Vice President of People & Culture

About Essen Health Care:

Essen Health Care is one of the fastest-growing, privately owned, multi-specialty medical groups in New York City, with a strong presence in the Bronx. With a mission centered on delivering compassionate, accessible, and high-quality care to underserved communities, Essen serves a diverse patient population through office, hospital, and home-based care.

At Essen, our people are at the heart of what we do. We are seeking a passionate People & Culture Generalist with a specialty in employee integration to support our continued growth and commitment to a positive employee experience.

Job Summary: Essen Healthcare is seeking a strategic and operationally strong Vice President of People & Culture Operations to lead all human resources functions across our Nursing Home division, House Calls program, and Health Home program. This executive leader will play a critical role in advancing organizational performance, driving workforce planning, and ensuring HR excellence across high-growth and high-complexity service lines.

The VP of P&C will oversee end-to-end HR operations including employee relations, compliance, workforce planning, performance management, compensation alignment, onboarding, and operational HR support. This role requires a highly collaborative, process-driven leader who excels in building scalable HR systems, partnering with clinical and operational leaders, and navigating the complexities of a multi-site healthcare environment.

This is a full-time, onsite leadership role based at our Seabury Avenue office in the Bronx.

Employee Integration & Onboarding:

· Lead and continuously improve the onboarding experience for clinical and non-clinical new hires across Essen’s locations.

· Ensure smooth transition from recruitment to day-one readiness, including coordination with hiring managers, credentialing, training, and    IT.

· Create a consistent and welcoming integration process that aligns with Essen’s culture, mission, and patient care standards.

· Conduct onboarding sessions, check-ins, and surveys to assess new hire experience and identify opportunities for improvement.

   Collaborate with Talent Acquisition, Training & Development, and Compliance teams to ensure alignment with licensure, regulatory, and  organizational standards.

General People & Culture Responsibilities:

· Support employee relations and engagement initiatives, especially during the critical first 90-180 days of employment.

· Assist with compliance-related onboarding documentation and processes, including credential verification and policy acknowledgement.

· Maintain and update employee records in the HRIS system, ensuring accuracy and confidentiality.

· Support broader People & Culture functions including employee communications, recognition programs, surveys, and wellness initiatives.

· Serve as a trusted point of contact for employees with questions about culture, benefits, or policy.

Strategic Leadership & HR Operations

· Provide executive oversight of HR operations for the Nursing Home, House Calls, and Health Home divisions, ensuring strong alignment with organizational goals and regulatory requirements.

· Build and refine scalable HR processes, systems, and SOPs to support workforce efficiency, compliance, and operational growth.

· Lead HR business partners and operational HR teams to ensure high-quality service delivery and timely support to all divisions.

· Oversee HR analytics, workforce metrics, and staffing models to identify trends, forecast needs, and drive informed decision-making.

Workforce Planning & Talent Strategy

· Partner with clinical and operational leaders to forecast staffing needs, streamline workforce allocation, and strengthen recruitment pipelines for clinical and administrative roles.

· Enhance onboarding and retention strategies to support workforce stability across all three divisions.

· Support leaders with performance management, talent development, succession planning, and coaching initiatives.

Compliance & Employee Relations

· Ensure compliance with federal, state, and local employment laws, particularly those governing nursing home and home-based care environments.

· Lead and guide HR teams in managing employee relations, investigations, corrective actions, and ethical HR practices.

· Collaborate with legal and compliance teams to maintain adherence to regulatory standards specific to long-term care and home-based programs.

Compensation, Benefits & Policy Leadership

· Oversee compensation alignment and job leveling across divisions to ensure internal equity and competitive market positioning.

· Review and refine policies, handbooks, and HR procedures to support consistency and operational excellence.

· Partner with Finance to ensure workforce plans and budgets align with organizational priorities.

Cross-Functional Collaboration

· Serve as a strategic advisor to senior leadership on HR operations, culture, workforce risks, and organizational health.

· Work closely with Operations, Clinical Leadership, Training & Development, and Compliance to support a cohesive, high-performing workforce.

· Lead change management initiatives and culture-building efforts to improve employee engagement and organizational cohesion.

Qualifications:

· Masters degree in Human Resources, Business Administration, Healthcare Administration, or related field required

· 10+ years of progressive HR leadership experience, including 5+ years in an executive or senior HR operations role.

· Prior experience in healthcare HR is required; experience across nursing homes, home care, or ambulatory/home-based healthcare is strongly preferred.

· Demonstrated success leading HR teams across multi-site or geographically dispersed environments.

· Strong knowledge of healthcare labor laws, long-term care regulations, and home-based care compliance requirements.

· Proven experience building scalable HR infrastructure, optimizing processes, and driving operational excellence.

· Exceptional communication, collaboration, and problem-solving skills, with the ability to influence leaders at all levels.

· High sense of urgency and ability to thrive in a fast-paced, mission-driven organization.

Essen Health care is proud to be an equal opportunity employer, and we seek candidates who desire to work in and serve an ethnically diverse population