Chief People Officer / Head of Legal Talent and Retention

An established, high-growth, metric-driven law firm headquartered in Winchester, Virginia is seeking a battle-tested, hands-on Chief People Officer / Head of Legal Talent and Retention for a high-impact 6-Month Stabilization & Legal Talent Turnaround Contract (with the opportunity to extend or convert to a permanent executive seat based on measurable results).

THE 6-MONTH MANDATE

1. Full-Cycle Legal Talent Recruiting & Pipeline Ownership: Take direct ownership of end-to-end recruiting of legal talent across attorney, litigation paralegal, case manager, medical records/lien specialist, intake specialist, and administrative operations seats—writing compelling postings, actively sourcing passive legal talent (LinkedIn Recruiter, Indeed, direct outreach), conducting structured multi-gate screening, verifying references, and closing A-players without relying on external contingency recruiters.

2. Onboarding, SOPs & 30/60/90-Day Ramp Architecture: Audit every seat on the organizational chart, diagnose root causes of pre-start no-shows and first-90-day turnover, and build and enforce structured 30/60/90-day onboarding plans, training checkpoints, and weekly KPI scorecards so every new hire reaches full seat productivity cleanly and stays.

3. Retention, Culture & Early-Warning Intervention: Track weekly seat-level KPI scorecards, conduct stay and pulse reviews, coach team members to hit measurable targets, resolve personnel bottlenecks immediately, and maintain a high-accountability, high-support law firm culture where top performers thrive.

4. Performance Management, HR Operations & Compliance Execution: Administer Gusto HRIS/payroll workflows, offer letters, onboarding/offboarding checklists, personnel files, benefits administration, objective KPI coaching, PIPs, and airtight Virginia employment compliance and offboarding protocols with zero dropped balls.

Requirements

• 7+ years of hands-on HR, Recruiting, and People Operations leadership (Chief People Officer, VP of People, HR Director, or Head of Legal Talent & Recruiting) in a fast-paced, high-accountability law firm or professional services organization (15–100 employees), with documented success reducing turnover and building high-retention teams.
• Proven track record of personally sourcing, screening, interviewing, and closing high-performing legal and operational talent end-to-end without delegating to outside staffing agencies, and measurably improving 90-day and 1-year retention.
• 100% in-office presence in Winchester, VA 22601 (Monday–Friday, 8:30 AM – 5:30 PM ET), living within a 35-minute drive or relocating prior to start date.