Senior Director, People

About Terawatt Infrastructure

Terawatt Infrastructure is the leader in financing, developing, and operating electric vehicle charging solutions. Our mission is to power electrified fleets with the most reliable network of charging centers. With increasing demand for electric vehicles, we are facing a once-in-a-century technology transition. The market for EV charging infrastructure is expected to grow to $1 trillion by 2040. The nation needs a long-term partner in the inevitable transition to all-electric transportation. At Terawatt, you will join your team in delivering quality end-to-end charging solutions. 

At Terawatt, we own, develop, operate, and maintain charging sites and operational solutions to form the backbone of commercial EV transport in the U.S. We execute humbly and with urgency to provide energy and charging solutions that delight our clients and support the transition to clean, electrified transport.

Impact to Climate Change:

Transportation creates 23% of all greenhouse gas emissions each year. Electrifying transportation is priority #1 to impact climate change. By electrifying fleets, we can mitigate more than 70% of mobility CO2 urban emissions, remove 50% of city air pollution, and help fleet operators meet Net Zero commitments.

We are building a team that represents a variety of backgrounds, perspectives, and skills. At Terawatt, we continuously strive to foster inclusion, humility, energizing relationships, and belonging, and welcome new ideas. We're growing and want you to grow with us. We encourage people from all backgrounds to apply.

SUMMARY

The Senior Director, People is a hands-on people leader who is both strategic (thought partner) and tactical (doer). This role will ideate, design, and execute while being able to think big picture and communicate directly with the Leadership Team and Managers, while keeping a finger on the pulse of the company. The Senior Director, People focuses on People practices and objectives that will support the development of a strong culture that emphasizes employee empowerment, diversity/equity/inclusion/belonging, quality, productivity, goal achievement, and the acquisition and ongoing development of a best-in-class workforce. This role will also partner with the Executive Leadership Team and Managers to collectively cultivate a supportive and inclusive work environment for all employees. More specifically this role is responsible for overseeing and directing culture and DEIB initiatives, core HR, benefits, compensation, employee relations, performance management, succession planning, compliance, organizational design, training and development, employee engagement, and People database systems. The Senior Director, People coordinates implementation of the HR calendar, programs, and policies and will assist and advise the Leadership Team and Managers about people related topics. This role strategizes and executes, with support of a People Generalist and Recruiter, to implement programs and policies as well as provide consultation to Management about people related topics. Ultimately, the Senior Director, People will be a thought partner to the Terawatt Leadership team to help them grow a company that employees will be delighted to work for, and is capable of delivering on ambitious goals that will help us decarbonize transportation for fleets.

MANAGERIAL RESPONSIBILITIES

This role has direct management of a People Generalist and a Recruiter.

• Owns the development of the People function, as a trusted business partner, in alignment with business needs and objectives with focus on exploring opportunities to add value to the org’s People function.
• Implements People Operations strategies that reflect our culture, advance DEIB initiatives, and are fair and equitable, including talent acquisition, hiring, onboarding/offboarding, compensation, benefits, talent management, career development, performance management, health and safety, retention, succession planning, employee relations, and compliance.
• Takes a consultative approach to partnering with the Terawatt Leadership Team and Managers to provide advice and counsel, support decisions, and guide management and employee actions by communicating and enforcing Terawatt’s values.
• Work with the Terawatt Leadership Team to motivate a collective effort in building a culture that reflects the Company’s mission and values and helps employees understand the importance of their contributions.
• Support the organization in honing shared values, attitudes, and practices that contribute to a strong social and psychological environment, guiding the org’s cultural expectations, experiences, and philosophy.
• Keep a pulse on the health of the culture by gathering information to uncover the needs, perspectives, and talents of employees with diverse backgrounds and optimize org performance by effectively aligning individuals’ unique talents, interests, and abilities with the most relevant roles and responsibilities.
• Collaboratively identify development opportunities that include a variety of learning methods (e.g., formal learning, learning from others, and learning from experience), defining measures of successful skill and knowledge acquisition.
• Provide opportunities and secure resources needed to support Leadership and Manager training.
• Support Terawatt leaders in supporting employees and making them feel valued and included in coaching and development discussions and by helping staff build skills to excel, maintaining self-esteem, and empathizing.
• Seek information and opinions about current staff performance as well as long-term development needs, link performance improvement and skill development to relevant org, team, and personal goals, and in partnership with Management diagnose gaps in knowledge, experience, skills, and behavior that underlie current and future performance.
• Guides management and employee actions by researching, developing, writing, and updating policies, processes and guidelines that communicate and and enforce organizational values.
• Drives a culture of continuous feedback by upleveling managers on coaching and providing timely, meaningful performance feedback.
• In partnership with the Terawatt management team, maintain a competitive and equitable compensation strategy, plan, and practices.
• Maintains employee benefits programs, assesses benefit needs and trends, recommends benefit programs to Leadership, and communicates benefit programs with employees.
• In partnership with Legal, ensures legal compliance to federal, state, and local requirements across the People function.
• Responsible for implementing, auditing, and maintaining People software systems to manage core HR programs (ie payroll, benefits, performance management, talent acquisition).
• Develops action plans and measures results to anticipated outcomes for People initiatives and programs.
• Experiments with new ways to seize People opportunities, resulting in unique/differentiated solutions.
• Updates job knowledge by participating in conferences and educational opportunities, reading professional publications, maintaining personal networks, and participating in professional organizations.

