Karen Novak is a Chief Human Resources Officer with extensive experience in people strategy and organizational development across industrial and infrastructure-focused businesses. At CEC Energy Services, she leads the company’s HR function, overseeing talent strategy, leadership development, compensation, and organizational effectiveness to support performance, growth, and a strong safety and accountability culture.

Karen brings more than two decades of human resources leadership experience, with a track record of building practical, scalable people systems aligned to business needs. She has led initiatives in talent acquisition, workforce planning, leadership development, and organizational design across multi-site operations, focused on strengthening execution and improving organizational effectiveness.

Prior to joining CEC, Karen held senior human resources leadership roles in engineering, construction, and industrial organizations, partnering with executive teams through periods of growth and organizational change. Her work has included performance management, compensation strategy, and leadership development, supporting alignment between people strategy and business priorities.

She holds a Bachelor of Science in Labor and Industrial Relations with a minor in Business from Penn State University. Karen is known for a practical, business-focused approach to HR, focused on enabling leaders, strengthening teams, and improving organizational performance.