Director of People Operations (Must live within 20 miles of South LA)

Job Description

Job Description

Job Summary: The Director of People Operations is responsible for the overall health, effectiveness, and compliance of People Operations within their assigned client group. This role provides strategic leadership and operational oversight of workforce health data and analytics, organizational effectiveness, leadership capability, employee relations, compliance, and operational stability. The Director proactively identifies trends, mitigates risks, and partners with operational leadership to implement strategies that strengthen organizational performance and improve employee outcomes.

The Director also leads and develops the People Operations team, ensuring the consistent, accurate, and compliant execution of core HR processes, including onboarding, offboarding, benefits and leave administration, 401(k) administration, employee relations investigations in partnership with the People Operations Business Partner, HR compliance, audits, and required regulatory filings. The Director is accountable for maintaining a comprehensive view of the organization's people and compliance landscape and is expected to regularly assess and address:

The Director is expected to regularly assess and address:

• Workforce health and employee engagement – Monitor employee engagement, morale, attendance, performance trends, and overall workforce well-being to identify opportunities that improve the employee experience, productivity, and organizational effectiveness.
• Organizational and operational risks – Identify, assess, and mitigate people-related risks that could impact business operations, including workforce disruptions, organizational changes, succession gaps, employee relations concerns, and compliance exposures.
• Leadership effectiveness and manager capability – Evaluate leadership effectiveness and provide coaching, guidance, and development to strengthen management capability, accountability, decision-making, and consistent application of company policies and practices.
• Employee retention and workforce stability – Analyze turnover, retention, staffing trends, and workforce planning metrics to identify root causes and implement strategies that improve retention, workforce continuity, and long-term organizational stability.
• Regulatory and policy compliance – Ensure compliance with federal, state, and local employment laws, company policies, HR processes, audits, required filings, and documentation standards while proactively identifying and addressing compliance risks.
• Safety trends and workplace culture – Partner with operational leaders to promote a safe, respectful, and inclusive workplace by monitoring safety trends, workplace concerns, policy adherence, and behaviors that support a positive organizational culture.
• Talent acquisition performance and staffing readiness – Oversee recruiting effectiveness, staffing levels, recruiting metrics (time to hire, quality hire, manager satisfaction, et.) hiring timelines, recruiter productivity and KPI attainment for the Directors direct/indirect reports and workforce readiness to ensure operational needs are met with qualified talent and proactive workforce planning.
• People Operations service delivery and responsiveness – Ensure the People Operations team delivers timely, accurate, and consistent PO support by monitoring service quality, responsiveness, execution of core PO processes, and continuous process improvement.

Essential Duties:

· Manages the daily workflow for their respective business units. Provide guidance to the People Operations team including resolving inquiries, concerns, escalated questions, or operational needs from the team.

· Provide support and guidance to People Operations HR faculty, management, and other faculty when complex, specialized, and sensitive questions and issues arise; may be required to administer and execute routine tasks in delicate circumstances such as providing reasonable accommodations, investigating allegations of wrongdoing, and terminations.

· Develop and build strong business partnerships with all levels of management.

· Assists the People Operations Business Partner with complex employee relations issues. Ensures effective, thorough, and objective investigations. Handles discipline and termination of employees in accordance with company policy and in-house legal.

· Change Management - Lead and support organizational change initiatives to drive successful adoption, minimize disruption, and achieve business objectives.

· Travel to Various Work Sites – Travel as needed to support operations, strengthen leadership partnerships, assess workforce health, and ensure consistent execution of People Operations strategies.

· Performance Management – Provide strategic oversight of performance management by coaching leaders, driving accountability, addressing performance concerns, and fostering a high-performance culture.

· Responsible for managing and addressing escalations for all People Operations matters.

· At the discretion of the Head of People Ops may collaborate with Finance to ensure final pay is processed accurately and in compliance with company policy and applicable regulations, including submission of timesheets and required supporting documentation.

