Vice President, Talent and HR Position Summary Safeware is seeking a strategic, practical, and people centered leader to serve as Vice President, Talent and HR. Reporting to the President, this role will lead the company’s overall people strategy while ensuring the HR function supports the business with strong, scalable, and disciplined execution. This leader will have direct oversight of the Director of HR Operations, who will lead day-to-day HR operations and compliance, and that leader in turn will oversee an additional HR operations team member. The Vice President, Talent and HR will be responsible for building and driving the enterprise people agenda, including talent strategy, learning and leadership development, succession planning, bench strength, talent reviews, and performance quality. This role will also provide executive oversight of the HR function through a strong operational leader, ensuring day-to-day HR execution is effective while the broader people strategy supports long term company growth. The right person will translate Safeware’s core values of wisdom, accountability, relationships, and excellence into how talent is selected, developed, led, and measured across the company. This leader will help Safeware strengthen leadership capability, improve talent quality, and build the systems, processes, and organizational readiness needed to support growth in a blue collar, mission driven, growth-oriented environment.
About Safeware Founded in 1979, Safeware, Inc. is a trusted distributor and service provider of safety products for use before, during, and after emergencies and in mission critical operations. Headquartered in Lanham, Maryland, with locations nationwide, Safeware is built on a foundation of dedicated professionals committed to protecting those who protect others. As the company continues to grow, it builds on a long-standing reputation for expertise, responsiveness, strong relationships, and reliable execution. Our core values of wisdom, accountability, relationships, and excellence shape how we serve customers, work together, and lead the business.
Key Responsibilities
Enterprise People Strategy
Lead the development and execution of the company’s enterprise people strategy in support of business growth, capability building, and long-term organizational health, with clear alignment to Safeware’s values and operating principles.
Partner closely with the President and executive team to align people priorities with company strategy, operating needs, and future growth plans, bringing sound judgment, practical insight, and a bias for action.
Translate business goals into a practical people roadmap that addresses talent, leadership, structure, organizational effectiveness, and capability development while reinforcing a culture of accountability and excellence.
Serve as a trusted advisor to senior leaders on organizational design, talent risk, leadership effectiveness, and people related business decisions, building credibility through wisdom, strong relationships, and consistent follow through.
Learning Ecosystem Design and Roadmap
Assess the company’s current state of learning, development, and leadership capability and build a practical, scalable learning ecosystem.
Design and implement a multiyear roadmap for learning and development that includes frontline, manager, and leadership development.
Ensure learning strategy is tied to role capability, business priorities, performance expectations, future organizational needs, and the leadership behaviors Safeware expects at every level.
Build practical development pathways that support onboarding, growth, readiness, and internal mobility.
Establish meaningful measures of learning effectiveness, adoption, and business impact, and hold leaders accountable for follow through and application.
Succession Planning and Bench Strength
Lead the company’s succession planning approach for key roles and critical positions.
Assess organizational bench strength and talent readiness across the business.
Build frameworks for identifying ready now, ready in one to two years, and longer-term successor pools.
Partner with leaders to create practical development plans that strengthen internal talent pipelines, deepen readiness, and reinforce accountability for talent development.
Provide visibility to talent risks, leadership gaps, and succession needs for the executive team.
Talent Reviews and Performance Quality
Design and lead a companywide talent review process that improves leadership visibility into talent quality, potential, readiness, and risk.
Strengthen the company’s approach to performance quality by helping leaders raise standards, calibrate talent effectively, and improve the consistency and fairness of performance evaluation.
Develop and implement an A Player strategy that improves talent density across the company through stronger assessment, development, selection, and accountability, while reinforcing the behaviors and standards that define success at Safeware.
Help leaders define what strong performance looks like and build processes that support better differentiation, feedback, and development.
Oversight of HR Function
Provide leadership and oversight for the HR function through the Director of HR Operations.
Ensure the HR function delivers strong day to day support across employee relations, compliance, policy, benefits, HR systems, and core people processes, with a high standard of responsiveness, judgment, and execution.
Partner with the Director of HR Operations to build scalable, efficient, and well-disciplined HR infrastructure that supports the business as it grows.
Maintain appropriate balance between strategic people work and strong operational execution, ensuring the function operates with accountability, sound judgment, and service oriented partnership.
Provide coaching, guidance, and development to strengthen overall capability within the HR function, ensuring the team continues to grow in both operational execution and strategic contribution.
Leadership and Influence
Build strong relationships and credibility across the organization, especially with practical, operationally focused leaders, and foster trust through consistency, transparency, and follow through.
Lead with wisdom, accountability, strong relationships, and excellence, modeling the standards expected of leaders across Safeware.
Help the company strengthen leadership capability and manager effectiveness over time.
Model a practical, business minded, and people first leadership style that fits Safeware’s culture, mission, and values.
Qualifications Bachelor’s degree required. Advanced degree in Human Resources, Organizational Development, Business, or related field preferred. Progressive leadership experience in talent management, leadership development, organizational development, HR strategy, or broader people leadership roles. Experience building or significantly upgrading talent systems such as succession planning, leadership development, talent reviews, performance management, or enterprise learning. Experience leading through others and overseeing HR operations, whether directly or through a strong operations leader. Proven ability to operate effectively in a lean, growth oriented, and practical business environment. Strong business acumen and ability to connect people strategy to company growth, operating realities, and leadership needs. Track record of influencing senior leaders and driving adoption of new processes and expectations in a way that reflects sound judgment, strong relationships, accountability, and high standards. Experience in sales driven distribution, industrial, manufacturing, field service, public safety adjacent, or other practical, execution focused environments is strongly preferred.
