Description

Bennington College invites applications for an Associate Vice President for Human Resources. Reporting to the Vice President for Finance and Administration, the Associate Vice President for Human Resources (AVP-HR) provides strategic and operational leadership for human resources in a largely unionized faculty and staff environment. The AVP-HR is a transformative people and culture leader who advances an inclusive, equitable, and engaged campus community. The role is responsible for shaping the HR service delivery model, strengthening employee and labor relations, driving data-informed decision-making, and leading training, development, and change management initiatives that align with the College’s mission and strategic priorities.

Key Responsibilities

Strategic Leadership, People and Culture:

• Serve as a thought partner to Cabinet members in cultivating a positive, collaborative, and inclusive workplace culture.
• Lead initiatives that advance employee engagement, organizational effectiveness, and workforce development.
• Provide forward-looking leadership on workforce planning, talent management, and succession planning.

Employee and Labor Relations:

• Oversee employee relations to ensure fair, consistent, and timely resolution of workplace issues.
• Serve as lead administrator for collective bargaining agreements; manage contract interpretation, grievance procedures, disciplinary actions, and negotiations.
• Foster constructive labor-management relationships that support institutional goals while respecting collective bargaining rights.

Service Delivery Model & Operations:

• Design and implement an HR service delivery model that emphasizes responsiveness, accountability, and excellence in customer service.
• Lead staff in providing services to include recruitment, onboarding, benefits, compensation, and compliance programs with a focus on continuous
• improvement and efficiency.
• Ensure compliance with all federal, state, and local employment laws and regulations.

Data, Analytics, and Decision Support:

• Develop and leverage HR data and analytics to inform policy, identify trends, and support evidence-based decision-making.
• Provide regular reports and dashboards on workforce metrics, retention, and other key indicators.

Training, Development, and Change Management:

• Build and lead a robust training and development program for supervisors and managers to strengthen leadership, compliance, and professional growth.
• Champion change management strategies that help the College adapt to evolving challenges in higher education.
• Promote a culture of continuous learning and organizational agility.

Supervision and Team Development:

• Lead, mentor, and develop HR staff to build a high-performing, collaborative team.
• Foster professional development opportunities and model a culture of excellence, inclusion, and accountability.

Bennington serves a diverse student population inclusive of members of ethnically/racially minoritized, international, LGBTQIA+, and disability communities as well as diverse gender identities, socioeconomic backgrounds, religions, and political beliefs. Our staff and faculty also reflect diverse and intersecting backgrounds and identities. All employees are expected to be respectful and responsive to these differences in the service of building a community that promotes student and employee success and community cohesiveness. Each individual (faculty, staff and students) will be accountable for upholding these values. The College’s approach to pluralism and inclusivity—both as fields of inquiry and practice—is to prioritize flexible thought, and to invite the examination of access, value, power, and privilege through its institutional policies and areas of study. We encourage applicants from diverse realms of interest, backgrounds, experience, and accomplishment to apply.

This position requires successful completion and acceptable results of a background check.

The College

Bennington College offers a comprehensive benefits program that includes medical, dental, vision, life and long-term disability insurance, retirement, and tuition benefits, including Tuition Exchange scholarships. The College also offers an on-site fitness center as well as generous time off benefits.

Bennington College is a laboratory for innovation in higher education. At Bennington, learning and making—on campus and in the field—are inseparable, and its graduates are noted for their outsized impact on the world’s stage. This campus celebrates the ongoing making of work—shared on walls, in shows and performances, in lectures and readings, and in conversations—and believes that equity, diversity, and inclusivity are vital to a collaborative community. This position captures, contributes to, and reflects the ethos of this creative community.

Nestled at the foot of the Green Mountains in Vermont, the campus consists of approximately 370 acres. The College was named one of ten with the best architecture by Architectural Digest.  From campus, it is a short drive to the cultural offerings of the northern Berkshires in Massachusetts, Albany, New York, and many of Vermont’s top recreational centers. New York City, Boston, and Burlington, Vermont are all within three and a half hours by car. 

Salary range: $140,000-$160,000 annually 

Requirements

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in human resources, business, organizational development, or related field required; Master’s degree preferred.
• Ten plus years of progressive HR leadership experience, with at least five years in a senior-level role.
• Demonstrated expertise in labor relations within a unionized environment.
• Strong knowledge of HR best practices, employment law; higher education experience preferred.
• Proven success in change management, organizational development, and culture building.
• Experience using HR data and analytics to drive decisions.
• Exceptional communication, conflict management, and leadership skills.
• SHRM certification preferred. 

Core Competencies

• Strategic and systems thinker with a track record of transformational leadership.
• Skilled negotiator and relationship-builder across diverse stakeholder groups.
• Commitment to diversity, belonging, fairness, and inclusion in all aspects of HR practice.
• Ability to lead through complexity and change with resilience and vision.
• Strong service orientation with a focus on continuous process improvement.