Regional HR Manager

Regional Human Resources Manager

The Regional Human Resources Manager is accountable for Ascent's enterprise people strategy, owning how the company identifies, attracts, recruits, develops, and retains top talent across a multi-site manufacturing organization.

This role designs, governs, and continuously improves the systems, standards, and leadership practices that enable Ascent to build a high-performing workforce at scale. This role will raise the consistency, quality, and effectiveness of our people processes across the organization.

Core Accountability Areas

1. Enterprise People Strategy Ownership

• Own and continuously evolve Ascent's end-to-end people strategy, including:
• Talent identification and workforce planning
• Employer positioning and talent attraction
• Recruiting strategy and selection standards
• Leadership development and capability building
• Retention, engagement, and succession planning
• Translate business and growth priorities into clear talent and workforce strategies
• Establish enterprise standards, success metrics, and accountability for all people-related outcomes

2. Enterprise HR Ownership & Direction

• Define and own Ascent's HR operating model, governance, and decision rights
• Set enterprise policies, frameworks, and standards while simplifying where possible
• Ensure consistency, rigor, and scalability across all sites as the business grows
• Eliminate fragmentation and redundancy in how HR work is performed

3. Leadership & Organizational Architecture

• Serve as the primary people advisor to the CEO and executive leadership team
• Own organizational design, leadership models, and succession planning
• Evaluate leadership effectiveness and intervene when structure, capability, or behavior limits performance
• Lead change management efforts tied to growth, restructuring, and performance improvement

4. Employee Relations Risk & Labor Strategy

• Own enterprise employee relations strategy and risk posture across union and non-union environments
• Serve as final escalation point for complex, high-risk, or precedent-setting employee matters
• Set labor relations strategy, including negotiation posture, bargaining principles, and governance
• Partner with Legal to manage investigations, disputes, and employment-related risk

5. Talent, Performance & Reward Architecture

• Design and govern enterprise frameworks for:
• Performance management and differentiation
• Leadership and professional development
• Succession planning and critical role coverage
• Compensation philosophy and incentive design
• Ensure reward and development systems reinforce accountability, results, and retention of top performers

6. HR Operating Model & Service Provider Ownership

• Own the HR operating model, including internal structure and external leverage
• Maintain direct accountability for all non-payroll HR-related service providers, including:
• Benefits administration
• Leave of absence and disability management
• Recruiting and search partners
• HRIS and people analytics vendors
• Employment counsel and labor advisors
• Set service standards, cost discipline, and performance expectations across the HR ecosystem

7. Cross-Functional Partnership

• Build strong, collaborative partnerships with Finance, Legal, IT, Operations, and the Payroll team
• Partner with Payroll leadership to:
• Simplify employee lifecycle touchpoints
• Drive efficiency and experience improvements while preserving clear ownership boundaries
• Manage all aspects of due diligence to support M&A

8. Evolution of Regional HR Execution

• Initially provide leadership, standards, and oversight for regional and site-level HR execution
• Over time, assume direct accountability for regional HR execution, consolidating responsibility and reducing unnecessary layers
• Ensure continuity of service while raising expectations for consistency, judgment, and impact

Qualifications

• 15+ years of progressive HR leadership experience in multi-site, manufacturing or industrial environments
• Strong written and verbal communication skills; strong ability to communicate with all levels of the workforce
• Demonstrated success owning enterprise talent strategies across the full employee lifecycle
• Proven ability to design systems, govern execution, and absorb responsibility as organizations scale
• Strong judgment in employee relations, labor strategy, and executive decision-making
• Experience operating in public or highly regulated environments strongly preferred

Success Looks Like

• Ascent consistently identifies, attracts, develops, and retains top talent
• Leaders are accountable for people outcomes, not just results
• HR operates as a unified, disciplined system rather than a collection of local practices
• Employee relations risk is proactively managed and reduced