Director of Human Resources

Director of Human Resources (HR) - Growing Language Service Provider in Healthcare – Portland, OR

Linguava is Oregon’s leading language services and access provider, offering interpretation and translation in more than 230 languages and serving respected organizations such as Providence, CareOregon, OHSU, and Mercy Corps. With significant growth on the horizon, including expanded offerings and national scaling, Linguava seeks an HR leader who can build systems, deepen culture, and guide people-centric growth.

Linguava operates within the EOS (Entrepreneurial Operating System) framework and is seeking a Human Resources leader who can partner closely with the CEO/Visionary and the Executive Team. This role translates vision into strategy and day-to-day reality. The Director of Human Resources will lead HR operations, which are centralized under this role, with a mandate and expectation to scale the team as the company grows.

Linguava offers competitive compensation and a generous suite of full benefits, including fully paid medical, 401K match, variable compensation, and other perks such as paid time off for volunteering.

Compensation: X – X depending on experience.

If You Are Someone Who…

• Strongly aligns with a  people‑first culture where empowerment, trust, engagement, and performance thrive.
• Has a passion for and solid understanding of health equity.
• Has experience leading HR in a professional services or tech-enabled services environment.
• Can think strategically while confidently running day-to-day HR operations.
• Understands EOS data and scorecard-driven frameworks and aligns HR decisions with culture and organizational vision – a strong plus.
• Enjoys building HR processes, systems, and teams from the ground up.
• Has experience scaling organizations across geographies and service lines—and believes that great workplaces create great client outcomes.
• Leads through service, building resilient relationships with multilingual and multicultural employees, contractors, clients, and vendors.
• Creates structure and systems for scale by turning ambiguity into repeatable, measurable processes.
• Leads with collaboration, compassion, and servant leadership.
• Communicates effectively with high emotional intelligence.
• Navigates change with a consultative, people-centered approach.
• Understands federal, state, and local employment laws with adaptability to multi-state environments.
• Is inspired by hiring, nurturing, developing, and promoting talent across multilingual and multicultural employee and contractor populations.
• Thinks strategically, executes effectively, and supports business growth.

If this sounds like you, this could be the next meaningful chapter in your career.

Overview of the Role

Reporting to the COO, the Director of Human Resources is responsible for building and scaling HR operations for a rapidly growing language access and services provider dedicated to the healthcare industry. This leader aligns HR strategy with culture, people, and organizational goals, leading performance, talent development, well-being initiatives, and compliance programs. The role transforms long‑term vision into reality through operational excellence while strengthening Linguava’s deep commitment to people‑first leadership, health equity  and access, and service.

Key Responsibilities

Operational Leadership

• Partner with leadership to translate business objectives into people strategies tailored to each department’s needs.
• Build channels for deep listening and engagement so every employee—onsite and remote—feels heard, valued, and connected.
• Lead change in times of growth and technological evolution while maintaining morale, retention, and alignment.
• Uphold ethical integrity, transparency, and fairness in all HR decisions and policies.
• Lead recruitment and workforce planning to attract mission-aligned talent committed to Above & Beyond Service.

Core Responsibilities

• Collaborate closely with leaders across all departments; co-create solutions to people-related challenges.
• Develop HR strategies that support the long‑term vision and growth of the organization.
• Build and maintain HR policies and compliance frameworks that reflect “Doing the Right Thing.”
• Design competitive compensation and recognition programs that exceed expectations.
• Lead performance management centered on coaching, growth, and shared accountability.
• Act as a mediator to resolve complex issues with compassion and respect.
• Manage the HR budget and allocate resources to support growth and well-being.

Core Competencies & Expectations

• Deep Listening & Empathy: Ability to understand employees beyond surface-level needs.
• Emotional Resilience & EQ: Maintain calm and compassion during high-stress situations.
• Collaborative Problem‑Solving: Approach challenges as shared opportunities.
• Strategic Thinking & Business Acumen: Align human potential with business growth.
• Communication Mastery: Lead honest, transparent conversations at every level.
• Innovation Mindset: Improve processes and systems continuously.

Qualifications

• 7+ years of HR Generalist leadership experience (Director or Senior Manager level).
• Proven track record of building cross-functional partnerships and solving complex organizational challenges.
• Experience leading change and managing remote/distributed teams.
• Strong knowledge of federal, state, and local employment laws and ethical HR practices, including OSHA, FMLA, ADA, FLSA, I-9 compliance, wage and hour, and data privacy requirements.
• Experience in technology-enabled service-based industries (language services, healthcare, management consulting, hospitality, or similar) preferred.

Keywords

Director of Human Resources, Sr. HR Manager, HR leadership, HR Strategy, HR Generalist, HR operations, employee relations, HR compliance, FMLA, ADA, OSHA, FLSA, multi‑state HR, HR strategy, people operations, performance management system, talent management, recruitment strategy, language services, workforce planning, HRIS implementation, total rewards, compensation strategy, tech‑enabled services, professional services, distributed workforce, HR digital transformation, process automation, data‑driven HR, healthcare language access, interpreting services, translation services, HIPAA‑adjacent compliance, contractor workforce model, performance management, budgeting,