Vice President of People

About Yellow Brick Road

Yellow Brick Road (YBR) is a growing, multi-state early childhood education platform backed by Avathon Capital. Our mission is simple and powerful: to put good humans into the world and leave it better than we found it. As we scale, we are building a people-first organization that balances care, compliance, performance, and culture — all in a highly regulated, labor-intensive environment.

Role Overview

The Vice President of People is a critical executive leader responsible for building and scaling YBR’s people strategy to support operational excellence, sustainable growth, and cultural integrity. This role will report directly to the CEO and serve as a trusted partner to the executive team, Regional Directors, and school leaders.

The VP of People will develop a scalable, disciplined, and data-driven people function, while preserving the heart and mission that define YBR.

Key Responsibilities

Strategic Leadership

• Develop and execute a people strategy aligned with YBR’s growth plan, operating model, and private-equity expectations.
• Serve as a strategic advisor to the CEO and leadership team on talent, org design, compensation, succession, and culture.
• Build scalable people infrastructure to support organic growth and M&A integration.

Talent & Workforce Management

• Own end-to-end talent lifecycle: workforce planning, recruiting, onboarding, development, performance management, and retention.
• Partner with operations to address staffing shortages, turnover, and bench strength, particularly in regulated ECE roles.
• Lead leadership development for Directors, Assistant Directors, and Regional leaders.

Culture & Engagement

• Champion YBR’s mission, values, and culture across all locations.
• Design and implement engagement, recognition, and communication strategies that resonate with a frontline workforce.
• Act as a steward of culture during periods of change and growth.

HR Operations & Compliance

• Ensure compliance with federal, state, and local labor laws, licensing requirements, and ECE-specific regulations.
• Oversee HR policies, employee relations, performance issues, and investigations with consistency and professionalism.
• Build systems and processes that balance empathy with accountability.

Compensation, Benefits & Performance

• Design competitive, sustainable compensation and benefits programs aligned with market realities and margin targets.
• Support incentive structures that drive retention, performance, and leadership accountability.
• Partner with Finance on headcount planning, labor modeling, and productivity metrics.

Data, Systems & Analytics

• Implement and optimize HRIS and people systems to support scale.
• Develop people KPIs (turnover, time-to-hire, engagement, absenteeism, etc.) and provide clear reporting to leadership and investors.
• Bring discipline, rigor, and insight to people-related decision-making.

Ideal Candidate Profile

Experience

• 10+ years of progressive HR/People leadership experience, ideally in:
• Multi-site, labor-intensive environments (ECE, healthcare, retail, hospitality, services)
• PE-backed or high-growth organizations
• Proven experience scaling people operations across multiple states
• Experience supporting M&A integration is a plus

Leadership Style

• Hands-on, pragmatic, and solutions-oriented
• Comfortable operating at both strategic and tactical levels
• High emotional intelligence with the ability to lead through influence
• Balances care for people with accountability and performance

Skills & Attributes

• Deep knowledge of employment law and compliance
• Strong business acumen and partnership mindset
• Data-driven with the ability to translate insights into action
• Passion for mission-driven organizations and early childhood education

Why This Role Matters

This is a build-and-scale role, not a maintenance role. The VP of People will be instrumental in:

• Professionalizing the people function
• Strengthening leadership across the field
• Reducing turnover and improving engagement
• Preparing YBR for its next phase of growth and value creation

The starting pay range for this position is $150,000 to $180,000 a year and is applicable for candidates who will be working in the following location(s) Minnesota. This range is subject to adjustment for other geographic work locations. In addition to geographic location, Yellow Brick Road considers education, experience, internal equity, market demands, and other qualifying criteria to determine starting wages.

In addition to compensation benefits, Yellow Brick Road offers a variety of health and welfare benefits, based on eligibility, including medical and dental insurance, life insurance, and career development.