Human Resources & Safety Manager

Capitol Engineering Co. is an AISC-certified heavy industrial steel fabricator founded in Phoenix in 1937. We are seeking a Human Resources & Safety Manager to lead human resources operations and the company's safety program at our fabrication facility.

As the company's primary HR and safety leader, this position manages the full employee lifecycle, advises leadership, supports supervisors, and promotes consistent employment and safety practices across our shop and office teams.

The Human Resources & Safety Manager is responsible for employee relations, recruiting, benefits and leave administration, HR compliance, HR systems, performance management, and the company's safety and workers' compensation programs. This role also uses workforce and safety data to anticipate staffing needs, identify trends, recommend improvements, and keep senior leadership informed.

This is a hands-on position that works closely with operations leadership, shop supervisors, and accounting. Regular presence on the shop floor is expected to build relationships with employees, understand operational risks, and help maintain a safe, compliant, and productive workplace.

Key Responsibilities

Employee Relations and Leadership Support

• Serve as the primary point of contact for employee questions, concerns, and workplace issues.
• Advise and coach managers and supervisors on performance, attendance, communication, conflict resolution, corrective action, and employee development.
• Conduct workplace investigations and maintain objective, thorough, and confidential documentation.
• Coordinate disciplinary actions and employment separations with leadership.
• Promote consistent application of company policies and recommend policy or procedural improvements as the business evolves.
• Identify employee-relations trends and recommend practical solutions to improve communication, accountability, retention, and workplace effectiveness.

Recruiting, Onboarding, and Offboarding

• Manage recruiting for shop, skilled-trades, administrative, and professional positions, including job postings, candidate screening, interviews, offers, and pre-employment processes.
• Partner with hiring managers to identify staffing needs, define position requirements, and support timely hiring decisions.
• Manage staffing-agency relationships and temporary employee assignments, including safety orientation and workplace conduct expectations.
• Administer pre-employment screening, background checks, and drug testing in accordance with company policy.
• Manage onboarding, Form I-9 and E-Verify requirements, new-hire safety orientation, and required employee acknowledgments and notices.
• Coordinate offboarding, exit feedback, employee records, and required notifications to payroll and benefit providers.
• Monitor recruiting and hiring metrics and identify opportunities to improve candidate quality, hiring efficiency, and retention.

Safety Program and Workers' Compensation

• Lead and continuously improve the company's safety program in partnership with operations leadership and shop supervisors, with a primary focus on OSHA/ADOSH general industry requirements applicable to a heavy fabrication environment.
• Maintain and periodically review written safety programs and procedures, including hazard communication, lockout/tagout, personal protective equipment, powered industrial trucks, overhead cranes and rigging, welding and cutting, respiratory protection, hearing conservation, emergency response, and other applicable programs.
• Monitor changes in applicable safety regulations and recommend updates to company policies, procedures, training, and practices.
• Coordinate new-hire safety orientation, recurring safety training, toolbox talks, and required equipment certifications and qualifications, and maintain accurate training records.
• Conduct or coordinate shop safety inspections, hazard assessments, and job hazard analyses with supervisors and employees, and track corrective actions through completion.
• Lead or support investigations of injuries, incidents, property damage, and near misses, including root-cause analysis, documentation, corrective actions, and follow-up.
• Oversee OSHA injury and illness recordkeeping, including Forms 300, 300A, and 301, annual posting requirements, electronic submission where applicable, and required serious-injury reporting to ADOSH.
• Manage workers' compensation claims, including required Employer's Reports of Injury and communication with employees, medical providers, insurance carriers, the Industrial Commission of Arizona, and management.
• Coordinate modified-duty assignments, work restrictions, and return-to-work plans with employees and operations leadership.
• Administer the company's drug and alcohol testing program in accordance with the company's written policy, including pre-employment, random, post-incident, and reasonable-suspicion testing.
• Support consistent enforcement of safety rules and PPE requirements while partnering with supervisors to reinforce accountability and a positive safety culture.
• Coordinate or help lead safety committee activities and employee safety engagement initiatives.
• Establish and monitor safety goals and key performance indicators, identify trends, and recommend corrective or preventive actions.
• Serve as a company point of contact for ADOSH inspections, insurance loss-control visits, and safety-related customer audits.

