprise resources, standardized processes, and tools to enhance service delivery and efficiency
Requirements:
- Master's degree in Human Resources, Business Administration, Healthcare Admin, Organizational Dev or related field required.
- 15+ years of progressive HR leadership experience
- 10+ years in a people leader role
- J.D. or Cert HR Investigator credentials preferred
- SHRM cert preferred
- Experience working in Healthcare, Pharmaceutical Research or Academic setting preferred
City of Hope is an equal opportunity employer.
City of Hope employees pay is based on the following criteria: work experience, qualifications, and work location.
This position is eligible for an annual incentive bonus.
Please note: City of Hope is committed to a safe and transparent hiring experience. Please be aware that scammers may attempt to impersonate our organization through fake job postings, emails or interviews.
- Apply only through our official website or trusted partner platforms.
- City of Hope will never request payment or fees at any stage of the hiring process.
- We will not request sensitive personal or financial information prior to the acceptance of a formal offer.
- All communications will come from official @coh.org email addresses.
- Interviews are conducted only through approved, professional channels.
- Be cautious of unsolicited communications, urgent requests or opportunities that seem inconsistent with standard hiring practices.
- If you receive any suspicious communication, please report it to careers@coh.org.
