Vice President, Talent and Organizational Development

PURPOSE

BHC is helping to shape the future of Charleston through the quality of its people. That is a specific bar, and it depends on the organization's ability to build that quality deliberately.

The Vice President of Organizational Capability & People Development is responsible for strengthening the organization's ability to deliver extraordinary experiences today while building the leaders, systems, and capabilities BHC will rely on tomorrow.

This role partners with executive and operational leaders to identify what the business needs, then designs the systems that build it. Learning is one tool. Leadership development, coaching, onboarding, management development, internal faculty, certification, knowledge transfer, and organizational design are equally important. Together, they build an organization that grows stronger every year.

We build leaders before they lead, not promote them and hope. That philosophy extends beyond leadership. At BHC, capability is built intentionally throughout a colleague's career, creating an organization that becomes stronger with every generation of leaders it develops.

Success is measured not by training delivered, but by stronger leaders, more capable teams, improved business performance, and an organization that is, in practice, the best place to become.

CORE ACCOUNTABILITIES

Build the Learning Infrastructure

• Design and establish the organization's learning infrastructure, including curriculum strategy, governance, learning technology, certification pathways, measurement systems, and operational learning standards, as one integrated system rather than a collection of independent programs.
• Build in the sequence that earns organizational trust rather than the sequence that feels most urgent: foundational systems first, leadership development once that foundation holds, and whole person development once leadership is real. Hold that discipline even when there is pressure to move faster.
• Own the operational floor, including safety, compliance, required certifications, and foundational operating standards, so the higher work of building skill, leadership, and long term capability can stand on solid ground.
• Ensure capability becomes part of how BHC operates, not something delivered alongside the business.

Build Capability Across the Career Lifecycle

• Create integrated systems that intentionally develop colleagues throughout their careers, including new colleague onboarding, operational capability, leadership development, management development, service excellence, coaching, internal faculty, functional learning pathways, certification and mastery, whole person development, and knowledge management.
• Each system should reinforce the others, creating a continuous path of development rather than isolated learning experiences.

Build and Sustain the Faculty

• Build and sustain a faculty of respected operators and leaders who teach, coach, and mentor within these systems, turning their expertise into institutional knowledge that continues long after any individual leader moves on.

Protect the Standard

• Protect the integrity of the capability system by resisting shortcuts that compromise long term quality. Maintain the discipline when speed threatens what's been built, whether through rushed onboarding, abbreviated coaching, superficial leadership development, or curriculum that values convenience over excellence.
• Ensure advancement reflects demonstrated capability rather than completed coursework.

Build Organizational Consistency

• Partner closely with the Talent function so the capabilities BHC hires for are intentionally developed after people arrive.
• Partner with People & Culture leadership to ensure recruitment, onboarding, development, performance, succession, promotion, and rewards reinforce one another throughout the colleague lifecycle.

Lead the Portfolio Learning Network

• Develop, certify, and coach the network of property based learning leaders across the portfolio.
• Earn influence through the quality of the systems, coaching, and support provided rather than formal reporting relationships.
• Spend meaningful time in the operation, understanding where capability is taking hold, where it is breaking down, and what the business needs next.

Build the Function

• Scale the Organizational Capability function thoughtfully as BHC grows.

Measure Organizational Capability

• Develop meaningful measures that demonstrate whether the organization is growing stronger. Report against indicators that matter to the business, including first 90 day turnover, onboarding consistency, leadership readiness, internal promotion rates, bench strength, operational readiness, and learning effectiveness.
• Provide insight that helps leaders strengthen the organization before problems emerge rather than reporting on them after the fact.

DECISION RIGHTS

Owns

• Organizational capability strategy
• Learning infrastructure
• Curriculum philosophy
• Faculty model
• Certification standards
• Leadership development architecture
• Capability measurement
• Organizational learning standards

Influences

• Promotion readiness
• Succession planning
• Performance development
• Talent strategy
• Organizational effectiveness
• Workforce capability planning
• Recognition and career progression

QUALIFICATIONS

We are less interested in the path someone followed than in what they have built.

The successful candidate will have demonstrated the ability to strengthen organizational capability in ways that measurably improved leadership quality, operational effectiveness, and business performance.

Experience may come from organizational development, leadership development, enterprise learning, executive coaching, operational excellence, talent development, or change leadership.

The successful candidate will also bring:

• The operating credibility to earn the trust of senior operational leaders.
• Experience building capability systems, not simply administering existing programs.
• A deep understanding of the realities facing property or business unit leaders.
• Executive presence and influence that build commitment without relying on formal authority.
• The ability to translate operational excellence into practical, teachable systems.
• Experience within luxury hospitality, including Forbes Five Star or comparable service environments, strongly preferred.

SUCCESS IN YEAR ONE

• A consistent onboarding experience is established across every property.
• The organization's learning infrastructure is operational, trusted, and clearly connected to business priorities.
• A certified network of property-based learning leaders operates from one shared philosophy and playbook.
• A credible leadership development system is designed and supported by executive leadership.
• Capability measures are informing leadership decisions.
• Property leaders view Organizational Capability as a strategic partner that strengthens operations, develops leaders, and builds the organization's long term strength.
• BHC is measurably stronger because of the systems this role has built.

BHC is an equal employment opportunity employer.  Employment decisions are based on merit and business needs, and are not based on race, color, sex (including pregnancy, childbirth, and related medical conditions), citizenship status, national origin, ancestry, gender identity or expression, sexual orientation, age, religion, creed, physical or mental disability, marital status, veteran status, uniformed service, political affiliation, genetic information, or any other factor or characteristic protected by applicable law. BHC participates in E-Verify.