ABOUT STANFORD UNIVERSITY AND RESIDENTIAL & DINING ENTERPRISES:
Stanford University, located between San Francisco and San Jose in the heart of California's Silicon Valley, is one of the world's leading teaching and research universities. Since its opening in 1891, Stanford has been dedicated to finding solutions to big challenges and to preparing students for leadership in a complex world.
Residential & Dining Enterprises (R&DE), the largest auxiliary organization at Stanford University, supports the academic mission of the university by providing high-quality services to students and other members of the university community. The department has an annual operating budget of nearly 400M, operates 24/7/365, and oversees a $3B asset portfolio comprising over 7 million sq. ft. physical plant across three campuses (Stanford campus, Redwood City campus, and Belden property at Hopkins Marine Station). R&DE provides housing for nearly 15,000 students and dependents, serving meals at 17 dining halls, 12 cafe retail locations, two markets, athletic concessions, campus vending, executive services, conference operations and guest lodging. Additionally, R&DE comprises 1000+ FTE staff in the following divisions: Student Housing Operations & Conferences, Stanford Dining and Hospitality & Auxiliaries, Maintenance Operations and Capital Projects, and a team of R&DE strategic business partners: Finance & Administration, Information Technology, Human Resources, and Strategic Communications and Marketing.
“Students (Customers) First” is the mantra of R&DE and our strategic goals reflect our commitment to delivering quality and excellence to our constituents every day. In R&DE, “Excellence is defined by aligning our strategic goals and performance with our vision.”
Stanford and R&DE are committed to creating and sustaining a diverse environment. R&DE’s dedication to promoting diversity, multiculturalism, and inclusion is reflected in our work of providing service excellence to our students. We are fully focused on creating a culture where team members have a strong sense of belonging and that their perspectives are valued.
JOB PURPOSE:
The Chief Human Resources Officer reports to the Senior Associate Vice Provost, Residential & Dining Enterprises, who is also Senior Advisor to the Provost and a member of the University Cabinet. The SAVP is the steward for R&DE’s $3B asset portfolio and nearly $400M annual operating budget and leads strategic operations for over 1,000 employees in R&DE Student Housing Operations and Stanford Conferences, Stanford Dining and Hospitality & Auxiliaries, Maintenance and Capital Planning, and four strategic business partners.
This position will serve as a thought leader to the SAVP and strategic partner to the R&DE senior leaders. This is a key leadership position responsible for strategic Human Resources and the full range of operational activities. The incumbent will lead an HR team (18 staff) and ensure that Human Resources operates with its business partners as a dynamic and innovative service area. The R&DE CHRO is responsible for developing and executing the human resources functions including, but not limited to, recruitment, performance management, employee relations, engagement, inclusive excellence, and compensation & benefits, in alignment with the program, processes, and policies across the university. The R&DE CHRO ensures that the organization is compliant with federal, state, and local laws and regulations. The CHRO will work with key partners across the university, such as University Human Resources, to deliver value-added service to management and employees that reflect the strategic business objectives of R&DE. The incumbent will work with a high level of independence and exercise a high degree of initiative, influence, and judgment, and drive a Culture of Excellence and Belonging. The position requires an individual who has exceptional cultural competence, exemplary organizational skills, self-motivation, excellent communication skills, resourcefulness, flexibility, resilience, excellent interpersonal and customer relations skills, and the ability to work successfully across a broad spectrum of staff and university partners. This position is a hybrid eligible role and the specific days of the week will be determined based on business needs.
CORE DUTIES:
- Champion the vision and goals set for R&DE. Develop strategies and plans to foster an environment across R&DE that supports and advances a positive culture, employee wellness, R&DE values and professional development and advancement.
- Provide overall strategic Human Resources leadership for R&DE and develop and implement a strategic plan for the HR function linked to the University HR plan which supports achieving R&DE’s goals, needs and key success factors. Build strategies for the full employee life cycle, including workforce planning, talent acquisition, and employee development, engagement, and retention to meet current and future business needs.
- Serve as a member of the R&DE senior leadership team and advise leaders on human resource needs, direction, and talent initiatives. Develop R&DE-specific policies and programs based on best practices and industry trends.
- Partner with University HR functional and technical teams as the university prepares to implement a new HR and Payroll system in January 2026 along with enhanced HR service delivery, compensation policies, performance management, and onboarding. Lead the change management effort in R&DE to ensure success of this critical initiative.
- Advise unit leadership and administrators on university personnel policies, programs and priorities. Responsible for devising internal procedures, training, administration and compliance with new policies announced by University Human Resources.
- Develop an HR Talent scorecard to deeply understand R&DE’s unique workforce trends and the external market trends in the highly competitive Bay area talent environment. Leverage data insights to inform a robust long-term workforce plan to build the capabilities needed now and in the future.
- Advance R&DE’s values, vision and goals through a robust culture, learning and development strategy. Working in concert with university-wide initiatives and strategies, design and implement workplace belonging programs, including metrics to ensure accountability.
- Act as a resource to University Human Resources in the development of labor relations contract issues and strategies. Manage the ongoing communications and relationships with R&DE bargaining unit staff and ensure compliance with the Collective Bargaining Agreement.
- Provide counseling to managers, supervisors and employees in the resolution of employee relations problems.
- Work with University Human Resources to maintain wage, salary and benefit policies for staff employees. Advise departmental or unit leadership or administrators on the annual salary package and/or other compensation/benefit programs and their specific impact on operations.
- Oversee review of identified leadership searches and enterprise-wide procedures for job postings, searches, selection and hiring of employees.
- Manage the performance of R&DE Human Resources department including Employee & Labor Relations, Talent Development, Talent Acquisition, Leave & Disability and Payroll & Analytics teams. Set team objectives, priorities, and resources to align with department objectives.
- Coach, mentor, develop and lead a supportive HR team; ensure HR staff understands and appreciates the responsibility to meet the needs of the unit in delivering services.
- Manage and maintain the HR budget in a fiscally responsible manner.
