JELLYVISION NEEDS A VP OF PEOPLE

We here at Jellyvision are the proud parents of ALEX®, an interactive employee communications platform that happens to share some DNA (and a sense of humor) with the smash-hit trivia video game YOU DON’T KNOW JACK®, created by Jellyvision's founder. ALEX makes navigating tricky decisions—like choosing and using employee benefits or improving your financial wellness—easier, faster, and more helpful, not to mention entertaining. The success of the ALEX platform has exceeded our wildest dreams, (except for the part right before we woke up where our mom was riding a giraffe), which is why we need talented folks like you to help us help ALEX take over the world…er…continue to grow and succeed.

THAT’S LOVELY… BUT WHAT’S THE JOB?
We’re looking to add a true Talent Leader to our team, to help us build out an HR function to up our game in terms of developing and supporting the amazing group of people who work at Jellyvision (not to mention the several hundred more we’ll likely hire over the next few years) as well as providing leadership for our Talent Acquisition efforts. We’re looking for someone with broad experience in the fields of Learning and Development, Diversity and Inclusion, Leadership Training, Talent Acquisition, Compensation and Culture Building – ideally with experience in a high growth company.  We’ve made the 50 to 350 employee transition, and we’re looking for someone to help us plan and scale as we get to 500, 700, maybe 1000 employees – the sky’s the limit.    

 Currently, Jellyvision has a well-developed Recruiting team, but HR duties at Jellyvision are split among a number of people and departments who also have lots of other duties on their plates. As we’ve grown past 300 employees, it’s become clear that it’s time to add a team specifically devoted to HR initiatives to make sure that they get the time they deserve.  We’re looking for someone with significant experience running both Talent Acquisition and HR (or Organizational Development) teams, and a network in the space who will help us build out an HR team and benchmark what we’re doing against the market.  Jellyvision has a very unique culture based on trust and respect, and we want to be sure that we preserve that as we grow.  Being able to lead with trust, versus policy, will be a key part of fit for us in this role.  While we want to know what the broader market is doing, we also want to make sure that we never lose our focus on being a place where people love to work, and where they can be their best selves.  You will be tasked with keeping the best of Jellyvision’s current culture, while taking it to the next level with more support for our employees once they’re here.  Specifically, the gig entails…

• Building out the “HR” function at Jellyvision.  You’ll assess our needs and help us bring in a team of experienced folks who can help us support and develop our amazing managers and employees.

• Leading our diversity and inclusion efforts.  We’re actively looking to increase diversity at Jellyvision across many lines – and to ensure that everyone at Jellyvision feels welcome, included, respected, and empowered to speak up and contribute.  Working closely with our CEO, you’ll chart the course for greater diversity and more frequent and meaningful conversations and training around how to be a truly inclusive workplace. 

• Compensation and benefit benchmarking and innovation. Jellyvision strives to pay fairly and provide benefits that keep our employees happy, healthy, and balanced.  In this rapidly changing world, that requires constantly looking to the market to make sure that our pay and benefits don’t fall behind.  You won’t be responsible for administering our benefits or payroll (we’ve got an amazing partner in Finance who does that) but you’ll be responsible for understanding the market, working closely with managers on semi-annual salary equity reviews, and bringing us new ideas and perspectives on all areas of compensation. 

• Initiating company-wide Learning & Development and Career Planning initiatives.  We rely heavily on managers throughout the organization to provide appropriate learning opportunities and career development advice.  As we’ve grown, we’ve seen a need for more resources at the company level to ensure that everyone in the company understands what opportunities exist at Jellyvision for learning and career development.  You’ll chart a course to make these L&D and Career Planning initiatives a reality.
• Working with the Senior Leadership team on long range staff planning and People initiatives. We have a Senior Leadership team that cares deeply about working only with the best talent.  As we don’t plan to lower our standards as we grow, we need a strategic thinker to work with our Senior Executives to plan for smart, cost efficient growth that balances hiring from the outside and promoting from within.  And then lead the Recruiting and HR teams in executing on that plan.

• Executive Development.  You’ll lead the company in defining what effective and compassionate leadership means at Jellyvision, and provide direct coaching and mentoring to our senior leaders as they identify the unique leadership needs of each of their teams.

