Associate, People Operations - Headfirst Professional Sports Camps

The Position:

The People Operations Associate will oversee full-cycle recruiting, hiring, onboarding, employee experience and staff development and training for our Headfirst Professional Sports Camps seasonal team members – in partnership with the Atlanta Falcons, Boston Red Sox, Chicago Cubs, D.C. United, New York Yankees and Washington Nationals.

This role is entrusted with an ongoing quest to discover exceptional seasonal talent, build a strong employment brand, and cultivate a deep comprehension of our seasonal workforce in order to identify, retain and advance top talent. Our People Operations Associate will also help shape and grow the training strategies for each of our seasonal positions to instill and promote buy in and accountability to exceptional program quality and camper and family experiences at all levels of the organization. This role is full-time based at the Washington, D.C. headquarters office of The Headfirst Companies, but will involve travel to our nearby distribution and storage centers as well as our camp locations across the United States – primarily in June, July, and August. 

The ideal People Operations Associate has experience in cultivating strong and intentional employee experience through talent acquisition, hiring processes and staff management, along with large scale corporate training implementation. They are highly organized, detail-oriented and passionate about creatively solving complex problems and delivering impactful experiences to young people and our staff. This individual will combine the emotional intelligence necessary to excel in people-centric connection building with the business acumen critical to leading a program on the precipice of rapid growth. 

Headfirst Companies are proud to be Equal Opportunity Employers. We value diversity and inclusivity across our Headfirst community, and we strongly encourage individuals from underrepresented groups to apply.  

What You'll Do:

January-May: 

• Recruiting and Hiring: 
  • Take the lead in coordinating and managing recruiting initiatives for all seasonal positions with Atlanta Falcons Football Camps, Boston Red Sox Baseball Camps, Chicago Cubs Baseball Camps, D.C. United Soccer Camps, New York Yankees Baseball Camps, and Washington Nationals Baseball Camps. 
  • Serve as the process manager for all HQ and seasonal team members participating in the recruiting and hiring efforts. 
  • Play a direct role in shaping the entire Professional Sports Camps division by personally conducting hundreds of interviews, identifying and selecting only the most caring and mission-driven leaders and coaches to propel our programs forward. 
  • Track hiring measurables and guide the team in strategic efforts to ensure sufficient quantity and outstanding quality of staff. 
• Onboarding and Training 
  • Oversee and coordinate the new hire offer letter and onboarding processes. 
  • Lead relationship building initiatives with newly hired staff through thoughtfully designed pre-season communication plans. 
  • Develop and plan training content and sessions with a focus on engagement and understanding of a high standard of program quality and promoting seasonal team buy in to supporting the Headfirst Brand and the brands of our Professional Sports Team partners in a positive way. 

June through August: 

• Recruiting, Hiring and Training 
  • Lead the HQ and seasonal teams though all aspects of the training plan, including preparation and execution of each virtual and in-person training session. 
  • Ensure accurate record keeping for all new hires in alignment with regional licensing guidelines and HR/legal requirements. 
  • Strategically shift and continue recruiting and hiring initiatives as in-season talent needs arise. 
  • Develop and implement in-season training plans for seasonal team members onboarded throughout the season. 
• Staff Management 
  • Prepare and implement intentional employee experience initiatives, ensuring each team members time as part of our team is enjoyable and impactful.  
  • Act as the primary point of contact for candidates and seasonal team members, communicating at all times in a timely, clear, and professional manner.  
  • Maintain continual communication with on-site leadership during the summer, working in tandem with them and the HQ team on a variety of tasks, such as building the weekly staff schedule, ensuring proper staffing levels, coordinating new hire “shadow days” and in-season reinforcement trainings, and identifying and resolving any staff management issues.  
  • Conduct site visits to Headfirst Professional Sports Camps locations during the summer, taking personal responsibility for the success of the programs and ensuring top of the line program implementation by all team members.  
  • Act as the go-to HQ resource of on-site leadership for escalated issues, taking proactive steps to resolve problems in a professional and supportive manner. 
• Additional responsibilities as identified or requested.  
• Weekend work is expected during the camp season. 

September-December: 

• Continuous Improvement and Innovation 
  • Assess the recently concluded camp season – collect and analyze data from systems, surveys, and information feedback channels to identify successes and monitor progress towards departmental, and company goals. 
  • Develop forms and records to operationalize and document procedures, supporting data-driven decision making. 
  • Identify and recommend talent focused improvements through continuous assessment and in accordance with best practices. 
  • Identify game changing seasonal employees from the previously wrapped season and creatively develop and implement retention efforts for those team members. 
  • Build and maintain strong relationships with potential “connectors,” organizations, and talent pools within the baseball/softball/football/soccer and education communities in each HPSC city. 
  • Guide the rest of the HQ team through innovative project plans, including talent-based budget work and system preparation for the upcoming season (seasonal org chart innovations, proposed changes to seasonal wages, job description and offer letter updates, as well as backend and staff facing platform adjustments). 

About You:

The Requirements: 

• Bachelor’s degree and a history of academic achievement. 
• One to two years of relevant professional experience, with experience in high-volume and/or multi-site talent acquisition and management viewed favorably. 
• One year office-based work experience. 
• Excellent verbal and written communication skills. 
• Ability to work autonomously, guiding projects through to completion in an organized and timely fashion. 
• Experience in facilitation and implementation of virtual and in-person training sessions, with a focus on content organization and participant engagement.  
• Ability to build and implement creative approaches to problem-solving and develop innovative frameworks for organizing work, identifying and collecting key data, and evaluating ideas. 
• Capacity to understand and evaluate applicability of employment rules and regulations to help ensure compliance with federal, state, and local laws. 
• Proven professional composure, discretion, and judgment. 
• Demonstrated experience with MS Office, and various business software (experience with iCims CRM platform a plus). 
• Possession of the temperament and drive to excel within a high-growth environment and to work until the job is done each day. 

The Character: 

• A solution-oriented individual who shares The Headfirst Companies’ core mission, values, and believes in our ability to work together to make a difference in the lives of others. 
• A motivated self-starter who is autonomous and dependable. 
• A doer who has an entrepreneurial spirit and a focus on finishing the job every day. 
• An independent thinker who assumes responsibility beyond what is asked and takes initiative for positive change. 
• A consummate professional who has the ability to prioritize and multi-task, managing several projects concurrently, sometimes under pressure, and often with tight deadlines, while maintaining a positive attitude and professional demeanor. 
• A team player who approaches professional hurdles with a strong sense of individual responsibility and a sincere emphasis on team over self. 
• A humble and enthusiastic leader who possesses the passion and polish to serve as an ambassador of The Headfirst Companies and our Professional Sports Team Partners. 
• A flexible, coachable, and down-to-earth teammate who has the desire and capacity to grow through self-reflection, and by both providing and receiving thoughtful, constructive performance feedback.