Description

The Vice President of Total Rewards & Operations provides enterprise-wide leadership for total rewards and centralized HR operations across MaineHealth, supporting corporate, clinical, and frontline care team members. Reporting to the Chief People Officer (CPO), this executive sets the strategic direction and oversees execution for compensation (including executive compensation), benefits and well-being, retirement, HRIS, people analytics, the HR Support Center, and Employee Health. The VP partners closely with senior leadership and cross-functional stakeholders to attract, motivate, and retain top talent while modernizing HR processes, advancing automation, ensuring compliance, and delivering a seamless care team member experience.

Total Rewards Strategy & Delivery

Innovate and lead an integrated Total Rewards strategy that is market-competitive, equitable, inclusive, affordable, and aligned with MaineHealth’s mission and business goals.
Benefits leadership: Oversee high-quality, compliant, and cost-effective health, welfare, retirement, wellness, and leave programs, responsive to a diverse workforce; build strong relationships with plan administrators to maximize value and support.
Compensation leadership: Direct broad-based compensation design, benchmarking, and pay equity practices; oversee executive compensation in partnership with the Senior Director of Total Rewards and according to governance standards.
Market intelligence: Monitor external trends and healthcare labor dynamics. Proactively evolve offerings to remain competitive and contemporary.
Vendor/partner management: Optimize external partnerships in line with contractual terms, performance metrics, and service/value expectations.
Operational excellence: Ensure compliance, efficiency, and continuous improvement across all Total Rewards programs with clear governance and transparent decision-making.

HRIS, People Analytics, HR Support Center & Employee Health

HR technology & data: Lead HRIS strategy and system optimization; elevate enterprise reporting and analytics to produce scalable, timely insights for leaders and HR practitioners.
Automation & process improvement: Digitize and automate appropriate HR activities to enhance consistency, speed, and the overall care team experience.
HR Support Center: Strengthen the Center as a high-performing, customer-centric function for care team members and leaders; build it as the foundational pipeline for HR Generalist careers at MaineHealth.
Employee Health: Continually optimize workflows and service delivery to support care team member health, safety, and timely onboarding/clearance.

Strategic Partnership, Governance & Compliance

Executive advisor: Serve as a strategic advisor to the CPO and senior leadership on plan design, market dynamics, internal equity, and workforce implications.
Board/committee support: Prepare high-quality materials to support Board governance and leadership engagement; lead the health plan fiduciary committee and guide retirement committee activities in partnership with Finance.
Cross-functional integration: Partner with Finance, Legal, Pharmacy, Care Transformation, and operational leaders to align strategies, ensure transparent governance, and integrate total rewards with business priorities.
Regulatory compliance: Ensure enterprise compliance with federal, state, and local laws and evolving requirements (e.g., HIPAA, ERISA, COBRA, FMLA, MPFML, ACA, pay transparency laws).
Policy stewardship: Maintain current policies, controls, and documentation; lead audits and risk mitigation.

Department Leadership

Team leadership: Lead, coach, and develop a high-performing team across Benefits, Compensation, HRIS, People Analytics, Operations, HR Support Center, and Employee Health.
Culture & capability-building: Foster innovation, accountability, collaboration, and customer centricity; build strong succession benches and develop future leaders.
Recognition & well-being: Champion employee recognition and care team well-being initiatives to reinforce engagement and performance.

MaineHealth’s Leadership Profile

Thinks Strategically: Navigates complex and varied initiatives using a system mindset. Articulates and executes strategic vision and purpose to find solutions and accomplish goals leading to positive individual and team outcomes.
Communicates Effectively: Clearly conveys goals and purpose while inviting a broad range of perspectives and contributions to deepen mutual understanding of objectives. Encourages open conversation by being transparent in both giving and receiving feedback.
Develops People and Teams: Builds and retains effective and diverse high performing teams through inclusivity, coaching, collaboration and inspiring others. Uses emotional intelligence to build trust and create an environment of safety, engagement and belonging.
Leads Change: Sets goals for purposeful change that align with a diverse set of stakeholders and stated objectives. Role models a continuous improvement mindset within teams.
Creates Accountability: Achieves results by setting clear expectations, incorporating feedback, coaching and managing performance, ensuring equity, and recognizing success.
Applies Industry Understanding: Applies understanding of healthcare industry dynamics to drive a systematic approach to decision making. Synthesizes relevant data and stakeholder perspectives to support long term organizational well-being, financial sustainability, high quality & safety, and excellence in patient experience.

Requirements

Required Qualifications

Education: Bachelor’s degree required.

Experience:

• 10+ years of progressive leadership in Total Rewards and HR Operations within complex, multi-entity organizations (healthcare strongly preferred).
• Demonstrated success leading health & welfare benefit strategies and understanding compensation fundamentals (including pay equity and benchmarking).
• Experience overseeing HRIS and HR Operations, including digitalization and automation initiatives.
• Proven ability to leverage analytics for strategic decision-making.

Expertise:

• In-depth knowledge of compensation and benefits design, market analysis, and administration.
• Strong grasp of HRIS platforms and technology-enabled process improvement.
• Comprehensive knowledge of employment and benefits regulations (e.g., HIPAA, ERISA, COBRA, FMLA, MPFML, ACA, pay transparency).

Leadership & Communication:

• Track record of building relationships with senior leaders and external partners.
• Excellent communication, presentation, and influencing skills.
• Strong people leadership with the ability to inspire, coach, and develop teams.

Preferred Qualifications (not required) 

• Education/Certifications: Master’s degree (e.g., Business, HR, Healthcare Administration) and/or senior HR certifications (SPHR and/or SHRM-SCP).
• Industry & Scope: Deep understanding of healthcare labor and market dynamics; experience with executive compensation governance.
• Technology & Analytics: Advanced experience with HR technology roadmaps, automation, reporting, and people analytics.
• Governance & Fiduciary: Experience supporting Board committees and serving on/leading benefit/plan fiduciary committees.