Assistant Vice President - Total Rewards

Turner HR Consulting has been retained by Jeanne D’Arc Credit Union to lead the search for its first Assistant Vice President, Total Rewards. This is an opportunity for an accomplished total rewards professional to build the function from the ground up at one of the nation’s oldest credit unions. The AVP will lead compensation, benefits, payroll, HR systems, and workforce analytics.

Founded in 1912 as a place where immigrants working in the Lowell mills could turn for financial stability, Jeanne D’Arc Credit Union is the third-oldest credit union in the United States: a not-for-profit, member-owned financial cooperative headquartered in Lowell, Massachusetts. Locally owned by more than 100,000 members and holding $2.2 billion in assets, Jeanne D’Arc operates eight full-service branches across Greater Lowell and Southern New Hampshire, along with three high school branches, and employs 289 team members, including 253 full-time professionals. Its mission is simple: to help each member make smart financial choices.

Jeanne D’Arc has long been known as a special place to work, a Great Place to Work Certified™️ employer whose people are deeply engaged in the communities the credit union serves. Through the We Share a Common Thread Foundation and a year-round calendar of volunteerism and giving, social responsibility is woven into the credit union’s culture and its brand.

Responsibilities

The Opportunity:

Jeanne D’Arc has made a deliberate commitment to investing in its people and modernizing its HR systems and practices. Following a comprehensive, independent assessment of the HR function completed earlier in 2026, human resources has been reorganized into two complementary teams, Employee Experience and Total Rewards, each led by an Assistant Vice President.

The assessment produced a clear mandate for this role. Jeanne D’Arc is ready for a comprehensive refresh of its approach to total compensation, and its recent conversion to ADP provides a strong foundation for modern payroll and HR systems. The AVP, Total Rewards is the founding leader of the Total Rewards team and the hands-on builder of that agenda, with the opportunity to establish the philosophy, the programs, the systems discipline, and the team that will run them.

The Role:

The AVP, Total Rewards reports to the SVP, Chief Human Resources Officer and partners closely with a peer, the AVP, Employee Experience. As the founding leader of the Total Rewards team, the AVP will lead a Payroll/Benefits Specialist and build out the team responsible for payroll, benefits administration, compensation, HRIS management, and HR reporting, serving as the credit union’s subject matter expert and trusted advisor on total rewards.

The search for the SVP, Chief Human Resources Officer is nearing completion, and finalists for this position will have the opportunity to meet with the SVP, CHRO as part of the interview process.

Key priorities include:

• Establishing a modern total rewards philosophy, translated into durable, well-communicated programs: a refreshed job architecture beginning with updated, standardized job descriptions, and greater transparency around salary grades, ranges, and merit and incentive criteria, with managers brought into the process as aligned partners.
• Strengthening and optimizing payroll following the credit union’s recent conversion to ADP, building the controls, procedures, and process discipline that make every cycle accurate, timely, and compliant, and owning the full calendar through audits, reconciliations, tax reporting, and year-end.
• Building out the credit union’s HR technology, including ADP, BVS, Screensteps, and RingCentral: unlocking the full capabilities of each system, automating manual processes, and establishing the data integrity and governance practices that give leaders confidence in the credit union’s people data.
• Serving as steward and strategist for a generous, distinctive benefits program, owning the annual renewal and open enrollment cycle end to end, managing broker, consultant, and vendor relationships, and keeping the portfolio competitive, cost-effective, and clearly understood by every employee.
• Leading annual compensation planning, including market analyses and benchmarking, merit increases, incentive payouts, profit sharing, and salary structure reviews, and ensuring pay equity and regulatory compliance.
• Establishing workforce analytics as a true decision-support capability, building the enterprise dashboards and workforce metrics that inform executive leadership and Board reporting, and defining the function’s data governance standards and reporting methodologies.
• Hiring, coaching, and developing the Total Rewards team, building both the programs and the people who run them, and partnering across Accounting and Finance, Risk, Compliance, and operational leaders.
• Maintaining the policies, procedures, and controls that keep total rewards programs sound, including compliance with ERISA, COBRA, ACA, HIPAA, and applicable employment, payroll, and data privacy regulations.

Requirements/Skills Needed

• A bachelor’s degree in human resources, business administration, or finance, and ten years of related human resources, payroll, benefits, and/or compensation experience, including five or more years supervising in an HR department, or an equivalent combination of education and experience.
• Strong working knowledge of payroll, benefits, and compensation practice and regulatory compliance, along with federal and state employment laws; general knowledge of credit union operations valued.
• Strong financial and analytical skills, including the mathematical and statistical concepts that underpin data analysis and reporting, and strong research skills to ensure HR data integrity.
• ADP experience and advanced proficiency across Microsoft Office applications; experience with BVS, Screensteps, and RingCentral valued.
• Strong communication skills, with the ability to present abstract or detailed information to employees, managers, and leadership at every level.
• A builder’s mindset and a collaborative, consultative, people-first style, with proven judgment regarding sensitive information and the highest standards of integrity and confidentiality.

Compensation and Benefits:

The anticipated salary range for this position is $120,000-150,000, commensurate with experience. Benefits include four weeks of vacation, six sick days, three personal days, and eleven paid holidays annually, plus a paid birthday holiday; a choice of three medical plans (two HMO and one PPO) supported by a generous employer-funded Health Reimbursement Arrangement, with coverage effective on day one; dental and vision coverage; company-paid life and disability insurance; a 401(k) through Fidelity with company match plus an employer-paid profit sharing plan; eligible to participate in 457(b) plan; tuition reimbursement of up to $6,000 per year; student loan repayment assistance; and paid volunteer opportunities.

This is a hybrid position based at Jeanne D’Arc’s headquarters in Lowell, Massachusetts.

How to Apply

Applications will be reviewed on a rolling basis until the position is filled. Please email a copy of your resume and letter of interest, in confidence, to jeannedarcavp@turnerhrconsulting.com.

Jeanne D’Arc Credit Union is an Equal Opportunity Employer. All qualified candidates will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, age, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, veteran status, or disability.