The Director of Inclusion and Diversity will serve as lead champion of diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) strategies and practices across the Company. This leader will foster our culture of individuality and belonging by cultivating an environment where everyone is welcomed, valued, and included. This role will oversee the development, implementation and monitoring of Sleep Number’s DEI strategy, including assessment of our opportunities, new and evolving policies, programs, processes, along with effective change management practices to generate commitment from team members and leaders. This leader will be a collaborative partner and trusted advisor to leaders across the company to effectively define and deliver DEI strategies, optimize resources and measure and track progress and effectiveness of DEI initiatives.  

Primary Responsibilities

• Design and develop a multi-year DEI roadmap proposing improvement strategies with solutions that leverage our people data, trends, and best practices
• Deliver, socialize, implement, and execute short-term and long-term DEI strategic plans aligned to Company objectives
• Partner with Chief Human Resources Officer (CHRO) and CEO to set direction, manage and coordinate of the DEI strategies and initiatives
• Align and work with stakeholders and leaders across the Company to effectively embed DEI practices into all aspects of talent lifecycle; provide recommendations and consulting to strengthen deliverables in areas such as: hiring, promotions, development, retention, and engagement.
• Partner with Human Resources peer leaders to embed DEI objectives throughout human resources policies, practices, and objectives
• Develop measurements to track and monitor progress against goals and objectives
• Benchmark and develop best practices to identify innovative DEI solutions
• Effectively integrate DEI into communication processes, policies, and talent practices across the enterprise
• Design educational opportunities for all team members to build fluency in the areas of inclusion and diversity
• Develop and implement a community involvement strategy that builds strong relationships with external organizations
• Provide leadership and consulting support for the DEI Council and create, sponsor, encourage Team Member Resource Groups
• Translate DEI strategies and initiatives to help accelerate business strategy and objectives.
• Champion the successful advancement of principles related to DEI strategies and initiatives.
• Develop and foster meaningful relationships internally and externally.
• Demonstrate a deep personal understanding of DEI with a commitment to continuous learning and improvement.
• Envision a long-term future state and develop plans to achieve it.
• Maneuver comfortably through complex processes and people related organizational dynamics to influence change.
• Receive and share information in several formats with a wide range of audiences.
• Effectively build formal and informal relationship networks inside and outside of Sleep Number to drive outcomes.  Engage with a diverse array of people, teams, and partners to make connections for outcomes.  
• Understand how the business operates and can identify and interpret levers of impact to advance DEI
• Design solutions that are simple and yet impactful.
• Connect with internal communities to ensure engagement, capture insights, feedback, and involvement.

Preferred Qualifications

• Bachelor’s Degree (BA/BS) in Human Resources, Organizational Development or related field; Master’s degree preferred
• 10+ years of Human Resources or business-related experience, with recent experience specific to Diversity, Equity and Inclusion, Talent Management, Talent Acquisition and/or Organizational Effectiveness
• Record of promoting, developing, and facilitating successful DEI strategies and programs across a diverse population of team members with varying levels of experience, jobs, levels, cultures, and geographic locations.
• Proven ability to create and implement organizational strategic plans; proven project and program management with a focus on implementing process improvements.
• Ability to build effective relationships and influence at all levels in the organization, managing expectations and driving for results.’
• Excellent communication skills – verbal, interpersonal, presentation, and facilitation along with written message development
• Experience working with and influencing all levels of team members; inspiring others to engage, participate and act
• Experience with building programs to scale for sustainability
• Strong analytical, strategic, problem-solving skills and execution skills