Benefits, Leave, and HR Compliance

• Administer employee benefit enrollment, qualifying life events, and annual open enrollment in coordination with the company's benefits broker.
• Assist employees with benefit and retirement-plan questions and coordinate issue resolution with providers.
• Manage employee leave requests, including Arizona Earned Paid Sick Time and FMLA, as applicable, along with accommodation processes, work restrictions, and return-to-work coordination.
• Maintain personnel files and separate confidential medical, drug-testing, workers' compensation, and employee-relations records in accordance with applicable requirements.
• Maintain HR policies, employee handbook updates, required federal and Arizona notices and postings, and applicable employment reporting.
• Monitor changes in applicable employment laws and regulations and recommend necessary policy or process updates.
• Coordinate responses to unemployment claims and other employment-related inquiries.

HR Systems, Timekeeping, and Payroll Coordination

• Serve as the primary administrator for Rippling, including employee records, workflows, timekeeping, recruiting, learning, benefits-related processes, and reporting.
• Maintain accurate employee information, compensation changes, benefit elections, reporting relationships, and organizational records.
• Partner with accounting, which processes weekly payroll, to communicate employee changes and resolve payroll-related issues.
• Support supervisors in maintaining accurate timekeeping, attendance, and leave records.
• Troubleshoot HR system issues and coordinate with vendor support as needed.
• Identify opportunities to automate, document, and improve HR and safety processes.

Performance, Training, and Workforce Reporting

• Coordinate performance reviews, introductory-period evaluations, performance improvement plans, and related documentation.
• Develop practical training, resources, and tools to strengthen supervisor and manager effectiveness.
• Support compensation reviews, pay structures, promotions, succession planning, and employee development initiatives.
• Use headcount, hiring, overtime, attendance, and workforce data to anticipate staffing needs and help leadership plan ahead.
• Track and evaluate employee turnover to understand why employees leave and recommend practical retention improvements.
• Prepare regular workforce and safety reporting covering staffing, turnover, overtime, recruiting, incident rates, training completion, workers' compensation activity, and other key trends.
• Present key findings, risks, trends, and recommended actions to senior leadership.
• Establish and monitor HR and safety metrics to measure progress and identify opportunities for continuous improvement.

Qualifications

• Progressive HR experience with responsibility for employee relations, recruiting, benefits administration, compliance, and manager support.
• Experience independently managing HR functions and advising supervisors and senior leadership.
• Hands‑on experience coordinating or managing a workplace safety program, including training, inspections, incident investigations, corrective actions, and OSHA recordkeeping.
• Working knowledge of federal and Arizona employment requirements, OSHA general industry standards, and workers' compensation claims management.
• Experience in metal fabrication, heavy manufacturing, industrial operations, construction‑related manufacturing, or another skilled‑trades environment strongly preferred.
• Comfortable spending significant time on the shop floor, learning operational processes, and building credibility with employees and supervisors.
• Strong judgment, discretion, organization, follow‑through, and written and verbal communication skills.
• Ability to balance employee advocacy, regulatory compliance, operational needs, and consistent application of company policies.
• Proficiency with HRIS platforms, Microsoft Excel, and workforce reporting, including the ability to analyze data and translate it into clear information and recommendations for leadership; Rippling experience preferred.
• Bachelor's degree in human resources, business, occupational safety, or a related field, or an equivalent combination of education and relevant experience.
• PHR or SHRM‑CP certification preferred.
• OSHA 30‑Hour General Industry certification preferred, or willingness to complete within the first six months of employment.
• ASP, CSP, or other recognized safety credentials are a plus.
• Bilingual English/Spanish skills are a plus.