RPS lays out expectations for next Chief Talent Officer after ousting previous leader

RICHMOND, Va. (WRIC) — The search is on for Richmond Public Schools' (RPS) next Chief Talent Officer, following allegations of a toxic workplace.

On Monday, May 12, RPS posted the position of Chief Talent Officer (CTO) after Maggie Clemmons —who previously held the role — was placed on administrative leave due to allegations of racism and harassment within RPS’s Talent and Finance department.

According to job posting, the CTO is essentially the head of the human resources department and is responsible for hiring, developing and retaining the best and brightest employed at Richmond Public Schools. This includes teachers, teacher assistants and principals.

The site also speaks to the expectations the division is looking for:

• Leads a comprehensive human capital strategy around recruitment and hiring, performance management, retention, benefits/compensation and employee development
• Maintains strong customer service-oriented climate by ensuring the Talent Office provides helpful, responsive and timely support to employees and prospective staff
• Leads, coaches and evaluates a team of direct reports (in Talent Acquisition, Employee and Labor Relations, Benefits/Compensation, Data and System Management and Teacher/Leader Pathways) to ensure the Office meets its goals
• Modernizes, consolidates, and monitors human capital data systems and processes to develop more efficient and customer-friendly processes
• Serves on the senior leadership team, and acts as strategic advisor, functional expert and thought partner on organizational issues as well as key Talent issues
• Performs other duties as assigned

The RPS website lists several departments that fall under the office’s management, including benefits and compensation, employee and labor relations, talent acquisition and more.

For the next CTO, superintendent Jason Kamras said staff will have the opportunity to weigh in on the hiring process.

Richmond Education Association President Anne Forrester broke down the key things teachers are looking for in a CTO.

“I think it's really important that they get someone with experience working with unions and experience in HR,” Forrester said. “General empathy should be important. I think that's a rather hard thing to assess in a job interview. I think some of that just comes with time. But, I would really hope that our district is hiring like empathetic, compassionate people.”