Talent & Human Resources Specialist (2024-2025)

ABOUT ACHIEVERS:

Achievers Early College Prep Charter School (AECP) is New Jersey’s first public charter school for students in middle school and high school that provides them with the unique opportunity to pursue one of four STEAM pathways (Health Sciences, Digital Media, Audio Engineering and Cisco Computer Networking). Students can have access to a program that allows them to earn up to 60 college credits, NOCTI credentials and workplace training. AECP is determined to ensure that students can enhance their journey through high school and graduate with content mastery, skills, and experiences that are essential to the current marketplace and the world beyond. 

JOB DESCRIPTION:

The Talent & HR Specialist is a member of the school staff and is supervised by the Operations Director. The Talent & HR Specialist role is responsible for leading and executing talent selection for all positions for AchieversECP district wide, including the Middle School & High School. This position also recruits for other school support roles such as Dean of Students, Social Worker, School Nurse, Operations, School Psychologists, and Speech and Language Pathologists, as well as any other newly created role as they arise. They will ensure a strong candidate and leader experience by managing candidate communications and school leader partnerships.

The Talent & HR Specialist:

• Cares deeply about and can articulate a thorough understanding of Achievers Early College Prep Charter School’s values & goals.
• Ensures full understanding of the role and responsibilities of the open positions prior to interviewing candidates.
• Post open positions on all platforms including: School's website, Indeed, Greenhouse, LinkedIn, Social Media etc. Review all applications within 48 hours of submission.
• Maintains all hiring platforms to ensure timely candidate review. 
• Creates & reviews job descriptions as needed for new and existing roles.  
• Informs direct supervisors of the status of candidates and vacancies. 
• Manages candidate relationships from recruitment through the screening and application process, and enthusiastically communicates the benefits of working at AchieversECP.
• Assesses all candidates via application review and screening; identifies and engages with strong candidates whose experience aligns with the needs of the role and our schools.
• Partners with school leaders to coordinate and run interview processes (in-person and virtual) with the goal of driving the selection process and ensuring candidates stay engaged and move through the application process effectively and efficiently.
• Meets with all candidates (in-person and virtual) in a timely and effective manner. Follow up with selected candidates in a timely manner to secure placement.
• Manages school leader relationships and collaborates with Principals and overall Leadership Team for instructional hiring.
• Communicates effectively & in a timely manner with all stakeholders, school leaders, and direct supervisor. 
• Ensures accurate data in all of our recruitment systems and analyzes data to identify and address trends in real time and make changes to outreach and selection strategies as needed.
• Collaborates with Outreach Team regional partners to brainstorm effective strategies for attracting quality candidates to AchieversECP.
• Provides support for additional Recruitment special project(s) and/or coverage as needed.
• Attends or creates recruitment events such as Job Fairs & Open Houses.
• Maintains healthy relationships with staffing agencies and contractors. 
• Schedules weekly meetings with the HR Team & direct supervisors to review the status of applicants. 

Other Responsibilities:

• Manages Onboarding and Off-boarding, PTO, Certification and Payroll Submission.
• Creates & submits job contracts for new hires for board approval. 
• Prepares and reviews compensation and benefits packages to be provided to employees.
• Confirms certifications, educational degrees, references and background clearance for all new hires. 
• Ensures employees have been offered & enrolled/waived benefits package including medical, dental, & vision. Ensure all onboarding paperwork is completed within 5 business days of a new hire's start date.  
• Administer health and life insurance programs through partners/providers.
• Inform employees about additional benefits they’re eligible for (e.g extra vacation days).
• Manages employees' accommodations where needed.
• Updates employee records with new hire information and/or changes in employment status.
• Maintains accurate staff demographic data in the SIS: Powerschool, as needed for state reporting upon Onboarding and Off-boarding.
• Maintain organizational charts and detailed job descriptions along with salary records.
• Works with School Leadership to forecast hiring needs and ensure recruitment process runs smoothly.
• Works with school leaders to provide timely substitute coverage for classes and services.
• Process employees’ queries and respond in a timely manner both in person and electronically.
• Stay up-to-date and comply with changes in labor legislation.
• Ensures staff complete the mandatory certification process. 
• Directs staff through the grievance process, as needed.
• Manages required employees training within the school’s training platform: Public School Works & all other platforms. Ensure staff are properly enrolled & complete trainings. 
• Manages any disability, workers compensation or injury claim in a timely, robust and effective manner.
• Works closely with the School Business Office to process payroll, complete onboarding/off boarding, and all other tasks as assigned.
• Oversees and directly manages Paycom to ensure all employee information is up to date ie W4 paperwork, direct deposits, PTO accruals, pension, timecards, timesheets etc.
  
