Vice President, People Strategy
About the role
PLATFORM Insurance is a national, privately owned Canadian brokerage specializing in insurance, surety, group retirement & benefits, and life & estate solutions. We are driven by industry at the heart of everything we do. Our team blends sophisticated expertise with strategic thinking, ensuring that our tailored solutions exceed client expectations. PLATFORM operates through focused industry groups that own their client relationships, their revenue, and their teams end-to-end. Rather than building a large, centralized bureaucracy, we've bet on smaller, high-performing teams supported by strong systems and smart use of technology. It's a model that produces better outcomes for clients – and better careers for the people who join us. We're growing nationally, and we're building the institutional infrastructure to match.
The Opportunity This is a builder role. PLATFORM is seeking a Vice President, People Strategy to design and scale the people architecture that enables our next stage of growth. You'll partner directly with executive leadership to build the systems, frameworks, and leadership infrastructure that allow us to attract exceptional talent, maintain a high-performance culture and grow without losing what makes us effective. This role blends strategy with hands-on execution. You won't be inheriting a mature HR function – you'll be shaping one. If you thrive in environments where the work is meaningful, the mandate is real and the organizational chart is still being written, this is the role for you.
What You'll Own Talent Strategy & Acquisition
- Develop and execute PLATFORM's enterprise talent strategy in alignment with industry group growth and national expansion plans
- Build proactive pipelines for senior account executives, industry specialists, and enterprise leaders
- Standardize hiring workflows and evaluation frameworks to maintain consistent talent quality across the firm
- Lead recruiting for strategic hires, team and acquisition integrations
- Strengthen PLATFORM's employer brand and candidate experience in competitive markets
Performance Management & Leadership Development
- Implement structured performance management processes tied to productivity, accountability and cultural expectations
- Build career progression frameworks and promotion criteria that create clarity and motivation
- Design leadership development programs for emerging and senior leaders across the firm
- Reinforce a culture of direct feedback, high standards, and continuous improvement
Organizational Effectiveness
- Partner with executive leadership on organizational design as the firm scales nationally
- Establish onboarding frameworks that accelerate cultural integration and productivity
- Support integration of new teams and acquisitions
- Maintain clarity around roles, decision rights and leadership accountability as the organization grows
Compensation & Total Rewards
- Manage compensation benchmarking, salary bands and incentive alignment
- Partner with Finance to ensure compensation structures reflect industry group economics and long-term retention goals
- Support evolution of incentive structures, equity participation and performance-based rewards
- Help ensure that top performers feel the firm's rewards match their contribution
People Systems & Analytics
- Implement scalable HR systems and reporting infrastructure
- Track key workforce metrics: hiring velocity, top performer retention, leadership pipeline health, and productivity per employee
- Leverage modern HR technology and automation across recruiting, onboarding and performance management
- Partner with PLATFORM's executive leadership to ensure people systems evolve alongside AI and workflow tools
Experience
- 10–15+ years of progressive People or HR leadership, with meaningful time in a senior or VP-level role
- Background in professional services, financial services, insurance or similarly performance-driven environments is strongly preferred
- Demonstrated track record building scalable people processes in a growing organization
- Experience supporting growth through acquisitions or rapid hiring cycles is a significant asset
- Exposure to incentive design, performance management systems and organizational development
How You Work
- High agency – you take ownership of problems and drive them to resolution without waiting for permission
- Strong commercial instincts; you understand how the business makes money and you build people strategies that support it
- Executive presence and genuine ability to influence senior leaders
- Equally comfortable with strategic design and hands-on execution
- Curious about how AI and technology are reshaping workforce productivity in professional services
- Discreet, sound in judgment and trusted by the leaders you partner with
Why PLATFORM Real mandate. This isn't a seat at the table – it's a role where you design the table. You'll have direct access to executive leadership and genuine influence over how this firm grows.
