Senior Vice President, People & Culture

Proper Hospitality designs, brands, and operates high-end lifestyle hospitality experiences across three distinct collections: Proper Hotels, By Proper, and The Collective. Each property is a distinctive reflection of the vibrant community surrounding it, united by a shared belief in uncommon luxury, world-class amenities, and locally vetted innovators across food and beverage, art, music, wellness, and culture.

With a portfolio spanning Santa Monica, Downtown LA, Austin, San Francisco, Shelborne Miami Beach, Avalon Palm Springs, Ingleside Estate, and Montauk Yacht Club, the company manages approximately 1,600 team members and is in active growth mode. Proper's creative and cultural ethos, shaped in part by Kelly Wearstler's design influence, is embedded into every guest touchpoint and every employment experience. The work is substantive. The standard is high. The pace is real.

The Opportunity

This is a newly created executive role, built for scale. As SVP, People and Culture, you will serve as the senior strategic people leader across the full Proper Hospitality portfolio, reporting directly to the COO. You will inherit a functional team led by a Corporate Director of People and Culture and will be charged with elevating the function from operational to strategic, building the infrastructure, culture, and leadership bench required to support sustained growth.

This role sits at the intersection of talent strategy, organizational design, compliance, compensation, labor relations, and culture building. It requires someone who understands both the creative, community-driven DNA of a lifestyle hospitality brand and the rigorous operational demands of a multi-property employer with a unionized workforce and multi-state footprint.

Key Responsibilities

Strategic People Leadership

• Serve as the primary people and culture executive for Proper Hospitality, partnering directly with the COO, CEO, and President to align talent strategy with business growth objectives
• Lead and develop the People and Culture Division and the broader P&C team across all properties and brands
• Design and drive the organizational development roadmap, including succession planning, leadership pipeline, and internal mobility strategy
• Serve as a trusted advisor to property GMs and department heads on complex HR matters, team structure, and performance

Culture & Employer Brand

• Champion Proper Hospitality's identity as a best-in-class employer, overseeing best-place-to-work strategy, recognition programs, and employee engagement initiatives
• Ensure the company's creative, community-driven culture is reflected consistently across the employee lifecycle, from recruitment through offboarding
• Build and steward internal leadership development programming that grows talent from within and prepares the organization for continued expansion

Compensation & Benefits

• Own total rewards strategy, including compensation benchmarking, benefits design, and pay equity analysis across a 1,600-person workforce spanning hourly, salaried, and management populations
• Ensure compensation structures are competitive across markets including California, Texas, New York, and Florida
• Partner with finance on workforce planning and people-related cost management

Labor Relations & Compliance

• Lead all labor relations matters across the portfolio, including union contract administration, negotiations, and grievance management
• Partner with Corporate Legal and outside labor counsel to ensure compliance with federal, state, and local employment law across all operating jurisdictions
• Oversee HR compliance, risk management, and policy development, with particular attention to California employment law requirements
• Serve as the escalation point for complex employee relations matters and investigations

Organizational Scaling

• Build the P&C infrastructure, systems, and processes required to scale the organization efficiently as Proper adds properties and headcount
• Evaluate and implement HRIS, performance management, and learning and development tools appropriate to the company's size and growth trajectory
• Develop and maintain workforce planning frameworks that anticipate talent needs ahead of new property openings and brand expansions

What We Are Looking For

Experience

• 18+ years of progressive HR leadership experience, with at least 8–10 years in executive-level roles (VP, SVP, or equivalent) with enterprise-wide accountability
• Demonstrated leadership across a multi-property, multi-brand hospitality portfolio exceeding 2,500–5,000 employees, with direct oversight of regional People leaders
• Proven partnership with CEO, Board, and ownership groups on enterprise strategy, including organizational design, succession planning, and long-range workforce strategy
• Deep experience leading union strategy at scale, including complex labor negotiations, multi-property CBAs, and union avoidance or stabilization strategies where applicable
• Track record of building, scaling, and institutionalizing People infrastructure in growth and post-growth environments, including systems, governance, and leadership capability models
• Experience leading through significant business events such as acquisitions, integrations, restructures, or brand repositioning across multiple assets
• Hospitality experience required, with preference for luxury or lifestyle brands operating in multi-market, high-touch service environments

