Associate Vice President, Talent & Organizational Effectiveness

Associate Vice President, Talent & Organizational Effectiveness

Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF)

Location: Princeton, NJ – Hybrid: Flexible Purpose
Salary: $222,200–$244,420
Department: Human Resources
Reports to: Vice President and Chief Human Resources Officer
Application Deadline: Open Until Filled

 

About the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation

 

The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF), located in Princeton, N.J., is a leading national philanthropy dedicated to taking bold leaps to transform health in our lifetime. To get there, we must work to dismantle structural racism and other barriers to health.

 

Since 1972, we have focused on developing and promoting innovations in health and healthcare to improve the lives of millions. Through funding, convening, advocacy, and evidence-building, we work side-by-side with communities, practitioners, and institutions to achieve health equity faster — ultimately paving the way, together, to a future where health is no longer a privilege, but a right.

 

We take seriously our responsibilities, and we pledge to work in ways that reflect our Guiding Principles. These are rooted in equity and influence everything we do at RWJF. Equity, diversity, inclusion (EDI), and collaboration enable our staff’s wide range of experiences, passions, and perspectives to strengthen our ability to address our nation’s most pressing health issues and support a culture of belonging.

 

Part of this work includes actively shaping an inclusive, antiracist organization where all staff members thrive as we build and use our capabilities, voice, and power to advance health equity. RWJF offers a collaborative, collegial, and creative work environment.

 

With a career at the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, you will make a difference.

 

RWJF Guiding Principles

 

• We seek bold and lasting change rooted in the best available evidence, analysis, and science, openly debated.

• We treat everyone with fairness and respect.

• We act as good stewards of private resources, using them to advance the public’s interest with a focus on helping the most vulnerable.

• We cultivate diversity, inclusion, and collaboration.

• We speak out as leaders to promote health and wellbeing.

 

Generational Goals

 

At RWJF, we’re committed to acting now so that change will be realized and sustained over the course of generations — so that our children, and their children, will live in a world where:

 

• All families have the resources they need to raise children who will thrive.

• Public health and healthcare systems prioritize individual and community wellbeing — and remain accountable to them.

• Communities foster the conditions that allow all residents to reach their best possible health and wellbeing.

 

Purpose of Position

 

In this newly envisioned role, the Associate Vice President, Talent & Organizational Effectiveness (AVP) reports to the Vice President and Chief Human Resources Officer and serves as the CHRO’s strategic deputy and thought partner, translating organizational priorities into talent, leadership, and organizational effectiveness outcomes while ensuring disciplined execution across the employee lifecycle.

 

As a member of the HR leadership team, the AVP is expected to operate with enterprise perspective to represent the function internally and externally. This leader will oversee key people leaders and strengthen RWJF’s long-term leadership bench through succession planning, organizational effectiveness, and disciplined talent stewardship.

 

The AVP will have five direct reports:

 

• Director, Employee Engagement.

• Senior Director, Talent Development.

• Three People Partners.

 

Success in this role requires the ability to lead in a highly collaborative, hybrid, flexible-purpose environment through influence, trust, thoughtful presence, and strong relationship management.

 

As a trusted extension of the CHRO, the successful candidate will demonstrate enterprise thinking beyond HR, build alignment across decentralized leaders through influence rather than hierarchy, and create conditions where teams are empowered while maintaining accountability. This leader will operate with transparency, sound judgment, and follow-through, representing the function when needed and balancing visibility, accessibility, and outcomes to drive organizational effectiveness.

 

Key Responsibilities

 

Talent Strategy, Workforce Planning & Leadership

 

• Own and evolve RWJF’s foundation-wide talent management strategy, including talent acquisition, performance management, employee relations, succession planning, and promotion processes, ensuring these systems operate as an integrated ecosystem.

• Ensure talent management strategy is aligned with organizational priorities, including workforce planning, capability building, and future talent needs. Serve as a trusted advisor to executive leadership and lead a high-performing talent function.

• Serve as a senior thought partner to leadership on talent, engagement, and culture — not an advisor from the outside, but a partner sitting beside the program and operations units.

 

Team Leadership & Capability Building

 

• Lead and develop a high-performing talent team, setting clear expectations and fostering collaboration, accountability, and functional excellence. Serve as People Leader of three People Partners, the Director of Employee Engagement, and the Senior Director of Talent Development.

• Model RWJF’s culture in how you work: flat and informal, no walls, right over easy.

• Drive continuous improvement through data, candid feedback, experimentation, and continuous learning.

• Establish standards, practices, and capability expectations for the People Partner function, ensuring consistent, high-quality strategic support across the Foundation.

• Embody and reinforce the values and principles that define RWJF’s culture and ways of working.

 

Leadership Development & Succession Planning

 

• Design and oversee all aspects of professional development and strategies to build strong, diverse leadership and enhanced organizational skills, including identification and advancement of high-potential talent.

• Review, revise as necessary, and advance how RWJF develops its leaders and managers at every level.

• Build a scalable, high-impact approach to executive coaching and leadership development.

• Act as a coach to senior leaders and key talent.

• Oversee foundation-wide learning priorities, holding yourself and the team to RWJF’s standard: relevance, rigor, and real impact.

• Lead foundation-wide succession planning and talent mapping, improving visibility into leadership pipelines and readiness across the organization.

• Elevate the quality and forward-looking nature of talent discussions with senior leadership.

• Partner with departments and people leaders to ensure succession and development plans are actionable and actively managed. At RWJF, succession planning is viewed as an ongoing strategic responsibility that strengthens organizational continuity and leadership readiness.

