Grinnell College, a highly selective, private, residential liberal arts college of approximately 1650 students, invites nominations and applications for the role of Associate Vice President of People & Culture (AVPPC). Reporting to the Vice President for Finance and Chief Financial Officer and serving as a key member of the College senior leadership team, the AVPPC will guide Grinnell’s continued evolution from a traditional human resources model toward a holistic people-and-culture function that is fully aligned with the College’s mission, values, and 2023–2030 strategic plan, Knowledge into Action. In this pivotal moment—building on substantial work to strengthen HR services, modernize systems, and expand learning and development—the College seeks a leader who can help translate that progress into a sustainable, equity- and human-centered culture of work for faculty, staff, and students in service of institutional durability.

The AVP of People & Culture will join a dedicated team and a function already in motion: a reimagined new-employee orientation, the Grinnell Learning and Development Program, a revised staff handbook and performance assessment process, employee engagement surveys and robust campus listening, and a major, multi-year implementation of ADP and related HRIS infrastructure. Building on this foundation, the AVPPC will be responsible for completing and leveraging the digital transformation of HR to support transparent processes, clear and consistent policies, and data-informed decisions about staffing, compensation, and professional growth. They will bring coherence to a portfolio that spans benefits and wellness, classification and compensation, performance management, student employment, and civil rights–related work, while partnering closely with colleagues in the Office of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion to ensure that equity considerations are present in every aspect of people-related practice, rather than residing in parallel.

Grinnell is a community of inquiry with a proud legacy of social responsibility, shared governance, and self-governing student life. The AVPPC will be asked to understand and honor that history while helping the institution navigate a present marked by complex labor dynamics: a unionized facilities workforce and long-standing relationship with Teamsters Local 90; the nation’s first undergraduate student workers’ union; faculty who hold significant voice in institutional decision-making; and a staff body that spans locally rooted employees, nationally recruited professionals, and dual-career households in a rural Iowa setting. The AVPPC will take seriously the College’s ambitions, stated in the strategic plan, around Belonging and Connection and Collective Equity by supporting efforts to build trust, relieve burnout, clarify advancement pathways and promotion criteria, strengthen recognition and reward structures, and ensure that conversations about compensation and workload are grounded in transparent data, market awareness, and a clear articulation of institutional priorities.

This role will suit a leader who is equal parts strategist, culture-builder and operator. The successful candidate will bring a record of modernizing and professionalizing HR functions in a complex organization, ideally including experience in a small, residential liberal arts context or a similarly relational multi-stakeholder environment. They will be adept at translating people-and-culture imperatives into compelling, fact-based arguments; steady enough to support HR colleagues when difficult decisions must hold under scrutiny; and skilled at communicating with candor, humility, and follow-through to faculty, staff, and students alike. Deep experience with HRIS and workflow implementation; performance management and coaching; labor and employee relations (including union environments); and equity-centered policy and practice will be critical. As importantly, this leader will be energized by being visible, present, and accessible on campus and in the community of Grinnell, Iowa.

Lionel Anderson of JM Search has been retained to assist in this recruitment. Confidential nominations, inquiries, and expressions of interest may be submitted to GrinnellAVPPC@JMSearch.com