Competencies

• Operates at both strategic and operational levels without defaulting to one or the other
• Strong executive presence and the credibility to challenge and advise senior leadership directly
• Deep understanding of California employment law; multi-state compliance fluency
• Analytical approach to workforce planning, compensation, and organizational design
• Genuine alignment with Proper's creative, community-oriented brand identity
• High tolerance for ambiguity; builds clarity and process where neither yet exists

What Proper Offers

• Base compensation of $265,000 to $285,000
• Performance-based annual bonus
• Comprehensive health, dental, and vision benefits
• Access to the full Proper Hospitality portfolio for personal travel
• A corporate team that takes both the product and the work seriously
• Meaningful equity in building something -- the P&C function, the employer brand, and the company itself

Proper Perks & Benefits

Culture of Growth & Belonging

• Culture of Growth: A collaborative, design-forward environment that values creativity, intelligence, and curiosity — where learning and excellence are a daily practice.
• Guided Skills Development: Access to training, leadership programs, mentorship, and cross-property mobility to encourage achievement and discovery.
• Diversity, Equity, Inclusion & Belonging: We honor individuality while fostering a culture of respect and belonging across all teams.
• Community Engagement: Opportunities to give back through local volunteerism, sustainability, and charitable partnerships.

Health & Wellness

• Comprehensive Health Coverage: Medical, dental, and vision plans through Aetna, designed to fit a range of personal and family needs.
• Wellness Access: Company-subsidized memberships with Equinox and ClassPass, plus wellbeing workshops and mental health resources.
• Employee Assistance Program (EAP): Confidential support for emotional wellbeing, financial planning, and life management through Unum.

Time Off & Flexibility

• Paid Time Off: Flexible PTO plus 11 paid holidays each year for corporate team members.
• Paid Parental Leave: Paid time off for eligible employees welcoming a new child through birth, adoption, or foster placement.
• Flexible Work Practices: Hybrid schedules for eligible roles and an emphasis on work-life balance.

Financial Wellbeing & Core Protections

• 401(k) Program: Company match of 50% of employee deferrals, up to the first 4% of eligible compensation.
• Employer-Paid Life & Disability Insurance: Core protections with optional additional coverage.
• Financial Education: Access to planning tools and workshops to support long-term stability and growth.

Lifestyle & Travel Perks

• Hotel Stay Benefits: 75% off BAR (floor of $100) across the Proper portfolio.
• Design Hotels Partnership: 50% off participating Marriott Design Hotels.
• Dining Discounts: 75% off food & beverage at all Proper Hospitality outlets.
• Lifestyle Perks: Complimentary or subsidized parking, cell phone reimbursement, and exclusive hospitality and retail discounts.

Why Join Proper Hospitality

At Proper, we build experiences that move people — and that begins with the team behind them. As a best-in-class employer, we’re committed to creating one of the Best Places to Work in hospitality by nurturing a culture where creativity, excellence, and humanity thrive together.

Everything we do is grounded in the belief that hospitality is more than a profession - it’s an opportunity to care for others and make lives better. Guided by the Pillars of Proper, we show up with warmth and authenticity (Care Proper), strive for excellence in everything we do (Achieve Proper), think creatively and resourcefully (Imagine Proper), and take pride in the style and culture that make us who we are (Present Proper).

We believe our people are our greatest strength, and we invest deeply in their wellbeing, growth, and sense of belonging. From comprehensive benefits to meaningful development programs, Proper is designed to help you build a career, and a life, that feels as inspiring as the experiences we create for our guests.

Our Commitment: Building the Best Place to Work

Our Best Place to Work initiative is a living commitment — a continuous investment in our people, our culture, and our purpose. We listen, learn, and evolve together to create an environment where everyone feels empowered to imagine boldly, achieve confidently, care deeply, and present themselves authentically.

At Proper, joining the team means more than finding a job — it means joining a community that believes in building beautiful experiences together, for our guests and for one another.