A model that works. PLATFORM's industry group structure attracts serious professionals who want to own their book and build their practice. The people you'll be recruiting and developing are high performers – and they expect the firm's people infrastructure to match.
The right moment. PLATFORM is at an inflection point – scaling nationally, integrating new teams, and professionalizing its enterprise capabilities. The VP, People Strategy will help set the foundation for what this firm becomes over the next decade.
Competitive package. Base salary commensurate with experience, performance-based incentives allowing meaningful participation in the firm's long-term success.
Salary Range $180,000 to $200,000
About PLATFORM
PLATFORM stands at the forefront of navigating complex landscapes, offering unparalleled expertise in tailoring effective risk transfer solutions to meet both your general insurance and complex risk needs. With deep roots in construction, real estate, and other key industry verticals with our expanding team of professional advisors, our approach goes beyond mapping exposures; we are dedicated to helping our clients manage the increasing volatility of risks and enhancing their risk maturity. This drives better business outcomes, ensuring our clients are protected and positioned to thrive in an ever-changing environment.
Whether it’s crafting a comprehensive package for a local contractor, negotiating intricate terms for a large-scale infrastructure project, or restructuring and optimizing your global employee benefits program, our team deals with a wide spectrum of challenges and will collaborate closely with you to safeguard your business. We take pride in our consultative methodology, offering insight into insurance products our clients wish to acquire. We believe that knowledge is power ‒ especially when it comes to protecting your investments. As your broker, we ensure that you have a thorough understanding of your coverage, empowering you to make informed decisions.
Our goal is to provide our clients with a foundation for protection, growth, strategic advantage, and unwavering reliability. We believe that building business partnerships on these cornerstones fosters strong, mutually beneficial relationships that deliver both immediate and enduring advantages. By choosing PLATFORM, you gain a partner with a proven track record and the expertise necessary to equip your team with the advice, resources, and protection your business and assets demand. With us by your side, you can focus on your core operations, confident in the knowledge that your risk management needs are in capable hands.
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Vice President, People Strategy
About the role
PLATFORM Insurance is a national, privately owned Canadian brokerage specializing in insurance, surety, group retirement & benefits, and life & estate solutions. We are driven by industry at the heart of everything we do. Our team blends sophisticated expertise with strategic thinking, ensuring that our tailored solutions exceed client expectations. PLATFORM operates through focused industry groups that own their client relationships, their revenue, and their teams end-to-end. Rather than building a large, centralized bureaucracy, we've bet on smaller, high-performing teams supported by strong systems and smart use of technology. It's a model that produces better outcomes for clients – and better careers for the people who join us. We're growing nationally, and we're building the institutional infrastructure to match.
The Opportunity This is a builder role. PLATFORM is seeking a Vice President, People Strategy to design and scale the people architecture that enables our next stage of growth. You'll partner directly with executive leadership to build the systems, frameworks, and leadership infrastructure that allow us to attract exceptional talent, maintain a high-performance culture and grow without losing what makes us effective. This role blends strategy with hands-on execution. You won't be inheriting a mature HR function – you'll be shaping one. If you thrive in environments where the work is meaningful, the mandate is real and the organizational chart is still being written, this is the role for you.
