Director, HR Operations

Director, Hr Operations

The 1916 Company is a premier luxury watch and fine jewelry retailer with showrooms and boutiques across the US, Collector's Lounges in major domestic and international markets, and four international offices - with 25 locations in total. We are committed to delivering exceptional client experiences and building teams of extraordinary individuals who share our passion for excellence and the world's finest timepieces and jewelry.

The Director, HR Operations is a newly created senior role reporting directly to the COO. This role owns the operational and compliance backbone of the HR function - policies, benefits administration, payroll oversight, performance management, retail compliance, training programs, and company-wide HR communications and rollouts - ensuring that our people infrastructure scales reliably across 500 employees in 25 locations.

The Director, HR Operations works in close partnership with the Director, Strategic HR Business Partner and serves as a key thought partner to the COO and CFO on workforce planning, compliance strategy, and organizational effectiveness. Payroll processing is supported by coordinators jointly shared with Finance; this role owns payroll accuracy, compliance, and escalation. The HRIS Generalist carries a dotted-line to this role for benefits enrollment execution, compliance documentation, leave tracking support, and WorkRamp administration.

Key Responsibilities

Policies, Retail Compliance & the Employee Handbook

• Own the development, maintenance, and consistent application of all HR policies and procedures across all domestic locations.
• Maintain and update the employee handbook, ensuring compliance with federal, state, and local employment laws across all operating jurisdictions — with particular attention to California and multi-state wage-and-hour requirements.
• Own retail-specific compliance policy and monitoring: predictive scheduling laws, rest break requirements, wage-and-hour rules, and other location-specific obligations across all operating cities.
• Monitor regulatory changes and proactively assess impact on existing HR policy; develop and communicate responses in partnership with legal counsel as needed.
• Maintain audit-ready compliance reporting: EEO-1, ACA, FMLA tracking logs, and unemployment claims oversight.

Benefits Administration & Enrollment Compliance

• Own benefits enrollment administration and compliance — including open enrollment execution, qualifying life event processing, ACA reporting, ERISA compliance, and HIPAA data privacy requirements.
• Partner with the Director, HR Business Partner on plan design and vendor strategy; translate those decisions into compliant, well-executed enrollment processes and employee communications.
• Direct the HR & Systems Coordinator on benefits data entry in vendor portals and BambooHR, and on first-line employee benefits support escalations.
• Maintain audit-ready benefits records and ensure all required notices, filings, and disclosures are completed accurately and on time.

Payroll Oversight

• Oversee and administer multi-state payroll compliance in partnership with Finance-shared payroll coordinators — owning accuracy, compliance, and timely resolution of payroll issues across all locations.
• Stay up to date on payroll compliance rules & regulations changes in key states and lead implementation of changes that impact the company.
• Ensure payroll processes reflect current employee data, leave statuses, and compensation changes in coordination with the HR & Systems Coordinator.
• Serve as the escalation point for complex payroll questions involving multi-state taxation, or leave-related pay calculations.

Performance Management

• Own and administer the company-wide performance management cycle — including the monthly one-on-one review process, goal-setting frameworks, and year-end evaluation processes.
• Build and maintain the systems, templates, and cadences that make the performance management process consistent and actionable across all 25 locations.
• Partner with the Director, HR Business Partner on individual performance concerns and escalations that arise from the review cycle.
• Report on performance cycle completion, trends, and outcomes to the COO and operational leadership.

Training & Learning Development

• Own the company-wide training strategy — setting program priorities in partnership with operational leadership and the Director, HR Business Partner, and designing rollout plans that reach all 25 locations.
• Own the WorkRamp LMS platform: program architecture, content organization, learning path design, and vendor relationship. The HR & Systems Coordinator administers day-to-day platform tasks under this direction.
• Design and execute mandatory compliance training programs — harassment prevention, workplace safety, policy acknowledgments — with 100% completion tracking and audit-ready records.
• Partner with retail and corporate leadership to identify skill gaps and develop targeted training content.
• Report on training effectiveness and completion metrics to the COO and operational leadership.

HR Communications & Program Rollouts

• Develop and distribute all internal HR communications — policy updates, benefits notices, compliance announcements, performance cycle launches, and company-wide notices — with clarity and brand consistency.
• Lead planning and execution of all HR program rollouts across all locations, including change management communications, manager briefings, and employee education.
• Maintain HR intranet content and ensure all employee-facing HR resources are accurate, current, and accessible across all locations.

HR Technology

• Own the HR technology roadmap — evaluating new modules, integrations, and third-party tools; making recommendations to the COO on investment and implementation.
• Partner with IT to maintain clean data pipelines between BambooHR and adjacent platforms (payroll systems, WorkRamp, and other integrations).

Qualifications

Required

• 5-10 years of progressive HR experience with demonstrated depth in HR operations, compliance, and program management.
• Experience managing benefits enrollment administration and compliance (ACA, ERISA, HIPAA) in a multi-location organization.
• Experience designing and administering performance management programs across a distributed workforce.
• Experience managing multi-state payroll oversight in a geographically distributed organization.
• Strong command of federal, state, and local employment law including FMLA, ADA, FLSA, HIPAA, EEO, and CCPA.
• Demonstrated ability to design and execute training programs and complex HR program rollouts with change management communications.
• Exceptional written communication skills; able to translate complex HR topics into clear, accessible language for employees at all levels.
• Proficiency in HRIS platforms and Microsoft Office Suite.

Preferred

• Bachelor's degree in Human Resources, Business Administration, or related field.
• SHRM-SCP, SPHR, or equivalent senior HR certification.
• Experience in luxury retail, hospitality, or multi-site consumer brand environments.
• Familiarity with HR compliance, multi-currency payroll, and multi-state retail compliance obligations.
• Experience with LMS platforms (WorkRamp preferred) and learning program design.

Core Competencies

• Operational rigor and systems thinking
• Benefits administration and compliance expertise
• Performance management program design
• Multi-jurisdictional compliance and policy ownership
• Training program design and learning management
• Program rollout and change management execution
• HR technology stewardship