• Policy drafting and development.  Jellyvision strives to be light on written policies – we care more about empowering employees to use good judgment and helping them understand what that means than papering every little thing.  But when we do decide to draft a policy, we aren’t just tweaking a SHRM boilerplate – we’re seeking to draft a concise, plain language, Jellyvision-toned communication about what we want our company to be.  As such, policy development and communication is something we expect our People leader will work on with our crack legal team.

• Enabling employee-driven initiatives.  We have the most amazing group of employees here – and they routinely come up with great ideas for getting to know each other, networking, ongoing education, community service, bringing bunnies into the office (no lie), etc.  You’ll manage a budget for supporting employees who want to actively shape our culture – and put strategy and process in place around the decisions about how Jellyvision should spend that budget.

WHAT KIND OF PERSON ARE WE LOOKING FOR?  To be a great fit for this role, we’re looking for someone who is:

• A great teacher, trainer, and leader.  You need to love learning by talking to people, and you need to love sharing what you know with others.  In this role, you’ll provide leadership, training and mentoring around many issues that are of critical importance to Jellyvision’s culture and business performance.  You will need to use both listening and teaching skills to influence and support people who don’t report to you, but will be looking to you for leadership on important people issues.

• Entrepreneurial.  There isn’t a playbook for the HR side of this position.  We need someone who can come in, learn the lay of the land, and create a plan - and then constantly reassess and evolve as our rapidly growing business does, too.  Being a lifelong student who wants to learn more, explore, test, and try something new will serve you (and us!) well.

• Numbers driven.  As we grow, we are gathering more and more data on employee performance, employee happiness, client satisfaction, etc.  And there’s a wealth of data out there about other companies and their employees that we can analyze to see how we compare.  You need to love research and number crunching – because you’re going to be making a lot of recommendations on a lot of important topics, and you’ll want to have data to back those recommendations up.

• Creative and flexible in your approach to HR.  Jellyvision, like many progressive tech companies, tries to take a very employee-first approach to traditional HR matters.  We want to be open, honest and trusting in the way we communicate and manage at Jellyvision.  So while we want you to crunch numbers and understand market-standard approaches and best practices, we’re often going to deviate from what established HR says you “must” do if a different approach will be better for our people and our culture (like maintaining flexible hours and PTO as we grow).  Being flexible will be crucial.

• An amazing communicator.  In person, on the phone, and in writing.  You will be responsible for communicating both internally and externally with so many different folks in so many different roles that your communication skills really need to be excellent, and on brand for Jellyvision.  No HR jargon, please. 

• Discreet, trustworthy and with stellar judgment.  In this role, you will have access to a lot of sensitive information.  People throughout the company will discuss delicate issues with you, and will expect you to keep private information private.  You will need to very quickly establish a sense of trust with employees, managers and the leadership team.  And when people come to you to discuss sensitive topics, you will need to have impeccable judgment on how to react in the moment and appropriately follow up on the conversation in a way that is respectful of the individual and responsible to the company.  It’s the delicate balancing act of HR – and we’re looking for someone who makes it look easy.

• Last but not least, a sense of humor is a must.  It just makes you more fun to work with.

WHAT KINDS OF EXPERIENCE SHOULD YOU HAVE? 

Ordinarily, we look for DNA more than a specific background; but in this case, we’re looking for someone to bring expertise from prior experience.  Specifically we’re looking for someone with:

• 10+ years of experience in HR and/or Talent Acquisition.  We are looking for someone with experience with professional development initiatives, performance management processes, compensation planning, talent acquisition, D&I initiatives, corporate communications, and culture building - with ownership over one or more of these areas in a previous role.  We are open to candidates who have not been the top People executive in a previous role – as long as you’ve had experience managing both people and budgets in your areas of concentration.

• Experience with and ideas for diversity and inclusion.  Our leadership and our employees are passionate about being a diverse place where everyone is treated with respect. We are actively looking to increase the diversity of our team, and foster conversations about how to be an inclusive workplace, so experience with diversity and inclusion initiatives is important.

• Experienced in building teams. We’re excited to grow the People team to better serve the needs of our employees, so we’re looking for someone with experience building out a strategic HR team.  You should have a strong perspective on how HR support should be structured and delivered, and a network of amazing folks to pull from to staff up a team over the next few years.

