Director of People & Culture

Full-Time: 40 hours/week

About Yaqeen Institute

Yaqeen is a nonprofit on a mission to pioneer Islamic research in creative, cutting-edge formats tailored to meet people where they are, dismantling doubt through well-researched truth, nurturing conviction by strengthening belief with practical and spiritual guidance, and inspiring contribution by reviving our tradition of faithful changemakers, insha’Allah.

About the role

This is a build-and-operate People leadership role, not a maintenance one. Reporting to the Deputy CEO and sitting on the executive team, the Director of People will architect Yaqeen’s people operating system,  the policies, the tooling, and the culture practices that future-proof the organization, and, as the function matures, build the team beneath it.

The role is deliberately a player-coach seat: hands-on now (drafting the offer letter, fixing the onboarding flow, running the tough conversation) while architecting the systems that eventually make that work scalable. It is a fit for someone who wants strategy and execution to be the same job, in a culture explicitly grounded in faith and human dignity. Fractional CHRO support is engaged to provide senior scaffolding while the function is stood up.

What you'll do

Framed as outcomes for the first 12 months, so the measure of success is clear.

• Partner with the executive team and senior leadership to actualize organizational goals,  developing global employment strategy and seamlessly operationalizing people strategy.
• Advise the CEO and leadership on org design, team health, and the people implications of fast growth.
• Transform and future-proof the People function: a complete, governed policy library; clean, compliant employment practices; and a single source of truth for people data.
• Lead change management across the organization so growth is sustained through change.
• Make the tech stack work, integrate and automate Slack, ClickUp, Confluence, and Rippling so onboarding, acknowledgments, case intake, and reporting largely run themselves.
• Own the full employee lifecycle, recruiting and hiring, onboarding, performance, development, compensation practices, and off boarding. AI-supported, designed once, documented, and repeatable.
• Build manager capability, equipping Yaqeen’s people managers to lead with both clarity and compassion.
• Operationalize the culture, translate Yaqeen’s values and its commitment to spiritual growth into concrete, repeatable workplace rhythms and rituals, not posters.
• Handle employee relations directly and fairly, grounded in Islamic ethics and sound employment practice, with clear and humane escalation paths.

Qualifications

Required:

• Mission alignment. Deep commitment to Islamic values and their authentic application in a modern workplace, with a track record of building inclusive cultures that honor diverse backgrounds within shared values.
• 8+ years in HR / People, with 3+ years owning a function or a major pillar of one. Title matters less than scope, we care that you have carried real accountability.
• Demonstrated 0-to-1 or major-rebuild experience. You have built People systems where little or none existed, ideally in a 200+ person growth-stage organization.
• Genuine player-coach range. Evidence you can operate hands-on and lead a small, AI-first team.
• Solid North America employment-law and compliance grounding with international know-how. You keep an organization safe without making it bureaucratic.
• An automation-first instinct. You reach for tooling before headcount. HRIS workflows, automations, AI-assisted drafting and screening. We are looking for the aptitude and a track record of building lean, not a specific tool.

Preferred:

• Experience in mission-driven organizations, nonprofit, social impact, or values-driven companies.
• Hands-on HRIS implementation or optimization (Rippling a plus), plus comfort with ClickUp, Confluence, and Slack as an operating stack.
• People analytics literacy, you can build a simple org-health dashboard and let data shape decisions.
• Multicultural / global team experience.
• SHRM-SCP, SPHR, or equivalent; advanced degree in HR, Organizational Psychology, or a related field.
• Experience in Islamic, faith-based, or interfaith organizations.

Yaqeen Institute embraces a philosophy that values and promotes diversity. Our goal is to attract, develop, retain, and advance a talented and diverse workforce within a culture where all employees are empowered to reach their fullest potential.

Please note that all career opportunities at Yaqeen Institute are subject to a three-month probationary period, during which we assess performance, alignment with our values, and mutual fit to ensure long-term success in the role.