Jason Shaeffer

About Jason Shaeffer

I’ve spent the last two decades realizing that the most complex business problems and opportunities are rooted in how people communicate when things get difficult the consistency of processes and the presence of leadership. Whether I am navigating complex transitions or scaling a team from ten to one hundred, my focus is on building a culture where urgency, transparency, commitment, and joy live in the same room.My career has been a series of pivots between grounded People strategy, hands-on management, and high-impact Learning and Development. I have found my superpower in de-escalation and supporting communication across diverse teams. I thrive when things are messy, helping teams move from crisis mode into a mission-driven culture. I love bridging the gap between C-suite vision and the daily reality of on-the-ground operations. I ensure that strategy actually works in daily practice, supports the mission and avoids risks.A few snapshots of what that looks like in practice:At Academy of Art University, I managed a 130-person team and a $16M budget to support $100M in revenue. My team included onboarding/training, content creation for over courses, application development, 24/7 helpdesk supporting 21 departments and students. I turned around a retention crisis at Urbana by overhauling the entire employee lifecycle, which resulted in a 30% increase in staff staying with the company.In my consulting work, I help leaders navigate the complexities of compliance without losing the heart of their company culture. My goal is always to reduce risk while creating the kind of consistency and stability that keeps teams together and engaged for the long haul.Outside of People operations, as much as possible, I’m in the cold water of the Bay with the Dolphin Club, swimming at China Beach, or trying to figure out the world of analog synthesis. Being a dad keeps me grounded, and my pro bono work for non-profits keeps me connected to why I started this career in the first place. I’m grateful for the opportunity to have an impact. If you are looking for an advisor to think through strategy or a partner to build and support your people ops from the ground up, I’d love to talk.

Experience

1. Human Resources Manager & Business Partner

   Urbana

   Oct 2022 — Present

   The Challenge: Navigating a rapidly evolving cannabis retail environment with complex compliance and retention challenges.Action and Results:Managed the full employee lifecycle across hiring, onboarding, development, and separation, creating more consistent and compliant people operationsIncreased employee retention by 30% through targeted improvements to hiring, onboarding, training, performance management, and communication practicesDesigned and implemented a formal employee review process to clarify expectations and strengthen accountability across teamsAuthored and produced a suite of online training courses supporting onboarding, compliance, and professional developmentImplemented and administered a Learning Management System and centralized employee portal to improve access to training and internal communicationManaged the full employee lifecycle across hiring, onboarding, development, and separation to create more consistent and compliant people operations

Education

• New College of California

  BA, LA

  2006 — 2007

• Academy of Art University

  MA Candidate, Multimedia Communication

  2010

Skills

• Online Education
• Community Outreach
• Learning Management Systems
• Recruiting
• Elearning
• Project Management
• Leadership
• Grant Writing
• Video
• Editing
• Teaching
• Facebook
• Management
• Team Building
• Crm
• Research
• Photoshop
• User Experience
• E-Learning
• Documentaries
• Adobe Creative Suite
• Social Media
• Public Speaking