People Business Partner

Do you love animals and the people who love them? Are you passionate about creating an environment where our team members can thrive and be their best self? NVA Canada is looking for a self-driven, trusted and outgoing People Business Partner to understand the business, form strong relationships, and able to distill information quickly, provide sound advice and strong solutions in support of our culture, values and business growth. This role will be based remotely, preferably around the Vancouver, BC area.

Reporting to the Manager, People Partners, our successful People Business Partner has both excellent communication and interpersonal skills as well as strategic thinking and organizational skills. The essence of the role is to understand the business beyond the People function to ensure we have fulfilled employees, superior operations and remain a community where we grow together. You are multi-faceted with a great mix of creativity and critical thinking skills, which enables you to succeed in a highly collaborative and fast-paced work environment.  

Some of What You’ll Do:

• Act as a strategic business partner to divisional and site leaders by understanding their unique client and business objectives and providing proactive counsel, recommendations and support to meet their needs.
• Partner with other People team colleagues (Learning Enablement, Payroll, People Operations) as well as the Recruitment team, to create and implement talent solutions to exceed business and employee needs.
• Provide day-to-day human resource guidance and advice related to employee culture and engagement, performance management, employee development and employment laws.
• Manage and resolve complex employee relations issues. Include guidance as to fair and legal resolutions, preparation/review of corrective action documents, performance improvement plans and terminations.
• Build strong relationships with all management teams, understand client expectations and site-specific challenges and provide advice and solutions to meet business needs while ensuring legal compliance and consistent application of company policies.
• Create, implement and monitor the application of site-specific employee policies and procedures to ensure compliance with labor laws, provincial and federal regulations, and sound business practices. 
• Conduct training sessions with managers and supervisors; identify and communicate the need for new/revised policies based on changing business needs and/or legal requirements.
• Conduct (or lead the activities of) all investigations into discrimination, harassment, wage/hour, or other labor law complaints, ensuring proper documentation, interviewing procedures, and follow up activities are taken.
• Responsible for various human resource projects, including ongoing opportunities for automation, efficiency, accuracy, cost-reduction, and/or improved legal compliance. Actively participate in continual strategic planning process to identify such projects, then create and execute plans to ensure on-time completion of deliverables.
• Partner with Learning Enablement to identify training and development needs for site managers to develop the technical skills and leadership capabilities. 

What Makes Someone a Good Fit?

• You’ve built strong relationships, have gotten to know the team and understand how to create an environment where they thrive.
• Minimum of 3 to 5 years of human resource experience required, including direct responsibility for employee relations, investigations, policy and procedure development and administration, and workers compensation. 
• Experience with multi-provincial operations highly preferred, as well as related experience in the veterinary industry, human health care or retail industry preferred; high-growth, progressive environments is desirable.
• Bachelor’s degree in HR, business or related field 
• HR certification (i.e., CHRP, CHRL) is an asset.
• Strong working knowledge of provincial employment law.
• Energetic and focused personality with a demonstrated ability to take initiative, successfully handle and prioritize multiple competing assignments and effectively manage deadlines.
• Professional, articulate and able to use good independent judgment and discretion.
• Outstanding verbal and written communication skills required. Ability to successfully interact at all levels of the organization, including with clients, while functioning as a team player required.
• Must demonstrate excellent writing skills and ability to articulate policies and procedures in a clear, concise manner.

Critical Competencies for Success in the Role:

• Think “how” instead of, “no.” Always look for creative solutions that achieve NVA Canada’s goals and mitigates risk.
• A servant culture leadership approach
• Demonstrated ability to build and maintain strong relationships across diverse populations and stakeholders
• Ability to travel (in the future up to 20%) 
• Ability to work independently, a self-starter with a “roll up your sleeves” approach to work 
• Dig, dig and then dig some more: find the root cause of the issue and help the leader resolve it. This may involve some radical candor, transparency and difficult conversations – all for the betterment of the business and our employees.
• Collaborate and leverage all of the capabilities we have on our team to create new learning opportunities, creative initiatives and sustainable programs that empower leaders and employees to make the most of their careers.
• Always focus on the heart of our success – our people. Help leaders create policies that are realistic yet compassionate and encourage desirable outcomes.
• Embrace new ideas and always assume positive intent – we are here to support each other to be the very best we can be. 
• Be purpose driven – fully embrace our sites’ missions and seek to truly understand what drives their employees to come to work every day.  
• The power to influence – it will be important to think systematically and holistically, considering historical perspectives, relationships capabilities and culture to help formulate your best guidance. 
• Collaboration: team player with the ability to work collaboratively within and outside of the core team
• Agility: ability to work in a dynamic environment and remain effective through ambiguity and change
• Strategy and Problem Solving: ability to grasp the “big picture” and translate it to practical solutions; ability to identify root causes and solve problems holistically
• Credibility and Trust: detail oriented; ability to manage confidential, sensitive information with discretion
• Business Acumen: demonstrate ability to learn organizations and systems quickly; solid understanding of business issues and challenges 

Compensation & Benefits:

• $90,000 - $100,000, commensurate with experience
• Eligible for annual incentive bonus
• Comprehensive health and dental benefits
• RRSP matching program
• Three weeks' vacation, plus floating holiday and personal day
• A collaborative and supportive team culture
• Additional benefits designed to support your wellbeing and success

A cornerstone of the NVA culture is a servant leadership approach to our business, our hospitals, our pet resorts and our teams. We find people who exemplify the same servant leadership approach are best suited for NVA. We are a support centre and community that cares for the care giver and dedicated to the love of animals and the people who love them.