Director of People & Culture

Exante360, Inc., is looking for a Director of People & Culture that wants to join us on our bold initiative of “improving lives through relationships, by connecting people to solutions.”

Role

Exante360 is seeking a strategic and growth-minded Director of People & Culture to serve as a key member of our leadership team and a trusted partner to the executive team. The position leads all aspects of organizational development, culture, employee experience, leadership development, compensation, benefits, compliance, and talent strategy, and will play a central role in shaping Exante360’s future organizational structure, talent strategy, and culture.

We are seeking an executive-level leader who has successfully helped grow an AEC firm from approximately 50 employees to 500+ employees while maintaining culture, operational excellence, and employee engagement. The ideal candidate has direct experience integrating acquired companies, scaling HR systems and processes, partnering with executive leadership, and building an organization capable of sustaining rapid growth.

Exante360 is building an AI-forward organization. We are looking for professionals who embrace artificial intelligence, automation, and digital transformation as part of how they work. Ideal candidates are proactive in learning and applying new technologies, comfortable integrating AI tools into their workflow where appropriate, and capable of combining technology with sound business judgment to deliver exceptional results.

What You’ll Do

Strategic Leadership

• Serve as a trusted advisor to the executive leadership team.
• Develop and execute a multi-year people strategy aligned with company growth objectives.
• Participate in executive leadership planning, forecasting, succession discussions, and organizational design.
• Provide leadership on workforce planning, talent forecasting, and organizational scalability.
• Develop HR infrastructure capable of supporting significant organic and acquisition-driven growth.
• Build executive-level people analytics and reporting dashboards, and use workforce data to support strategic business decisions.
• Identify trends related to retention, engagement, recruiting effectiveness, and organizational health.

Organizational Growth & Scaling

• Lead people initiatives supporting growth from approximately 50 employees to 500+ employees.
• Design scalable organizational structures, career pathways, leadership frameworks, and talent systems.
• Partner with leaders on workforce forecasting and hiring planning.
• Build HR processes and systems that support multiple offices, business units, and geographic regions.
• Drive change management initiatives during periods of rapid growth.

Mergers & Acquisitions

• Lead all people-related aspects of mergers, acquisitions, and integrations.
• Conduct human capital due diligence during acquisition activities.
• Manage employee onboarding and integration for acquired firms.
• Align compensation programs, benefits, policies, and organizational structures following transactions.
• Develop strategies to retain key personnel and preserve cultural strengths during integration.
• Partner with executive leadership and external advisors throughout acquisition processes.

Culture & Employee Experience

• Champion and protect company culture throughout periods of growth and change.
• Develop engagement strategies that strengthen collaboration, accountability, and employee satisfaction.
• Create initiatives that reinforce core values and organizational identity.
• Lead employee communications, recognition programs, and engagement initiatives.
• Foster an inclusive, high-performance work environment.

Leadership Development

• Coach executives, managers, and emerging leaders.
• Design leadership development programs and management training initiatives.
• Support succession planning and leadership readiness across the organization.
• Advise leaders on employee relations, organizational effectiveness, and team performance.

Compensation, Benefits & Total Rewards

• Develop compensation strategies that attract and retain top talent.
• Oversee compensation benchmarking and salary architecture.
• Lead incentive, bonus, and performance reward programs.
• Direct benefits strategy, vendor management, and annual renewals.
• Ensure programs remain competitive within the AEC industry.

Performance & Talent Management

• Develop and manage firm-wide performance management processes.
• Implement talent review and succession planning frameworks.
• Establish measurable leadership and performance expectations.
• Create career development and advancement pathways across technical and leadership tracks.

People & Culture Team Leadership

• Build, mentor, and lead a high-performing People & Culture team.
• Establish organizational structure and capabilities within the HR function.
• Develop future leaders across functional areas such as Total Rewards, People Operations, and Learning & Development.

Compliance & Risk Management

• Ensure compliance with all applicable federal, state, and local employment regulations.
• Oversee employee relations matters, investigations, and workplace policies.
• Maintain and improve HR policies, procedures, and associate handbook content.
• Monitor employment law developments affecting multi-state operations.
• Partner with legal counsel as needed on employment-related matters.

Education/Experience Requirements

• Bachelor’s degree in Human Resources, Business Administration, Organizational Development, or a related field.
• 15+ years of progressive HR/People leadership experience.
• Minimum 7 years leading HR/People functions within an architecture, engineering, construction, or professional services organization.
• Significant mergers and acquisitions integration experience.
• Prior experience reporting directly to an CEO, President, or equivalent executive team, and serving as a member of an executive leadership team.
• Strong understanding of compensation strategy, organizational design, leadership development, and workforce planning.
• Multi-state workforce management experience.
• Experience building HR infrastructure in high-growth environments.
• Demonstrated experience using AI, automation, data analytics, or other emerging technologies to improve efficiency, decision-making, collaboration, or business outcomes.

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience supporting private equity-backed growth strategies preferred.
• Experience integrating multiple acquisitions (three or more preferred).
• SHRM-SCP, SPHR, or equivalent certification preferred.
• Experience with Paycom or a similar enterprise HRIS platform preferred.
• Familiarity with professional services utilization, project-based businesses, and technical consulting environments preferred.
• Demonstrated experience helping scale an AEC firm from approximately 50 employees to 500+ employees.

Success Profile

The ideal candidate has personally experienced the challenges of moving an AEC organization through multiple stages of growth and can speak from direct experience rather than theory. They understand what breaks as companies scale, how to preserve culture during acquisitions, and how to build systems that support long-term growth.

They are equally comfortable advising the executive team on executive-level organizational strategy and rolling up their sleeves to solve practical people and talent challenges.

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