What You'll Own Talent Strategy & Acquisition
- Develop and execute PLATFORM's enterprise talent strategy in alignment with industry group growth and national expansion plans
- Build proactive pipelines for senior account executives, industry specialists, and enterprise leaders
- Standardize hiring workflows and evaluation frameworks to maintain consistent talent quality across the firm
- Lead recruiting for strategic hires, team and acquisition integrations
- Strengthen PLATFORM's employer brand and candidate experience in competitive markets
Performance Management & Leadership Development
- Implement structured performance management processes tied to productivity, accountability and cultural expectations
- Build career progression frameworks and promotion criteria that create clarity and motivation
- Design leadership development programs for emerging and senior leaders across the firm
- Reinforce a culture of direct feedback, high standards, and continuous improvement
Organizational Effectiveness
- Partner with executive leadership on organizational design as the firm scales nationally
- Establish onboarding frameworks that accelerate cultural integration and productivity
- Support integration of new teams and acquisitions
- Maintain clarity around roles, decision rights and leadership accountability as the organization grows
Compensation & Total Rewards
- Manage compensation benchmarking, salary bands and incentive alignment
- Partner with Finance to ensure compensation structures reflect industry group economics and long-term retention goals
- Support evolution of incentive structures, equity participation and performance-based rewards
- Help ensure that top performers feel the firm's rewards match their contribution
People Systems & Analytics
- Implement scalable HR systems and reporting infrastructure
- Track key workforce metrics: hiring velocity, top performer retention, leadership pipeline health, and productivity per employee
- Leverage modern HR technology and automation across recruiting, onboarding and performance management
- Partner with PLATFORM's executive leadership to ensure people systems evolve alongside AI and workflow tools
Experience
- 10–15+ years of progressive People or HR leadership, with meaningful time in a senior or VP-level role
- Background in professional services, financial services, insurance or similarly performance-driven environments is strongly preferred
- Demonstrated track record building scalable people processes in a growing organization
- Experience supporting growth through acquisitions or rapid hiring cycles is a significant asset
- Exposure to incentive design, performance management systems and organizational development
How You Work
- High agency – you take ownership of problems and drive them to resolution without waiting for permission
- Strong commercial instincts; you understand how the business makes money and you build people strategies that support it
- Executive presence and genuine ability to influence senior leaders
- Equally comfortable with strategic design and hands-on execution
- Curious about how AI and technology are reshaping workforce productivity in professional services
- Discreet, sound in judgment and trusted by the leaders you partner with
Why PLATFORM Real mandate. This isn't a seat at the table – it's a role where you design the table. You'll have direct access to executive leadership and genuine influence over how this firm grows.
A model that works. PLATFORM's industry group structure attracts serious professionals who want to own their book and build their practice. The people you'll be recruiting and developing are high performers – and they expect the firm's people infrastructure to match.
The right moment. PLATFORM is at an inflection point – scaling nationally, integrating new teams, and professionalizing its enterprise capabilities. The VP, People Strategy will help set the foundation for what this firm becomes over the next decade.
Competitive package. Base salary commensurate with experience, performance-based incentives allowing meaningful participation in the firm's long-term success.
Salary Range $180,000 to $200,000
About PLATFORM
PLATFORM stands at the forefront of navigating complex landscapes, offering unparalleled expertise in tailoring effective risk transfer solutions to meet both your general insurance and complex risk needs. With deep roots in construction, real estate, and other key industry verticals with our expanding team of professional advisors, our approach goes beyond mapping exposures; we are dedicated to helping our clients manage the increasing volatility of risks and enhancing their risk maturity. This drives better business outcomes, ensuring our clients are protected and positioned to thrive in an ever-changing environment.
Whether it’s crafting a comprehensive package for a local contractor, negotiating intricate terms for a large-scale infrastructure project, or restructuring and optimizing your global employee benefits program, our team deals with a wide spectrum of challenges and will collaborate closely with you to safeguard your business. We take pride in our consultative methodology, offering insight into insurance products our clients wish to acquire. We believe that knowledge is power ‒ especially when it comes to protecting your investments. As your broker, we ensure that you have a thorough understanding of your coverage, empowering you to make informed decisions.
Our goal is to provide our clients with a foundation for protection, growth, strategic advantage, and unwavering reliability. We believe that building business partnerships on these cornerstones fosters strong, mutually beneficial relationships that deliver both immediate and enduring advantages. By choosing PLATFORM, you gain a partner with a proven track record and the expertise necessary to equip your team with the advice, resources, and protection your business and assets demand. With us by your side, you can focus on your core operations, confident in the knowledge that your risk management needs are in capable hands.