• Experience with technical solutions to address people problems.  We are a lean organization and will ask you to lead many projects and processes without simply throwing money at problems.  But we are always looking for ways to improve our process and projects with smart tech plays – so experience with cost-effective technical solutions for performance management, training, etc. is important.  Experience having selected and implemented tech solutions in the HR space is ideal.

• Insight into how small, high growth, companies work. HR in a small but rapidly growing tech company is a different animal from HR in a large, static, corporate entity.  We are not looking for someone focused on compliance and risk mitigation.  We’re looking for someone focused on hiring, retaining, growing and supporting an amazing team of diverse talent.  The ideal candidate is someone who has either managed the People function through high growth at a small company before, or has been involved in HR/Talent Acquisition at a larger company and genuinely wants the opportunity to be a part of a more personalized, less bureaucratic, process.  

ANYTHING ELSE?  Yes. We share a commitment to excellence and a desire to work in a comfortable, friendly atmosphere, so we only hire nice, bright, funny people who are willing to work hard.  Our credo is a simple one: be helpful. And we think we can be most helpful if our workforce is as diverse in thought, perspective, and culture as the people who use our products. As mentioned, we are looking to add amazing folks to our team who will bring diversity across many lines, including race, ethnicity, religion, sexual orientation, age, marital status, disability, gender identity, sex, and country of origin.

 ARE THERE ANY PERKS? Yes, we love perks.

•  Competitive pay, 401(k) with matching and benefits. We pay 100% of the cost of premiums for medical, dental, vision, disability and life insurance for our employees (as long as you qualify for our tobacco-free discount; if you’re a tobacco user, your medical premiums will be higher than $0). We also cover a really nice chunk of the cost of premiums for spouse/dependent medical, dental and vision insurance.

• Casual dress and a flexible schedule. Come in a sweatshirt, jeans, whatever, like everyone else here.

• Creative work environment. We are lucky to work in a place that is full of intelligent, talented and innovative folks. Although most hours the place is deathly quiet (we're a focused bunch), this is punctuated with hilarious outbursts and general merriment, which makes a nice way to spend the day.

• Free food. Every week, we stock our kitchen with free healthy snack foods, and we have a catered lunch every other week to give people a reason to hang out and eat together.

• Easy transportation and lots of love for folks who bike to work. We’re really close to the North/Clybourn red line stop and the Halsted (#8) bus (right by the Apple Store and Mega Whole Foods too), and we have a transit FSA that allows you to dedicate pre-tax dollars to public transportation expenses. A number of our employees like to bike to work, so we also have bike storage, showers and lockers in the office.  And for those without their own bike in the city, we offer free divvy memberships – complete with Jellyvision bike helmets you can borrow from the office.

• Did we mention our yoga class? We bring a pro instructor right to the office. Fully subsidized by Jellyvision and fully optional, btw.

• Oh! And we have a massage chair. Not just any massage chair, my friend. It’s the HumanTouch HT 5320 WholeBody™ Massage Chair. Feeling a little stiff? Sit down. Relax. Feel better? Good. Okay, back to work.

AND HOW DO I APPLY?

We look forward to hearing about you and what you do. Make sure your application includes:

• A cover letter that highlights three reasons you think you’d be great for the gig, focusing on how your past experience has prepared you for this kind of position. Writing is key to all we do, and we weigh cover letters heavily.  We love a cover letter that really shows us your personality (check out our company bios to see the wide range of personalities we’ve already got in house), but don’t stress if you’re not a comedian. You don’t have to be funny. Just be yourself. We’re mostly interested in learning who you are, what you love to do, and why you’d love to do it here with us.
• Your resume 

 You will receive an auto-reply confirming that we've received your application.

Please know that every single application we receive is read by a real live human being. However that kind of thoughtful review takes time, so it may take us a little while to get back to you (but we will, we promise). In the meantime, NO FOLLOW UP PHONE CALLS OR EMAILS, PLEASE. It’s not that we don’t love hearing from you. It’s just that time spent responding to follow ups could be spent…well…reading your application. Please rest assured that if you received a confirmation from Recruiting Robot, we’ve got your application, and will get back to you really soon. We knew you’d understand.

If you still have pressing questions in the meantime, please feel free to check out our handy-dandy FAQ page!

Thanks for your interest in Jellyvision!