• Building Organizational Talent - Establishes systems and processes to attract, develop, engage, and retain top talent; creates an inclusive and welcoming work environment that fosters diversity where people can realize their full potential, thus allowing the organization to meet current and future business challenges.
• Strategic Direction - Contributes and commits to action on long-term direction with strong point of view and understanding of resources, operational/organizational values, and emerging budgetary, technological, and regulatory conditions.
• Strategic Influence - Creates and executes influence strategies that gain commitment to one’s ideas and persuade key stakeholders to take action that will advance shared interests and business goals.
• Operational Decision Making - Secures and compares information from multiple sources to identify business issues; commits to an action after weighing alternative solutions against important decision criteria.
• Leadership Presence - Demonstrates a poised, credible, and confident demeanor that reassures others and conveys an image that is consistent with the org’s vision and values.

• Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities
• In-depth knowledge of labor law and best practices, as well as recent changes and trends in employment practices.
• Strong leadership skills and the ability to demonstrate and lead on values, initiatives, and culture of the organization.
• Operational decision making that involves the appropriate individuals and development of appropriate plan of action from multi-disciplinary perspectives.
• Ability to see the “big picture” without loss of attention to detail.
• Ability to prioritize competing demands and ensure the org is spending time on what’s most important.

• Required Education and Experience 
• Bachelor’s degree or equivalent in Human Resources, Organizational Development, Labor Relations, or Business
• 7+ years of progressive leadership experience in People Operations
• 5+ years of supervisory experience
• Any combination of education, training, and experience that demonstrates the ability to perform role’s duties

• Preferred Education and Experience
• Master’s degree or equivalent in Human Resources, Organizational Development, Labor Relations, or Business
• 10+ years of human resource experience and/or specialized training in employment law, compensation, organizational planning, organization development, employee relations, safety, training, and preventive labor relations
• Professional certification
• Active affiliation with appropriate HR networks and organizations and ongoing community involvement
• Possess ongoing affiliations with leaders in successful companies and organizations that practice effective People Operations Management

• Terawatt Infrastructure is headquartered in San Francisco, CA. The Senior Director, People is based in San Francisco. This role operates in a typical business environment routinely using a computer and its voice or video call capabilities. 

• At Terawatt Infrastructure, we value diversity and always treat all employees and job applicants based on merit, qualifications, competence, and talent. We do not discriminate on the basis of or traits historically associated with race; color, religion, religious creed, national origin, ancestry, citizenship, physical or mental disability, medical condition, genetic information, marital status, sex, gender, gender identity, gender expression, age, sexual orientation, veteran and/or military status), domestic violence victim status, political affiliation, and any other status protected by state or federal law.

Don’t meet every single requirement? Studies have shown that women and people of color are less likely to apply for jobs unless they meet every single qualification. At Terawatt, we are dedicated to building a diverse, inclusive, and authentic workplace, so if you’re excited about this role but your experience doesn’t align perfectly with every qualification in the job description, we encourage you to apply anyway. You may be just the right candidate for this or other roles.

Terawatt is committed to the full inclusion of all qualified individuals. In keeping with our commitment, we will take steps to ensure that people with disabilities are provided reasonable accommodations. Accordingly, if reasonable accommodation is required to fully participate in the job application or interview process, or to perform the essential functions of the position, please contact people@terawattinfrastructure.com.

Terawatt Infrastructure is an equal-opportunity employer.