We’re People People. Are you?
We’re Sonesta International Hotels—the 8th largest hotel company in the U.S. (and growing fast ).
With a dynamic mix of full-service and focused hotels across major cities, our diverse portfolio of owned, managed, and franchised properties means we’re everywhere our guests need us to be.
But here’s the thing—we’re not just in the business of hotels, we’re in the business of people. We bring service with passion, loyalty with purpose, and create experiences that genuinely connect—delivering quality, value, and memorable stays across 1,000+ properties in eight countries (and counting).
What this role is all about
The Chief People Officer (“CPO”) is responsible for enterprise-wide people strategy, ensuring strong governance, compliance integrity, and operational excellence across all Human Resources (“HR”) functions. Balancing business savvy and strategic vision with pragmatic solutions and innovative thinking, the CPO is expected to collaborate with the company’s executive leaders to build organizational capability, support growth initiatives, mitigate employment risk, and drive measurable business performance across a distributed work environment. Reporting to the company’s EVP, General Counsel and Head of People, and based in the company’s Newton, MA office, this role provides direction and oversight in the design and delivery of HR programs and services across the company, including organizational design, talent acquisition and workforce planning, performance management, learning and development, compensation and benefits, employee engagement, compliance, HR data and analytics, and other programs that attract, develop, and retain talent. The CPO will be passionate about people, shaping culture, and driving a positive and engaged workforce.
What you’ll be doing
As the leader of the HR function, the CPO’s responsibilities will include:
Enterprise Strategy, Governance & Executive Partnership
- Develop and execute a comprehensive people strategy aligned with enterprise growth, operational performance, and long-term business objectives.
- Serve as a strategic advisor to executive leadership on organizational design, workforce optimization, succession planning, and leadership capability.
- Nurture a culture of caring, accountability, service excellence, and operational rigor.
- Partner closely with Legal to ensure robust governance, regulatory compliance, and proactive risk mitigation across all HR disciplines.
- Collaborate and lead workforce due diligence, labor cost modeling, organizational restructuring, and talent transitions in support of the company’s franchise growth strategies, acquisitions, and dispositions.
Corporate & Field HR Operations
- Foster and manage the Corporate HR function, and also oversee Field HR functions, ensuring consistent policy execution and service delivery across all locations.
- Establish scalable HR operating models that support decentralized field operations while maintaining enterprise standards and compliance integrity.
- Drive continuous improvement of HR systems, processes, and service frameworks to enhance efficiency and employee experience.
- Serve as a visible, credible leadership presence across corporate and field operations.
Talent Acquisition & Workforce Planning
- Lead an integrated talent acquisition and management function to attract, hire, and retain high-performing talent across corporate and field roles.
- Develop proactive recruiting strategies and talent pipelines in competitive labor markets.
- Oversee workforce forecasting, succession planning, and organizational modeling to mitigate talent risk and ensure leadership bench strength in alignment with long-term growth plans and needs for the entire enterprise.
- Assess and drive employee engagement and create a roadmap to enable a high-performing workforce that supports the company’s strategic goals and profitability.
Total Rewards (Compensation, Benefits & Leave Programs)
- Align total rewards strategy with performance outcomes, retention objectives, and financial discipline.
- Help define and execute compensation philosophy, salary structures, incentive plans, and pay governance.
- Lead benefits strategy including health, retirement, wellness, and voluntary benefit programs to ensure competitive positioning and fiscal stewardship.
- Oversee leave administration and statutory compliance across multi-state operations.
Learning & Development
- Establish and oversee enterprise learning strategy, including leadership development, operational training, stakeholder engagement, and compliance programs.
- Design development frameworks that strengthen succession readiness and leadership capability across corporate and field operations.
- Measure learning effectiveness through performance, engagement, and retention metrics.
Employee Relations, Compliance & Risk Management
- Provide executive oversight of employee relations strategy, investigations, conflict resolution, complex employment matters, restructuring efforts, and litigation risk mitigation, in partnership with Legal.
- In collaboration with Legal, implement measures to drive compliance with all federal, state, and local employment laws across multi-state operations.
- Pursue proactive compliance audits, monitoring frameworks, and policy governance standards.
HR Data, Analytics & Systems
- Lead development of enterprise HR analytics and reporting capabilities to drive data-informed executive decision-making.
- Establish dashboards tracking labor costs, turnover, engagement, workforce trends, compliance metrics, and talent pipeline health.
- Ensure optimization and integrity of HRIS and supporting technology platforms, collaborating with IT and other functions where appropriate.
Education, Experience & Other Qualifications:
- Bachelor’s degree required; advanced degree (MBA, MSHRM, Masters in Organizational Leadership/Development, etc.) preferred.
- 15+ years of progressive HR leadership experience, including oversight of multi-location or field-based operations; prior experience as a CPO or Chief Human Resources Officer preferred.
- Demonstrated executive partnership with Legal and senior leadership in complex organizations.
- Proven experience leading integrated HR functions including talent acquisition, compensation and benefits, compliance, and workforce analytics.
- Deep knowledge of employment law, compensation strategy, benefits administration, and workforce planning.
- High level of comfort working within a fast-paced environment that requires the ability to multi-task, delegate, and quickly synthesize multiple sources of data to guide strategic decisions.
- Polished writing and presentation abilities, and strong executive presence and confidence to respectfully advise leaders in their courses of action.
Anticipated Pay Range & Additional Job Information
Pay Range: $260,000 to $290,000. Base pay offer may vary depending on various factors, including but not limited to job related knowledge, skills and job specific overall experience
How we reward you
At Sonesta, we know showing up for our guests starts with showing up for our people. That means supporting your health, your financial future, and everything in between.
Here’s a snapshot of what we offer:
- Medical, Dental & Vision Insurance
- Health Savings Account (HSA) with Company Match
- 401(k) Retirement Plan with Company Match
- Paid Vacation & Sick Time
- Company-Paid Life Insurance
- Company-Paid Short-Term & Long-Term Disability
- Hospital Indemnity, Critical Illness & Accident Insurance
- Sonesta Hotel Discounts (yes, you’ll want to use these ️)
- Additional Perks & Employee Discounts
Our Commitment to You
Sonesta is proud to be an equal opportunity employer. We consider all qualified applicants without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, disability, protected veteran status, or any other characteristic protected by law.
Before You Apply
To be considered, please complete the full application in addition to submitting your resume. Incomplete applications will not be reviewed.