Human Resources Business Partner

Our client, GPA, founded in 1940 and part of the Fedrigoni Group, brings over 85 years of expertise in specialty papers and materials to the North American market. Headquartered in McCook, IL, GPA is a trusted partner to printers, converters, and brand owners across the United States and Canada, known for its deep product intelligence, innovation, and service excellence.

Your Role in the Transformation

As HR Business Partner (HRBP), you will be based at GPA’s headquarters in McCook, IL and report to the HRBP Americas. In this pivotal role, you will be the sole HR presence on-site and the primary point of contact for approximately 100 employees, a mixed workforce of office professionals and warehouse/operations staff.

More than an administrator, you will be a visible, trusted presence on the floor: spending real time with employees, understanding what drives or hinders collaboration, and building the trust needed to shift the culture toward greater manager ownership and accountability. You will also serve as the critical bridge between GPA’s US operations and the Fedrigoni Group’s Italian headquarters, ensuring alignment on people practices, processes, and values.

Key Responsibilities

Employee Relations & Engagement

• Serve as the primary HR point of contact for all ~100 employees across office and operations functions.
• Be present and accessible, invest time on the floor to build relationships, understand team dynamics, and surface issues early.
• Address employee relations matters with care and rigor.
• Lead initiatives to strengthen on-site collaboration and foster a more cohesive, engaged workplace culture.

Manager Empowerment & Organizational Effectiveness

• Coach and equip managers to handle day-to-day people challenges.
• Support performance review cycles and guide managers through performance improvement conversations and documentation.
• Identify gaps in people practices and develop or improve HR processes to support a more scalable, manager-led model.

Talent Acquisition & People Operations

• Manage full-cycle recruitment across all functions and levels, from requisition through onboarding.
• Oversee onboarding, offboarding, and all related HR administration.
• Maintain accurate HR reporting and provide regular people metrics to leadership.

Compensation, Compliance & Benefits

• Support the HRBP Americas on annual salary review processes, compensation benchmarking, and budget planning.
• Ensure compliance with US federal, state, and local employment regulations across all HR activities.
• Administer and optimize benefits programs; serve as employee point of contact for benefits-related questions. (Strong compliance and benefits experience is a significant plus.)

What We’re Looking For

• Experience : 5+ years in a generalist HR role, ideally in a mixed or multi-function environment (office + operations/warehouse).
• Employee-first presence : Natural ability to connect with people at all levels, you are someone employees seek out and trust.
• Coach’s mindset : You believe in building manager capability, not creating dependency on HR.
• Process builder : Comfortable identifying what’s missing and creating structure where there is none.
• Compliance & benefits acumen : Working knowledge of US employment law; benefits administration experience is a strong plus.
• Cross-cultural agility : Comfortable navigating a European parent company context.
• Education : Bachelor’s degree in HR, Business Administration, or related field (Master’s/SHRM certification preferred).