Director of Human Resources

About the job

Job Description: The Director of Human Resources provides strategic and operational leadership for all human resources activities, partnering with executive leadership to align workforce initiatives with business objectives. The role oversees talent acquisition, workforce planning, employee relations, benefits, performance management, compliance, HR technology, analytics, and organizational development while maintaining scalable HR programs and systems that support a multistate workforce, employee engagement, organizational effectiveness, and informed decision-making.

Duties and Responsibilities:

Strategic HR Leadership

• Serve as the primary HR advisor to executive leadership and management.

• Develop and execute HR strategies aligned with organizational goals, operational priorities, and workforce needs.

• Identify workforce risks and recommend solutions related to staffing, organizational structure, succession planning, employee retention, and organizational change.

• Maintain knowledge of employment laws and emerging workforce trends affecting the organization.

Workforce Planning, Talent Development and Organizational Development

• Lead workforce planning, organizational design, job classification, and position-management activities.

• Oversee recruiting, hiring, onboarding, promotions, transfers, employment agreements, and offboarding in partnership with management.

• Establish consistent recruiting approvals, selection standards, candidate communications, documentation requirements, and pre-employment processes; monitor recruiting effectiveness and talent-pipeline needs.

• Lead performance management, leadership development, succession planning, employee development, and retention initiatives.

Employee Relations and Employment Risk

• Provide guidance regarding employee relations, workplace concerns, attendance, conduct, performance, discipline, policy interpretation, and employment separations.

• Conduct or oversee workplace investigations and review corrective actions, performance improvement plans, suspensions, and separations to ensure decisions are properly documented, consistently applied, and aligned with company policy and applicable law.

• Administer and monitor compliance with applicable federal, state, and local employment requirements, including wage and hour, EEO, employment eligibility, personnel records, protected leave, and disability accommodation obligations.

• Oversee FMLA, ADA accommodation processes, workers’ compensation, personal leave, return-to-work requirements, and related documentation.

• Partner with legal counsel and operational leadership to mitigate employment-related risk and support consistent policy administration.

• Foster a respectful workplace and monitor employee engagement, workforce feedback, retention trends, and organizational climate; recommend improvement initiatives where appropriate.

Compensation, Benefits, and HR Operations

• Oversee compensation, benefits, PTO, holiday, and employee leave programs, including open enrollment, eligibility, employee communications, vendor coordination, exceptions, and escalated issues.

• Partner with Finance and executive leadership regarding compensation administration, benefits strategy, payroll-related employment matters, workforce planning, and HR budget management.

• Lead HR operations, including policy administration, personnel records, service standards, process improvement, and development of practical policies, procedures, forms, guides, and employee resources.

• Ensure appropriate confidentiality, privacy, access controls, retention practices, and protection of employee information in accordance with company policy and applicable legal requirements.

HR Technology, Reporting, and Analytics

• Provide functional ownership of the HRIS and other HR-related systems, including data integrity, reporting, permissions, workflows, and system governance.

• Develop workforce reports, dashboards, and executive-level analysis related to staffing, recruiting, turnover, retention, headcount, leave, attendance, compliance, training, and workforce trends.

• Translate workforce information into practical recommendations that support leadership decisions and workforce planning.

• Partner with IT resources and external providers regarding HR-system support, integrations, access controls, security, and technical needs. General IT infrastructure, cybersecurity operations, hardware, networks, user support, and companywide IT vendor management are outside the scope of this position.

Department Leadership and Financial Management

• Directly supervise Human Resources staff and provide leadership, coaching, performance management, and developmental support to assigned personnel.

• Establish departmental priorities, service expectations, accountability measures, cross-training, and continuity coverage for critical HR functions.

• Manage the HR budget and evaluate HR programs, technology, vendors, subscriptions, recruiting expenditures, and professional services for effectiveness, compliance, cost, and organizational value.

Required Competencies

• Comprehensive knowledge of employment law, HR compliance, employee relations, investigations, and sound documentation practices.

• Strong strategic workforce-planning, organizational-development, leadership, coaching, communication, negotiation, conflict-resolution, and change-management skills.

• Sound judgment and the ability to assess risk, make practical recommendations, and manage sensitive matters with professionalism, discretion, neutrality, integrity, and appropriate urgency.

• Knowledge of compensation, benefits, leave administration, HR operations, HRIS governance, workforce analytics, and executive reporting.

• Proficiency with Microsoft Office and HR systems, including applicant-tracking, reporting, document-management, learning, and talent-management applications.

Education and Experience

Required

• Bachelor’s degree in Human Resources, Business Administration, Organizational Leadership, or a related field.

• Progressive Human Resources experience that includes employee relations, recruiting, compliance, policy administration, HR operations, HRIS, and workforce reporting.

Preferred

• Five or more years of progressive Human Resources experience, including three or more years of HR leadership or department-level responsibility.

• Experience supporting a multistate or geographically dispersed workforce and overseeing benefits, leave, investigations, workforce analytics, HR technology, and vendors.

• SHRM-CP, SHRM-SCP, PHR, SPHR, or comparable professional certification.

Other Duties

• This job description is not intended to contain a comprehensive listing of every activity, duty, or responsibility required of the position. Responsibilities may change based on organizational needs, provided that the primary purpose of the position remains leadership of the Human Resources function.