Assistant Director of Human Resources

Assistant Director Of Human Resources

The Assistant Director of Human Resources serves as a senior leader within the Human Resources department and reports directly to the Vice President of Human Resources. The position provides leadership and oversight of HR operations while supporting the Vice President in executing the organization's human resources strategy.

The position serves as the primary leadership bridge between the Vice President of Human Resources and the HR Manager/HR Generalist, ensuring that strategic HR priorities are translated into effective day-to-day practices, programs, and processes.

The Assistant Director provides leadership to the HR team, handles complex and escalated employee matters, ensures consistency and accountability across HR programs, and supports organizational initiatives involving workforce planning, compensation, performance management, talent acquisition, employee relations, compliance, training, and employee development.

Unlike the Vice President, this position is not the organization's senior HR executive or primary executive advisor. However, the Assistant Director should have sufficient authority and judgment to make HR recommendations, direct HR operations, advise management, and act on behalf of the Vice President on specifically delegated matters.

Essential Duties and Responsibilities:

HR Department Leadership and Operational Oversight

• Provide leadership, coaching, direction, and oversight to the HR Manager, HR Generalist, and other assigned HR staff.
• Oversee the daily effectiveness of HR operations and ensure department priorities, deadlines, service expectations, and established procedures are consistently met.
• Translate priorities established by the Vice President of Human Resources into actionable assignments and department deliverables.
• Establish accountability for assigned HR responsibilities and follow up to ensure timely and accurate completion.
• Coach and develop HR staff to strengthen technical knowledge, judgment, communication, problem-solving, and independent decision-making.
• Review the quality and consistency of HR documentation, employee communications, investigations, disciplinary actions, recruiting activities, and other HR work products.
• Identify operational issues requiring intervention and implement corrective actions within delegated authority.
• Escalate significant organizational, legal, financial, employee-relations, or reputational risks to the Vice President.
• Provide leadership continuity for the HR department when the Vice President is unavailable on matters specifically delegated to the position.

Employee Relations and Management Support

• Serve as an escalation point for employee relations matters that require a higher level of HR judgment or intervention.
• Lead or oversee complex workplace investigations, employee complaints, disciplinary matters, performance concerns, workplace conflicts, and employment separations.
• Review significant disciplinary actions and termination recommendations for consistency, documentation, policy compliance, and employment risk before escalation to the Vice President when appropriate.
• Advise managers and supervisors regarding employee relations, performance management, attendance, workplace conduct, policy interpretation, documentation, and corrective action.
• Coach managers to take appropriate ownership of employee matters rather than relying on HR to make routine management decisions.
• Identify recurring employee-relations trends and recommend improvements to management practices, policies, communication, training, or organizational processes.
• Partner with the Vice President on highly sensitive, high-risk, or executive-level employee matters.

Performance Management and Leadership Development

• Oversee administration and consistent execution of the Company's performance management process.
• Review performance evaluations, development plans, performance improvement plans, and related documentation for quality and consistency.
• Coach managers regarding performance expectations, accountability, employee development, documentation, and difficult workplace conversations.
• Identify management-development needs and recommend training, coaching, or other interventions.
• Support the Vice President in developing leadership and supervisory training programs.
• Monitor performance-management trends and identify departments, managers, or organizational areas requiring additional HR support.
• Reinforce management accountability for employee performance and development.

Talent Acquisition, Staffing and Retention

• Provide leadership and oversight of recruiting and staffing activities managed by the HR team.
• Partner with managers to identify staffing needs and ensure recruiting priorities align with approved workforce requirements.
• Oversee recruiting processes, candidate selection practices, agency relationships, hiring documentation, onboarding, and new-hire integration.
• Monitor recruiting metrics, including vacancies, time to fill, candidate flow, offer acceptance, turnover, and other relevant measures.
• Address difficult-to-fill positions and recommend alternative recruiting strategies.
• Review hiring practices for consistency, effectiveness, compliance, and candidate experience.
• Support workforce planning, retention, succession, and internal-development initiatives led by the Vice President.
• Identify opportunities for internal promotion, cross-training, and employee development.

Compensation, Benefits and Recognitions

• Manage and coordinate annual compensation processes under the direction of the Vice President.
• Conduct and/or review market compensation analyses, job evaluations, job classifications, salary-range placement, promotion analyses, and internal-equity reviews.
• Support the maintenance of job architecture, salary structures, career levels, and job descriptions.
• Review compensation recommendations and identify potential internal-equity, compression, market-competitiveness, or policy concerns.
• Support the Vice President in preparing compensation recommendations and analyses for executive leadership and Finance.
• Provide leadership oversight of benefit administration and ensure employee benefit issues are resolved accurately and timely.
• Support benefit renewals, vendor evaluations, implementation activities, and employee communications.
• Oversee employee recognition and engagement programs assigned to HR.

Workforce and Organizational Planning

• Support the Vice President in evaluating organizational structures, staffing requirements, reporting relationships, workforce capacity, and position needs.
• Participate in workforce planning discussions with department leadership.
• Review requests for new positions, replacements, promotions, transfers, and organizational changes and provide HR recommendations.
• Support succession-planning and talent-development initiatives.
• Identify workforce capability gaps and recommend recruiting, training, development, or organizational solutions.
• Ensure job descriptions, classifications, reporting relationships, and organizational records remain current.
• Assist with organizational change initiatives and employee communications.

Compliance, Policy and Risk Management

• Monitor HR practices for compliance with applicable federal, state, and local employment laws and Company policies.
• Maintain current knowledge of New Jersey employment requirements and relevant federal employment laws.
• Review HR policies, procedures, practices, and employee communications and recommend revisions when necessary.
• Support handbook development and updates.
• Ensure employment actions are consistently documented and administered.
• Coordinate with the Vice President regarding matters requiring legal counsel or presenting significant employment risk.
• Support employment-related audits, regulatory reviews, hearings, unemployment matters, and other compliance activities.
• Ensure employee records and confidential HR documentation are appropriately maintained and safeguarded.
• Identify potential HR risks and recommend corrective or preventive actions.

HR Analytics, Systems and Process Improvement

• Monitor HR metrics and departmental KPIs established by the Vice President.
• Analyze turnover, recruiting, attendance, compensation, employee relations, performance management, and other workforce data.
• Identify trends, operational concerns, and opportunities for improvement and present recommendations to the Vice President.
• Oversee the accuracy and effective use of HRIS information and HR reporting.
• Identify opportunities to automate, streamline, standardize, and improve HR processes.
• Ensure HR procedures include appropriate controls, documentation, accountability, and follow-through.
• Support cost-reduction and efficiency initiatives while maintaining compliance and employee service.

Training and Employee Development

• Identify training needs based on employee relations trends, performance issues, organizational needs, compliance requirements, and manager feedback.
• Coordinate and oversee HR-sponsored training programs.
• Support development of supervisor and manager training.
• Monitor required training completion and appropriate documentation.
• Promote employee development, cross-training, advancement, and career-development opportunities.
• Support professional development and certification opportunities for HR staff.

Safety, Quality, and General Responsibilities

• Support the organization's workplace safety strategy and promote shared accountability for maintaining a safe work environment.
• Actively identify, correct, or report safety hazards to help prevent workplace accidents and injuries.
• Partner with operational leadership and appropriate internal resources on safety training, employee communication, corrective actions, and workforce-related safety initiatives.