This executive leadership role is responsible for overseeing the full employee lifecycle and ensuring the firm's people strategy aligns with its business operations and growth objectives. The Chief People Officer serves as a strategic partner to the executive team, designing and executing a comprehensive human capital strategy to strengthen leadership pipelines, enhance retention, and support profitable growth. This role focuses on attracting, developing, engaging, and retaining top talent while reinforcing the company's culture, values, and commitment to service.
Responsibilities
Align people strategy with Barge
Understand professional services planning (utilization, margins, workforce management)
Partner effectively with the executive team to drive enterprise results
Connect talent investments to measurable business outcomes
Build strong internal talent pipelines and succession plans
Lead talent acquisition as a strategic pillar of the organization
Strengthen leadership capability across all levels
Drive engagement and retention, particularly among high performers
Coach and advise senior leaders with credibility and influence
Align benefits and rewards with financial sustainability and retention goals
Ensure the employee value proposition supports attraction and engagement
Use data and workforce analytics to guide decisions
Leverage HR systems and digital tools to improve employee experience
Drive operational efficiencies through process improvement and automation
Ensure compliance and risk management standards are upheld
Champion Barge
Foster a high-performance, accountable employee-owned culture
Represent Barge through active engagement in community and nonprofit initiatives
Requirements
Bachelor
Master
Senior HR certification (SHRM-SCP or equivalent) preferred
Minimum 15 years of progressive HR leadership experience, including executive-level strategic responsibility
Demonstrated experience aligning people strategy with business growth in a professional services or architecture, engineering and construction (AEC) environment preferred
Proven ability to influence executive leadership and lead organizational transformation initiatives
Demonstrated ability to shape and execute multi-year people strategies that directly support Barge
Strong understanding of professional services, including workforce planning, compensation modeling, benefits cost management, and the financial impact of talent investments
Millions of jobs, with real people getting hired every day
200,000+
New jobs added daily
7,000,000+
Verified job listings
1,000,000+
Tailored applications submitted
Ability to translate enterprise vision into clear workforce frameworks, leadership pipelines, succession strategies, and measurable talent initiatives
Proven ability to influence and align executive stakeholders; skilled in leading high-level strategy discussions and facilitating decision-making across the leadership team
Strong analytical capability with the ability to leverage workforce data, people analytics, and systems thinking to inform decisions and improve organizational effectiveness
Strong collaborative mindset with operations, finance, marketing, and business development leaders to ensure alignment between people strategy, client delivery, and growth initiatives
Exercise strong judgment in balancing short-term operational needs with long-term leadership development, retention, and cultural sustainability
Lead and develop a team of HR professionals with clarity of expectations and performance standards
Delegate effectively while holding leaders accountable for results
Coach managers within the HR function to strengthen technical and strategic capability
Build bench strength within the People function
Engage executive leadership to align operational strategies and people programs and demonstrate executive presence while interfacing with and presenting to the Board of Directors
Walk, sit for extended periods of time, and stand
Occasionally reach with hands, stoop, kneel, or crouch
Occasionally lift to 40 lbs
Visual acuity is sufficient to read alpha/numeric symbols for comprehension and editing
Important Details
Travel: up to 25%
About the Company
Barge Design Solutions, Inc., is an employee-owned engineering and architecture firm with diverse in-house multidisciplinary practice areas. The company is more than 650 people strong and serves clients nationwide from multiple U.S. locations. Barge is ranked on Engineering News-Record (ENR)