Success in this role will be measured through key People Operations and operational performance indicators, including but not limited to:

Workforce Health: Employee turnover and retention, vacancy rates and staffing levels, workforce stability and faculty engagement and organizational climate

Employee Relations & Compliance: Volume and resolution of employee relations matters, timely completion and quality of workplace investigations, compliance with employment laws, company policies, regulatory requirements and audit readiness and corrective action completion.

People Operations Service Delivery: Pipefy (HR Ticketing System) ticket volume, aging, and backlog management, PO service level agreement (SLA) performance and timeliness and accuracy of employee lifecycle transactions.

Leadership Effectiveness: Completion and quality of performance evaluations, manager accountability and coaching effectiveness, leadership development and succession readiness and corrective action quality and consistency.

Safety & Risk Management: Partnership with Safety Manager and Senior PO Leadership to improve workplace safety outcomes.

Education and Experience:

· Required: 15 + years of experience in Human Resources management role in California.

· Ten years of HR Management experience in California.

· Must live within 20 miles of South Los Angeles - to respond in person to weekend and evening issues and emergencies.

· Excellent organizational skills, time management, and attention to detail.

· Strong functional HR knowledge: is well versed in fields of the HR function and stays current in emerging talent practices and developments.

· Proven track record of successfully working at all levels of the organization, demonstrating influence and client consulting skills with employees, managers, and senior leadership.

· Demonstrated ability to understand complex business issues and develop HR initiatives/actions based on data and analytics to support business strategies.

· Demonstrated process capabilities and metrics-driven, able to manage complex projects across multiple partners.

· Excellent interpersonal, negotiation, and conflict-resolution skills. Skilled in communicating with diverse clients, both 1:1, in large groups, and at any level within the organization

· Strong analytical and problem-solving skills.

· Ability to prioritize tasks and delegate them when appropriate.

· Knowledge of federal, state, and local laws and statutes which govern policies and practices of hiring, compensation and benefits, and general employment.

· Experience with HR legal issues and working with legal counsel.

· Ability to act with integrity, professionalism, and confidentiality.

· Thorough knowledge of employment-related laws and regulations.

· Proficient with Microsoft Office Suite or related software.

· Preferred: Bachelor’s degree in human resources management or equivalent

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Certifications or Licenses:

Required: Valid Driver License and Automobile Insurance

Skills/Abilities:

· Ability to establish effective working relationships with faculty/staff, groups, agencies, officials, and departments.

· Ability to interpret rules, regulations, guidelines and legislation as they pertain to reporting responsibility.

· Ability to communicate verbally in a clear and concise manner to explain procedures to peers and staff/faculty.

· Ability to retain and recall information regarding reporting requirements for this project.

· Ability to organize work to meet deadlines.

· Ability to maintain effective working relationships with multi-disciplinary team.

· Ability to work co-operatively with a multi-disciplinary team.

· Excellent interpersonal, written communications and typing skills.

ADA Information:

Physical Requirements:

· Faculty must frequently lift and/or move up to 25 pounds.

· Frequently required to sit and/or stand for extended periods of time.

· Frequently sitting and typing for extended periods of time.

· Occasionally required to reach, walk, climb, pull, push, grasp, stretch, stoop.

· Frequently required talk, hear, see, and use repetitive motions.

· Frequently able to communicate verbally and in written form.

· Frequently able to use all types of vision, such as close vision, distance vision, color vision, peripheral vision, and depth perception, to complete daily tasks.

Mental Demands:

· Ability to thrive in an environment that requires one to adapt to changing circumstances.

· Ability to professionally work under pressure with difficult or temperamental students & faculty.

· Ability to handle mental and emotional stress related to position.

Work Conditions:

· Generally, in an indoor office setting.

Environmental Conditions:

· The noise level in the work environment is moderate but can be loud.

· The temperature in the work environment is usually moderate to cool but can be cold or hot.

Travel:

· Up to 50% travel to sites across California and two locations in Tucson, Arizona, based on business needs and workforce health data and priorities.