Greater Philadelphia Cultural Alliance

Bartram's Garden seeks to hire a HR Director to support our work to position this 50-acre Southwest Philadelphia asset as a dynamic civic commons and river garden.

Bartram’s Garden has undergone tremendous growth in recent years and currently employs 32 year-round staff, 16 seasonal staff, and up to 50 youth interns throughout the year. In 2020 the Board of Directors adopted new vision and mission statements following a 7-month process led by a collaborative committee of board and staff. Since 2021, staff and board have engaged an in a Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) assessment and workshop series and our staff DEI working group is currently reviewing a draft organizational Equity Action Plan. Building on the momentum and lessons from these experiences, and with the goal ensuring that we express our values internally as well as externally, Bartram’s Garden is creating the new position of HR Director.

The HR Director will be charged with advocating for employees by ensuring that HR policies and procedures are in place and designed to foster an equitable and welcoming environment for all staff—especially for those of historically marginalized identities. This position will report to the Executive Director (ED) and will be a member of the Senior Staff Team.

Duties and Responsibilities

Talent Management & Assessment

Manage all aspects of hiring, on-boarding, retaining, and off-boarding staff with attention to ensuring a welcoming and inclusive experience for staff of all identities.
Provide internal support and coaching when appropriate and facilitate connection with external support as necessary.
Maintain and regularly review the Employee Handbook. Provide training and support to ensure all staff understand organizational tools, policies, and procedures.
Lead the annual employee performance assessment: provide guidelines to staff regarding the process; update the process based on staff feedback and best practices.
Work with staff to develop annual professional development goals and identify training resources.
Collaborate with supervisors to maintain up-to-date position descriptions and ensure positions are matched to appropriate and equitable compensation.
Manage external HR consultant to conduct biennial compensation reviews.

Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI)

Collaborate with the interdepartmental staff DEI working group to create an organization-wide strategy to complete and implement Bartram’s Garden’s Equity Action Plan
Organize training and skill-building activities to improve empathy, cultural sensitivity, and reflective supervision for staff at all levels and in all departments.
Create and implement a system to regularly collect anonymous feedback from staff regarding employee experience, satisfaction, grievance, ideas for improvement with a dedicated focus on inclusive and equitable practices.

Payroll, Benefits & Budgeting

Oversee twice-monthly payroll.
Steward employee benefits, insurance enrollment, and renewal processes. Work with insurance broker to administer employee benefit plans.
Develop annual staffing budgets (including salary, benefits, professional development, etc.), in alignment with mission, vision, and values statements as well as current and future strategic plans.
Develop and implement mechanisms for incorporating staff feedback in the benefits selection processes.

Regulations & Best Practices

Maintain knowledge of trends, best practices, regulations, and new technologies in human resources, DEI, and employment law that may impact Bartram’s Garden.
Ensure that all human resources materials, files, and documents comply with federal and state requirements and best practices.
Oversee compliance with applicable health and safety policies including COVID-19 vaccination policy and managing COVID-19 exposure and quarantine communications.

Preferred Qualifications

5+ years as a human resources generalist; experience with benefits administration is a plus
Experience in inclusive and transparent leadership, team management, communication, and interpersonal skills
Experience engaging a wide range of marginalized identities of staff and external stakeholders.
Respect for confidentiality, and ability to develop equitable, culturally sensitive, and constructive solutions for a wide range of sensitive human resource issues.
Ability to adopt and master computer technology for communication, data gathering, and reporting activities.
Demonstrated excellent organization and time management skills, with the ability to prioritize a variety of competing priorities and deadlines.

Physical requirements
Work in this position is primarily sedentary, requiring the ability to sit/stand at a desk, work on a computer, and use a monitor for extended periods of time.

Bartram’s Garden Vaccination Policy
The successful candidate must be fully vaccinated against COVID-19. An exception to the COVID vaccine requirement may be provided to individuals for religious or medical reasons.

Schedule and Compensation
This is a full-time, exempt, salaried position with a starting salary of $65,000-$70,000, depending on experience. Benefits include health and dental coverage, short and long-term disability coverage, paid holiday, sick and vacation time. This role will largely work a Monday–Friday schedule, with occasional evening and weekend responsibilities. Additionally, all full-time staff support annual site-wide events including Southwest Spring Fest; Juneteenth; Honey Fest; Twilight in the Garden; Indigenous People’s Day; Harvest Fest; and Handmade Holidays.

About Bartram's Garden
Bartram’s Garden is a 45-acre public garden in Southwest Philadelphia, situated on Lenape territory on the banks of the Tidal Schuylkill River. It is a venue for art, an access to the tidal river and wetlands, an outdoor classroom and a living laboratory. Bartram’s Garden attempts to hold the colonial legacy of the land with a commitment to learn and share the whole truth about of the plants of Southwest Philadelphia and the people who grow them.

The mission of the John Bartram Association is to create equitable relationships among people and nature through immersive, community-driven experiences that activate the Bartram legacy, Garden, and House, on land and on the Schuylkill River, in Southwest Philadelphia. The garden was founded in 1728 by John Bartram, whose passion for plants and the natural world inspired generations of horticulturists. Located in Southwest Philadelphia, the 50-acre public historic garden is preserved, enhanced, and maintained by the John Bartram Association as America’s oldest surviving botanic garden in cooperation with the Parks and Recreation Department of the City of Philadelphia.

Today, Bartram’s Garden offers opportunities for visitors to connect with and learn about plants, nature, history, art, and science. It encompasses the 1731 Bartram house and farm buildings, historic garden, reclamation meadow, tidal wetlands, community farm, recreational trails, and the Schuylkill river front with an ADA accessible public boat dock.

Bartram’s Garden has been working to build its local Southwest focused programs and activities and strengthen its local community partnerships. Continuing to broaden and deepen these relationships and build sustaining relationships with families, local institutions, churches, schools and academic institutions utilizing the Bartram legacy as inspiration for learning and environmental stewardship is at the heart of our vision for a great civic common and river garden. The garden is in the midst of transformation, with unprecedented opportunities for growth and renewal. With the construction of the Bartram’s Mile Trail and first major house and garden restoration in nearly a century, the profile and visitation at Bartram’s Garden has increased immensely. Capitalizing on this momentum, we are about to embark on planning for a riverfront restoration, freshwater mussel hatchery, and a kayak dock expansion among numerous other projects. These opportunities are focused on building our capacity to serve as the outdoor classroom and living room of Southwest Philadelphia, expanding our role as an anchor community open space and cultural asset.