WHO WE ARE

The Humane League (THL) is a global nonprofit working to end the abuse of animals raised for food. Recognized as a Top Charity by Animal Charity Evaluators for multiple years running, we are regarded as one of the most effective animal protection organizations in the world.

YOUR OPPORTUNITY

At THL, our unwavering commitment to ending the abuse of animals raised for food is powered by our exceptional staff. We are seeking an Associate Vice President of People to provide comprehensive senior leadership across our People functions. This critical role will directly drive our global impact by ensuring that our people strategies are scalable, resilient, and deeply aligned with our mission.

You are the ideal leader for this role if you have significant progressive, senior-level HR experience, have expert experience working within both US and non-US employment laws, and a successful track record setting the direction for a functional area and broad enterprise-focused priorities in mission-driven organizations. Your commitment to THL’s mission is unwavering, putting animals at the heart of everything you do and cultivating a powerful, united organizational culture that respects and inspires people to do their best work. Empowering your team is central to your leadership style, and you view challenges as opportunities for innovation and growth. You prioritize open, clear, and transparent communication, and foster a strong sense of agency within your teams. With genuine care for individual development, you engage in honest conversations that promote personal and professional growth, ensuring each team member thrives in their role. You model and encourage accountability, providing constructive feedback with clarity and kindness, and addressing issues directly to cultivate a culture of trust and candor. You recognize the global aspects of our workforce and welcome diverse perspectives and experiences.

As the Associate VP of People, you play a crucial role in developing and implementing effective systems, policies, and procedures across your functions, to strengthen operational resilience across the organization. You serve as a collaborative business partner to the Senior Leadership Team and other leaders in the organization, ensuring your department meets organizational needs and delivering top-tier expertise on critical matters across talent management strategy, organizational design, and change management. You will oversee the strategic planning and budgeting for the People function and are responsible for near-to-mid and long-term business results. This position reports directly to the Vice President of Operations.

This is a full-time, remote position, based in the USA, Canada, Denmark, Ecuador, Hungary, Ireland, Netherlands, Norway, Peru, or the United Kingdom. This position requires domestic and international travel, equivalent to 2 or more week-long trips per year. To the extent permitted by law, in order to enable collaboration with other global team members, you may be required to work occasional hours outside of 9am - 5pm, depending on your time zone.

ESSENTIAL FUNCTIONS

Strategic Leadership & Management

• Lead and mentor the People team, providing senior-level guidance, coaching, and strategic direction to ensure excellence across all People functions.
• Develop and drive the organization’s overarching global People and Culture vision, leveraging advanced data analysis and cutting-edge best practices to inform strategic HR decisions and optimize the employee experience globally.
• Oversee and lead large-scale internal system and process optimization across all People functions, including talent acquisition, performance management, employee relations, learning and development, employee engagement, compensation, benefits, and global HR functions.Maintaining an unwavering focus on equity, compliance, efficiency, and an exceptional employee experience through all projects and initiatives.

Global HR and Compliance

• Lead the development of the organization’s comprehensive employee handbook and other critical organizational policies and procedures, ensuring compliance with best practices for both U.S. staff and global workers.
• Integrate international labor standards into operational practices to ensure consistency and alignment with strategic objectives, particularly in regions where staff are employed through indirect models (PEO, EOR, etc.).
• Serve as the top-level expert on complex, multi-jurisdictional employment matters, guiding global compensation, benefits, and statutory compliance.

Culture & Employee Experience

• Cultivate a high-accountability, high-agency environment where employees feel empowered, trusted, and effective in their roles, fostering a culture of agency, mutual understanding, and continuous growth.
• Champion Equal Employment Opportunity initiatives within the People function and across the organization, ensuring all policies and practices promote an inclusive workplace.
• Drive employee engagement and retention strategies, ensuring the People team effectively supports managers in fostering healthy, productive working relationships.

In addition to the above essential job duties, other duties may be assigned as business needs arise. These may include non-essential, marginal job duties.

REQUIRED SKILLS

• Strategic HR & Non-profit Leadership: Progressive advanced to expert-level People/Human Resources leadership experience in values-driven roles focused on setting direction for the People function. Includes significant People leadership experience in a non-profit or other mission-driven organization, with a strong, unwavering commitment to the organization’s values and mission. Proven ability to direct entire departments with a focus on strategic leadership, shaping and reinforcing an inclusive organizational culture, and translating goals into actionable plans while effectively managing and empowering senior-level direct reports.
• Global Compliance & Indirect Employment: Extensive working expertise in compliance, risk management, and the ethical application of HR policies in a global context. Significant experience managing international employment, compliance, and cultural nuances (non-U.S. presence), alongside a strong background of federal and state labor laws (U.S. presence). Must possess expert knowledge and significant People leadership experience in organizations successfully utilizing indirect employment models (e.g. PEO and EOR).
• Strategic Thinking: Demonstrates advanced, senior-level strategic thinking by developing and implementing transformative HR strategies that drive organizational success and align with broader organizational goals, vision, and culture.
• Verbal & Written Communication: Adept at articulating the People team's vision and goals, ensuring clear communication of top-level strategic priorities across all levels, and fostering a culture of open dialogue and feedback. Highly skilled at writing HR policies, including procedures for hiring and workplace complaints. Able to communicate changes and navigate complex topics with sensitivity, providing appropriate context and maintaining confidentiality when necessary.
• Interpersonal Skills, Teamwork & Collaboration: Excels in addressing systemic interpersonal challenges and leading organizational culture initiatives. Leads by example, promoting empathy and trust-building as fundamental components of organizational relationships and partnerships, and through exercising active listening skills and mentoring team members on developing emotional intelligence. Open to giving and receiving employee feedback in a supportive and encouraging manner, seeing constructive criticism as an opportunity for growth and improvement. Leads initiatives that enhance collaboration at the senior level to form and maintain strategic alignment and partnerships. Drives collaborative efforts to achieve organizational objectives and enhance overall performance, with expert skills in fostering mutual understanding and buy-in within the organization.
• Critical Thinking and Problem Solving: Excels in approaching and addressing challenges through cross-functional collaboration and strategic thinking. Able to identify the root of an issue and effectively resolve conflict, demonstrating emotional intelligence and understanding while ensuring solutions align with organizational values and goals.
• Data Analysis: Oversees high-level data analysis initiatives across all People Team functions, capitalizing on data-driven insights to drive strategic decisions, actualize the People Team vision and goals, and improve employee experiences.
• Adaptability, Initiative & Proactivity: Drives organizational adaptation and fosters innovation, shaping organizational responses to market changes and global workforce trends. Influences the development of standards for proactive leadership while inspiring and motivating business units to take on a proactive mindset.

For priority consideration, please submit your application by May 15th, 2026 at 11:59 pm ET. After this date, we will begin advancing candidates through the hiring process and may close the role. Please submit applications and all supporting documents in English. All application questions and materials need to be submitted here through the application submission form; we do not accept applications through our careers email.

For full details of our recruitment process please review this document.

Compensation and Benefits

The annual compensation range for this role is:

• $135,498 - $165,098 for candidates in based in the USA

Please visit our website for more information about our hiring timeline, compensation policy, benefits, equal employment opportunity, reasonable accommodations, AI policy, hiring timeline, and information about our communications during the hiring process.