Human Resources Manager

Human Resources (HR) Manager (Full-Time)

The Human Resources Manager leads the organization's people operations, acting as a strategic partner to leadership while overseeing daily HR functions. This role is responsible for driving talent acquisition, cultivating a high-performance culture, managing employee relations, and ensuring all workplace practices align with company values, employment laws, and contracting requirements. Responsible for the cycle of an employee from recruitment, job offers, negotiations, timesheets, payroll, benefits, reviews, escalations of pay to terminations.

Key Responsibilities

• Talent Acquisition & Onboarding: Direct the full recruitment lifecycle, including workforce planning, job description creation, sourcing, interviewing, and offer negotiations, and maintain an engaging onboarding program for all new hires, with a specialized focus on recruiting cleared or clearable talent for defense projects.
• Employee Relations & Culture: Serve as the primary advisor for employee coaching, conflict resolution, and disciplinary actions. Champion initiatives that drive employee engagement, retention, and workplace inclusivity within a defense-focused environment.
• Performance & Talent Management: Oversee performance review cycles, goal-setting frameworks, and professional development programs. Guide managers through performance improvement plans (PIPs) and leadership succession planning tailored to technical and engineering defense teams.
• Compensation & Benefits Oversight: Partner with leadership to benchmark, design, and administer competitive compensation structures, health plans, and retirement benefits that remain compliant with government contracting standards and cost accounting principles.
• Compliance, Security & Risk Management: Ensure strict adherence to federal, state, and local labor regulations (e.g., FMLA, ADA, EEOC, FLSA, OSHA), as well as specific DoD contractor requirements - such as Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs (OFCCP) affirmative action plans, Service Contract Act (SCA) or Davis-Bacon compliance where applicable, and coordination with Facility Security Officers (FSOs) for employee security clearance processing. Proven expertise in multi-state tax compliance, with responsibility for ensuring adherence to payroll and employment tax regulations for employees located in up to 15 states.
• HR Data & Strategy: Utilize HR information systems (HRIS) to track key metrics (turnover, time-to-fill, security clearance pipelines), providing data-driven insights to leadership.

Qualifications and Skills

• Education: Bachelor's degree in Human Resources, Business Administration, or related field.
• Experience: 4+ years of progressive experience in human resources management, with demonstrated success in employee relations and talent acquisition. Specific experience or strong familiarity with the Department of War (DOW) contractor industry, including understanding security clearances (Secret/Top Secret) and government compliance regulations (OFCCP, DCAA-compliant compensation guidelines), is required.
• Certifications: Professional certification (e.g., SHRM-CP, SHRM-SCP, PHR, or SPHR) is strongly preferred.
• Technical Acumen: Proficiency in HRIS platforms, applicant tracking systems (ATS), and Microsoft Office Suite. Must also demonstrate the ability to adapt to and effectively utilize new and emerging technologies.
• Competencies: Exceptional emotional intelligence, active listening, and conflict resolution skills; high integrity when handling confidential and classified personnel information; and sound decision-making capabilities.

Location: New Bern, NC this will be a hybrid position with approximately two (2) days in office at New Bern, NC.

Salary: $49 - $57 per hour