Senior Manager HR Business Partner - Boston

Tatte began with a simple belief: great food has the power to bring people together.

What started in a home kitchen has grown into a collection of bakeries and cafés inspired by Eastern Mediterranean and Levant traditions, where handcrafted food, exceptional coffee, warm hospitality, and beautiful spaces create moments of connection every day.

Our mission is simple: To Inspire, Care For, and Nurture Life. Every Day.

THE ROLE

As Tatte continues to grow across the Boston market, the Senior HR Business Partner will serve as the strategic People partner to field and regional leaders while also functioning as a subject-matter expert on employee relations, compliance, and risk mitigation. This role combines strategic HR leadership with hands-on ER case management, ensuring a consistent, values-driven approach to people practices across all cafés in the region. The incumbent will advise and coach operators, manage complex ER cases, ensure compliance with federal, Massachusetts, and local labor and employment requirements, and drive initiatives that foster engagement, accountability, and culture alignment. This role will serve as the most senior HR representative in the region, partnering closely with the Chief People Officer, RVP and Legal/Compliance teams. The Senior HRBP will also lead the development and execution of a regional People Plan that translates business priorities and people data into clear actions, owners, measures, and follow-through.  

KEY RESPONSIBILITIES

1. Strategic Business Partnership

• Serve as the primary HR leader across the Boston region, partnering closely with RVPs, District Managers, and Café Operating Partners (GMs) to align people strategies with business priorities.


• Translate operational and cultural goals into actionable HR strategies that drive performance, engagement, and operational excellence.


• Advise senior leaders on org design, workforce planning, & succession strategies to support market growth.


• Partner with RVP to build, maintain, and execute a regional People Plan covering workforce planning, employee relations/compliance, manager effectiveness, engagement & culture, field partnership, and people analytics.


• Recommend priorities using people data and field insight; align with the RVP on decisions, ownership, resources, success measures, and the operating cadence required to deliver the plan.

2. Employee Relations & Risk Management

• Lead all employee relations case management across the Boston region.


• Conduct investigations related to discrimination, harassment, retaliation, misconduct, & policy violations.


• Maintain a current ER case log, resolve matters within reasonable timelines, and complete recurring compliance audits with documented follow-through.


• Provide expert guidance on corrective action, progressive discipline, and performance management.


• Maintain comprehensive documentation and ensure consistent, fair, and legally compliant outcomes.


• Partner with Legal and Compliance to proactively identify and mitigate labor risk.

3. Labor Compliance & Regulatory Readiness

• Serve as Tatte's regional expert on federal, Massachusetts, and Boston labor and employment requirements, including wage and hour, earned sick time, paid leave, anti-discrimination, workplace safety, lactation accommodations, and required postings.


• Audit practices and systems to ensure full compliance across cafes.


• Partner with Compliance and Ops teams to design preventive controls, policy updates, and training initiatives.

4. New Cafe Openings & Market Expansion

• Lead all HR/ER readiness activities for new café openings in Boston area.


• Oversee compliance setup, onboarding, pre-opening staffing, and leadership coaching for new units.


• Build repeatable HR/ER playbooks and onboarding frameworks to support market scale.

5. Culture, Coaching & Performance Enablement

• Maintain a regular coaching cadence with DMs, GMs, and café leaders; facilitate talent calibration; and convert identified needs into practical development plans and succession actions.


• Coach cafe & district leaders on values-based leadership, conflict resolution, and performance conversations.


• Partner with L&D to identify and deliver ER-focused and leadership capability training.


• Reinforce Tatte's mission and values in all people practices to strengthen belonging, accountability, & inclusion.


• Lead engagement survey debriefs with café and district leaders, translate findings into one or two focused actions, and track commitments through completion.


• Maintain a consistent café visit and ride-along cadence, prioritizing higher-need locations and documenting observations, owners, and follow-up actions.

6. Data, Reporting & Insights

• Provide insights/follow-up on dashboards tracking turnover, headcount, open and at-risk roles, ER trends, compliance results, engagement, leadership bench strength, and café visit follow-through.


• Review the People Dashboard monthly with market leadership; use findings to update the regional People Plan.


• Analyze data to identify root causes and recommend proactive interventions.


• Present insights to senior leaders to guide decision-making and continuous improvement.

7. Cross-Functional Collaboration

• Partner with Talent Acquisition, L&D, Compliance, and Operations Services to ensure alignment on policies, practices, and communications.


• Represent the Boston market in enterprise People & Culture initiatives such as performance calibration, engagement survey actioning, and onboarding evolution.


• Build credibility through consistent field presence and sufficient understanding of labor, P&L, staffing, and operational drivers to solve people and business issues with DMs and the RVP.

PERFORMANCE EXPECTATIONS

• Performance will be assessed quarterly through the HRBP Performance Scorecard, incorporating both People and Operations perspectives.


• Success will be measured across six areas: Workforce Planning & Staffing; Employee Relations & Compliance; Manager Effectiveness & Coaching; Engagement & Culture; Business Partnership & Field Presence; and Strategic Alignment & People Analytics.


• The Senior HRBP is expected to keep staffing and hiring pipelines current, address turnover risks before they escalate, and support on-time people readiness for new café openings.


• The Senior HRBP is expected to strengthen manager capability, improve leadership bench and succession readiness, drive completion of engagement actions, reduce repeat ER risk, and use people data to influence market decisions.

QUALIFICATIONS & EXPERIENCE

Required:

• 7-10+ years of progressive HR experience, including 3+ years in a Senior HRBP or ER-focused leadership role.


• Deep expertise in federal, Massachusetts, and Boston employment requirements and hospitality compliance, including wage and hour, earned sick time, leave, anti-discrimination, & workplace safety requirements.


• Proven track record of managing complex ER investigations in multi-unit hospitality or retail environments.


• Experience opening and supporting new cafés or restaurants in the Boston market with full HR accountability.


• Strong coaching, communication, and influence skills across all organizational levels.

Preferred:

• Bachelor's degree in HR, Business, Hospitality, or related field.


• SHRM-CP, SHRM-SCP, or PHR certification.


• Experience with HRIS (UKG), LMS, or case management systems.


• Bilingual in Spanish strongly preferred.

KEY COMPETENCIES

• Strategic Partnership: Translates business goals into HR strategies that drive performance and engagement.


• Employee Relations Expertise: Manages complex investigations and ensures fair, compliant outcomes.


• Coaching & Influence: Builds trust and capabilities in leaders through clear, values-aligned guidance.


• Operational Excellence: Executes with urgency, precision, and accountability.


• Compliance & Risk Management: Maintains expert knowledge of multi-state labor laws & mitigates risk proactively.


• Culture Leadership: Champions belonging, respect, and warmth through every people interaction.


• Analytical Insight: Uses data to diagnose trends and guide strategy.


• Change Leadership: Adapts and leads through growth, ambiguity, and organizational scaling.


• People Planning & Execution: Builds an evidence-based regional People Plan with Operations, establishes clear ownership and measures, and sustains follow-through through a defined operating cadence.


• Business & Field Acumen: Understands café operations, labor, staffing, and P&L drivers and applies that context during field visits and leadership decisions.

OUR BENEFITS & PERKS

• Competitive Pay: $130,000 – $145,000 annually


• Target Bonus: 15%


• Health, dental, and vision insurance


• 401(k) with company match


• Paid vacation time


• Paid sick time


• Transportation benefits


• Flexible schedules


• Free meals and beverages during each shift


• Free mental health support


• Free Employee Assistance Program (EAP)


• An inclusive community that offers potential for growth

Learn more about us at tattebakery.com

Please note that Tatte is an E-Verify employer.