Chief People & Culture Officer

A Week in the Life

Your week often begins by connecting with the People & Culture team, identifying where they may need additional support, clarity, or direction, and orienting around the priorities that matter most. You may start with an early conversation with the CEO or a member of the executive team, aligning on organizational priorities, upcoming changes, or sensitive people-related decisions that require both strategic thinking and thoughtful communication. 

Throughout the week, you move between advising leaders and shaping systems. You might spend part of your morning coaching a manager through a performance conversation or navigating a complex team dynamic, helping them balance empathy with accountability. Later, you could be working with your team to refine performance management practices, strengthen onboarding experiences, or design leadership development initiatives that build capability across the organization. 

You also dedicate time to the longer arc of the work: ensuring that culture is intentional and embedded across the organization. This may include reviewing employee feedback, identifying patterns in engagement or retention, and partnering with leaders to address root causes rather than surface symptoms. You translate values into action, ensuring that expectations around communication, collaboration, and accountability are clear, consistent, and genuinely lived out. 

Strategic work also has a regular place in your week. You are thinking ahead about where the people function needs to go, what capabilities the team needs to develop, and what the organization will require from its people strategy six months or two years from now. You bring ideas, not just reactions, and you are building toward a version of this function that is more proactive, more strategic, and more impactful over time. 

No two weeks are exactly the same, but each one requires you to balance big-picture vision with real-time decision-making. Whether you are guiding change, strengthening systems, or supporting a leader through a challenging moment, you bring both the steadiness and the energy that a high-performing people function requires. 

You Would Thrive in This Position If

• You bring at least seven years of progressive leadership experience in human resources, people operations, or organizational leadership, including executive-level responsibility, preferably in an association, nonprofit, or mission-driven organization. You hold a relevant degree and an HR certification such as SHRM-SCP, SPHR, or GPHR, or equivalent experience. 

• You have a proven ability to design and implement enterprise-wide people strategies aligned with organizational goals, and you bring extensive experience in organizational development, culture transformation, and leadership development. 

• You are not bound by traditional HR thinking and can balance HR fundamentals with a willingness to challenge outdated practices. You bring a people-first mindset and a genuine interest in the future of work, and you are as comfortable rethinking a system as you are maintaining one. You bring a point of view and the confidence to share it. 

• You lead with both empathy and directness. You can hold a hard conversation with care, give feedback that lands, and help leaders navigate complexity without softening your message to the point of losing it. People trust you because you are honest with them. 

• You are a skilled developer of people and teams. You see the strengths in the individuals around you, invest in them deliberately, and know how to help a small, high-performing team grow without disrupting what already makes them effective. 

• You have a strong knowledge of employment law, compliance, and HR best practices, and a demonstrated ability to influence at the executive level and lead through complexity and change. 

• You are polished, fast-moving, and built for a senior leadership environment. You can keep pace with a CEO who moves quickly, contribute meaningfully in executive conversations, and represent the People & Culture function with the credibility and presence the role requires. 

Who We Are

Sigma Theta Tau International Honor Society of Nursing (also known as Sigma Nursing or Sigma) is a global nursing organization with more than 100 years of impact, but what really sets us apart is how we support people—both the nurses we serve and the team members who make our work possible. We’re a community-oriented group of approximately 50 employees based in Indianapolis, Indiana, working in a remote-friendly environment. At Sigma, you’ll find a culture that values accountability, growth, and purpose. We offer strong health and retirement benefits, support professional development, and encourage open communication and collaboration across teams. If you’re looking for a place where your work matters and your growth is supported, you’ll feel right at home here.

We recognize that diversity and inclusion are essential to our success and are committed to creating a workplace that reflects the global nursing community we serve. We’re proud to be an Equal Opportunity Employer.

Ready to Join Us?

Apply today and help drive Sigma’s mission forward—building a stronger, more connected global nursing community.