Charles Smith

#OpenToWork — actively interviewing for CHRO, Chief People Officer, SVP HR, & Head of People roles in entertainment, retail, manufacturing, beauty, and consumer brands. Open to public, PE-backed, & high-growth private companies. Based in Los Angeles. I am a Chief Human Resources Officer with 25+ years architecting people strategy, talent management, & organizational transformation for multinational companies across entertainment, manufacturing, retail, beauty, CPG, wholesale, & e-commerce. I have led HR for public companies, PE-backed portfolios, and scrappy startups — and partnered directly with CEOs, Boards, & Compensation Committees on the decisions that actually move enterprise value.WHAT I DOI build the people infrastructure that lets companies scale, integrate, restructure, & IPO without breaking. That means executive compensation and equity design, succession planning, M&A workforce integration, DEI strategy, HRIS implementation across Workday, ADP, UKG, Dayforce, and SAP SuccessFactors — and the crisis response work that does not show up on a job description but defines whether a company survives the quarter. WHAT I HAVE DELIVERED• Led HR through a full IPO cycle — FAS123R reporting, equity design, CIC/280G analysis, & Insider reporting.• Drove 100% gender pay parity in leadership and lifted diverse leadership representation by 22% through compensation analysis & inclusive hiring.• Delivered 19% operational efficiency gain & 36% absenteeism reduction in manufacturing through people analytics & HR automation.• Reduced time-to-fill by 50% & recruitment costs by 87% at a 280-store national retailer through ATS rationalization & employer branding.• Pulled voluntary turnover below 12% in corporate & 33% in retail at a publicly traded fashion brand through competency-based training & inclusive hiring. HOW I OPERATEI am hands-on. I read the financials, sit in the Comp Committee, build the HRIS roadmap, & write the layoff communications myself when the moment calls for it. RAPID, RACI, Agile HR, and Scrum for HR are part of my operating system — not buzzwords on a slide. I work best with CEOs & Boards who want a strategic partner who can also operate. WHAT I AM LOOKING FORA CHRO, Chief People Officer, SVP HR, or VP HR seat at a multi-brand or multi-entity organization in entertainment, retail, manufacturing, beauty, or consumer brands. Public, PE-backed, or high-growth private all welcome. Hybrid, remote-first, or on-site across Los Angeles, San Francisco, & the broader U.S. smith.c.m@me.com  |  415-828-9455  |  #OpenToWork