 

Organizational Effectiveness & Performance Management

 

• Provide senior-level oversight in the design of performance management strategy and work with the CHRO to finalize and approve it, ensuring alignment with organizational priorities.

• Lead the development, implementation, and ongoing evolution of a foundation-wide competency framework that defines the leadership, behavioral, and functional capabilities required for success across levels and roles and serves as a foundational input into hiring, performance management, development, succession, and career growth.

• Provide strategic oversight for the biennial employee engagement survey process, including survey design, administration, insight generation, action planning, and organizational follow-through to strengthen culture, leadership effectiveness, employee experience, and organizational performance.

• Establish and leverage talent analytics, KPIs, and dashboards to inform decision-making, assess program effectiveness, and guide strategic adjustments.

• Partner with leaders to strengthen workforce capability and readiness for emerging technologies, including AI, while supporting responsible adoption and new ways of working.

• Lead organization design and workforce planning efforts to ensure structures, roles, and capabilities align with evolving strategic priorities.

• Support leaders through change by strengthening change management, communication, and capability enablement.

• Partner closely with People Partners and Centers of Excellence (COEs) to ensure alignment and disciplined execution across the talent ecosystem through insight, influence, and credibility, not mandate. COEs include compensation and benefits, People Analytics and HR Technology, Learning & Leadership Development, Organizational Effectiveness, Employee Experience & Engagement, HR Operations, and Workforce Planning, as applicable.

 

Talent Acquisition Alignment

 

• Partner with Talent Acquisition to ensure recruitment, selection, and onboarding strategies align with long-term workforce plans and organizational goals.

• Perform other duties as assigned.

 

Professional Experience & Qualifications

 

The ideal candidate brings a broad, enterprise-wide perspective on talent, organizational effectiveness, and people strategy, with a track record of designing and implementing inclusive, high-impact approaches that strengthen organizational performance and workforce outcomes.

 

They have significant experience in organizational design, building the structures, capabilities, and operating models that enable organizations to adapt and achieve strategic priorities. They are a thoughtful, action-oriented leader and trusted partner who can navigate complexity, align teams around shared priorities, and translate strategy into measurable outcomes.

 

This leader has demonstrated success developing purposeful leadership and employee development programs that build leadership capability, strengthen succession pipelines, and foster a culture of continuous growth and engagement. They bring deep expertise in people partnership, including establishing clear frameworks, standards, and practices that drive consistency, quality, and accountability across HR/People Partners supporting diverse divisions and functions.

 

Specific qualifications, knowledge, skills, and attributes include:

 

• Minimum of 10 years of progressive HR experience, including leadership responsibility across multiple talent disciplines.

• Proven track record in leading HR business partnering and/or talent functions.

• Experience designing and driving enterprise-wide talent functions, including HR business partnering, talent acquisition, organizational development, leadership development, employee development, and talent management.

• Proven ability to implement and lead an HR Partner/Business Partner model, establishing consistent practices, service delivery standards, and capability development across People Partners serving multiple divisions.

• Strong strategic orientation with the ability to translate organizational priorities into actionable talent and workforce strategies.

• Demonstrated ability to serve as a strategic deputy or second-in-command to a senior HR executive, exercising sound judgment, enterprise perspective, and the ability to represent the function internally and externally.

• Experience leading leaders and building leadership capability through others.

• Established proficiency in organizational design, workforce planning, and building the organizational structures, capabilities, and “muscle” needed to support transformation and long-term success.

• Demonstrated ability to influence senior leaders and operate as a trusted advisor on complex organizational, leadership, and people-related matters.

• Experience leading cross-functional teams and driving alignment across multiple HR disciplines while fostering consistency and collaboration across decentralized teams.

• Strong organizational development capability, including culture, engagement, change management, team effectiveness, and organizational effectiveness.

• Proven success designing and implementing purposeful leadership and employee development programs that strengthen leadership capability, accelerate talent growth, and support succession planning.

• Advanced judgment and decision-making skills in high-impact, ambiguous environments.

• Strong commitment to equity-focused systems, inclusive talent practices, and creating equitable employee experiences across the organization.

 

Education

 

• A combination of education and experience equivalent to a bachelor’s degree is required.

 

Position Location & Hybrid Work

 

This position is assigned to RWJF’s Princeton, N.J. headquarters offices.

 

RWJF operates under a Hybrid: Flexible Purpose (HFP) model designed to give employees as much flexibility as possible while meeting the needs of the organization.

 

• Employees are required to come into Foundation offices during the year for position-related purposes such as critical tasks, organizational events, training and development, grantee meetings, and internally focused team activities.

• The number of required meetings in Princeton is subject to change as RWJF continues to evaluate and improve the model.

• RWJF offices remain open for employees who want focused workspace, optional organizational activities, or opportunities to connect with colleagues.

• While employees have flexibility regarding where they live, employees are responsible for expenses incurred commuting to their assigned office for required meetings.

 

Compensation

 

The starting salary range for this position is $222,200–$244,420.

 

Candidates whose experience and qualifications significantly exceed the minimum requirements for the role may be considered for compensation at the higher end of the range, consistent with the Foundation’s compensation philosophy and practices.

 

Benefits

 

RWJF offers:

 

• Comprehensive health benefits.

• Retirement benefits.

• Generous paid time off.

• Additional employee benefits.

 

Equal Opportunity Employer

 

RWJF is an Equal Opportunity Employer.

 

How to Apply

 

Applicants should submit:

 

• Resume.

• Required letter of interest.

 

Applications are being managed by Korn Ferry.

 

Application Deadline

 

The position will remain open until filled.