• Creates & maintains personnel files for new and existing employees both paper & electronic copies.
• Provides professional development for staff. 
• Maintains confidentiality of all personnel information & human resources records. 
• Ensures that the school remains complaint on all certification efforts.
• Off-boards staff accordingly through the agreed upon process. 
• Responds to all internal and external emails within 24 hours during business days.
• Prioritize emails related to recruitment, certifications, compliance and urgent HR matters.
• Regularly follow up with new hires and department heads to ensure compliance with HR documentation and certifications.
• Communicate with the HR team in regards to all new hires start dates, background clearance & completion of onboarding documents.
• Confirm completion of Paycom profiles with new hires and inform the HR team.
• Inform direct supervisors, HR team & operations team of new hires start date electronically. 
• Inform direct supervisors, HR team & operations team of terminations/resignations electronically.
• Submit weekly reports on the status of onboarding for all new hires.
• Utilize the onboarding checklist for new employees.

QUALIFICATIONS:

• Payroll (timecard approvals) and benefit enrollment experience.
• Passionate dedication to the mission of AchieversECP, and drive to build a high quality, diverse workforce at AchieversECP to better serve our students, families, and communities.
• Excellent organization, time management, and follow-through; a high sense of urgency.
• Demonstrated ability to successfully handle multiple projects concurrently; ability to work independently and lead projects from start to finish.
• Outstanding problem-solving and critical thinking skills and desire to use data to drive decision-making.
• Ability to learn quickly, seek and incorporate feedback in a dynamic environment.
• Excellent written and oral communication skills particularly when communicating with senior leaders & others.
• Ability to inspire top educators and professionals to join the staff of AchieversECP.
• Ability to learn existing systems quickly and demonstrate independent strategic thinking to improve systems as needed.
• Long-term interest in the field of Talent Recruitment.
• Willingness to provide coverage and support as needed.
• Consistently meet all expectations without the need for direct oversight.
• Tolerance of fluctuations in hiring responsibilities given the needs of our schools and Team.

Preferred Skills

• Ability to maintain up-to-date personnel records.
• Experience with Recruitment Technology Systems.
• Google Apps for Education Platforms.
• Proficiency in Microsoft Operations applications (Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and Outlook).
• Proficiency using computers, printers, copy machines, and fax machines.
• Excellent organizational, verbal, and written skills.
• Ability to travel (for recruitment and development opportunities).

Experience Requirements

• Bachelor's degree required
• Required to work from School Daily: Hours 7:30am - 4:30pm
• 2 years Experience working in Recruitment within a high-performing organization and competitive talent market OR
• 2 years teaching in K-12 schools (preferred)
• Payroll (timecard approvals) and benefit enrollment experience.

Physical Requirements

• Required to work from school everyday- setting up spaces, potentially moving furniture, setting up food for candidates (and cleaning up after)
• Set up for events in schools/other locations (requires some moving of furniture)

Compensation:

• We offer a generous compensation package. All staff members are equipped with the tools needed to succeed, including a dedicated work space, laptop computer, email, high-speed internet access, and all necessary supplies.