[Hiring] Chief People Officer @Evidence Action

Role Description

The AI Access Initiative is at an early and critical juncture. We’re building a high-performing, globally distributed team from the ground up. We are hiring a Chief People Officer to define and scale people operations for our team. This includes building lean systems to hire, onboard, and retain top talent to unlock meaningful upside for people in poverty globally.

This role sits at the intersection of talent, performance, and organizational design, leveraging AI to ensure thoughtful design of efficient systems. The CPO will lead the global talent and human resource function, have responsibilities to support the regional and country human resource teams, and report directly to the CEO, acting as a strategic thought partner and tactical operator on people decisions.

You will:

• Design and execute the strategy for the People function:
• Set the vision and build out the strategy for the talent structure and function.
• Drive effective and high-quality execution of the strategy.
• Ensure that an integrated people function is aligned to our organizational values and priorities.
• Create an AI-native set of people systems and processes:
• Use AI to drive meaningful efficiencies across recruitment, onboarding, hiring, and performance management.
• Help create an AI-native culture at 2AI.
• Build the hiring engine:
• Own recruiting end to end, including sourcing, pipeline development, structured assessment design, offer construction, and close.
• Develop sourcing strategies and maintain warm networks in markets where top talent is scarce.
• Ensure every role has identified key criteria, consistent evaluation, and interview panels that systematically test for core criteria and cultural fit.
• Design creative processes to evaluate how candidates actually use AI tools.
• Coach hiring managers to be exceptional interviewers and make decisions efficiently.
• Design the organization:
• Partner with leadership on role design, team boundaries, reporting structures, and the sequencing of hires.
• Create a culture where excellence is recognized and areas of growth are rapidly addressed.
• Coach leaders to move quickly from diagnosis to clear feedback to decisive action.
• Translate the talent picture into concrete decisions on headcount, development investment, and how we structure roles.
• Build people systems that scale:
• Own the cultural formation in a global context.
• Build a structured onboarding experience for new hires.
• Create a performance system for honest conversations, meaningful development, and clear expectations.
• Develop a compensation framework that is fair, transparent, and grounded in data.
• Build and maintain tools and dashboards for leadership insights.
• Source and manage a professional employer organization (PEO) or employer of record (EOR).
• Understand the labor law landscape in our operating countries to keep us compliant.
• Partner with the CFO to build headcount plans and cost models.
• Strategic thought partnership:
• Build credibility with leaders for early consultation on people decisions.
• Push back when something doesn't feel right.
• Handle sensitive employee situations with discretion and judgment.

Qualifications

• 12+ years in human resources, people operations, or talent roles, including senior leadership of a people function.
• A track record as a builder: designed hiring, performance, or compensation systems from scratch.
• Demonstrated experience in full-cycle recruiting, including sourcing and closing senior hires.
• Experience working in or across LMIC contexts.
• A track record of credibility with senior leaders.
• Strong analytical instincts; able to build tools and analyze data.
• Curiosity and creativity with AI tools.
• Comfort with ambiguity and fast iteration.
• Experience standing up employment infrastructure for a new or spinning-out entity is a strong plus.

Requirements

• Ability to manage multiple competing deadlines and dynamically reprioritize.
• Experience in building and supporting cross-cultural teams.
• Strong communication skills for coaching and feedback.

Benefits

• Comprehensive benefits package, including health, vision, and dental.
• Retirement plans.
• Generous and flexible leave options.
• Other employee perks.

Company Description

Evidence Action is an Equal Opportunity Employer with a commitment to diversity. All individuals, regardless of personal characteristics, are encouraged to apply.

The expected role range for this US position is listed below. We consider multiple factors when determining the base salary for a role, including but not limited to: role scope, program budgets, internal equity, and a candidate's qualifications and/or prior experience.

The pay range for this role is: 220,000 - 240,000 USD per year.