Senior HR Business Partner

About Us
We are an award-winning California-based environmental consulting firm with 600+ professionals and more than 30 years of diverse experience serving clients in transportation, energy, water, infrastructure, private development, and government sectors. Our mission is to deliver practical, science-based environmental and planning solutions that support communities, infrastructure, and natural systems. 

As a people-centric organization, we value collaboration, fairness, and transparency, and are committed to fostering a workplace that supports both personal and professional growth while offering robust career opportunities. We are especially proud of our recent  Great Place To Work®certification, which reflects an independent assessment of our culture and our team-member experiences.

About The Role
Rincon Consultants is seeking a  Senior Human Resources Business Partner  to join our People & Culture team. Reporting to the Director of People & Talent, the Senior HR Business Partner will serve as a strategic advisor to business leaders while helping translate Rincon's enterprise People strategy into practical, measurable action. You will work across workforce planning, organizational effectiveness, employee relations, performance, talent, engagement, retention, and organizational change. 

This role requires more than responding to HR needs. We are looking for someone who can understand the business, identify emerging workforce and organizational risks, use data to diagnose issues, challenge thinking when appropriate, and help leaders build stronger teams and organizations. 

The Senior HR Business Partner will also play an important role in strengthening Rincon's HR Business Partner practice by promoting consistent standards, sound judgment, effective tools, and strong partnership across the organization. 

 

How We Collaborate
This role may offer a hybrid work setup, blending time in the office with remote work as business needs evolve. We enjoy coming together in person to collaborate, connect with teammates, and partner across the organization. We may prioritize candidates who live within 50 miles of a Rincon office. Eligible office locations for this role include Carlsbad, Fresno, Los Angeles, Monterey, Oakland, Palm Springs, Riverside, Sacramento, San Luis Obispo, San Diego, San Jose, Santa Barbara, and Ventura. 
(Please note: While this role's location is listed as a single location, we encourage you to apply if you reside in or near any of the CA locations listed above.) 

What You’ll Do:

 
Strategic Business Partnership -  

• Serve as a trusted advisor to leaders, developing a strong understanding of their business priorities, workforce, organizational structure, talent needs, and operating challenges. 
• Translate business priorities into practical People strategies and actions. 
• Anticipate workforce and organizational risks and recommend solutions before issues become barriers to business performance. 
• Provide thoughtful, independent guidance to leaders while balancing business needs, team member experience, organizational values, and appropriate risk management. 

Workforce Planning & Organizational Effectiveness -

• Partner with leaders on workforce planning, organizational design, team structure, role clarity, capability needs, and organizational effectiveness. 
• Assess team effectiveness and organizational health and recommend interventions that improve performance and strengthen leadership capability. 
• Connect workforce decisions with longer term recruiting, development, retention, succession, and business needs. 

Leadership Coaching & Performance -

• Coach leaders and managers on leadership effectiveness, communication, accountability, performance feedback, team dynamics, and difficult decisions. 
• Help leaders strengthen their capability to manage performance consistently and effectively. 
• Provide constructive challenge and objective counsel when leadership actions or practices may create organizational, cultural, or team member risks. 
• Support performance management and development practices that reinforce accountability, growth, and Rincon's expectations for leaders and team members. 

Employee Relations & Risk Management -

• Independently manage complex employee relations matters involving performance, workplace conduct, conflict, corrective action, separations, and other sensitive situations. 
• Conduct and support workplace reviews and investigations, including fact finding, documentation, recommendations, and follow through. 
• Interpret and apply employment practices and People policies consistently, fairly, and with sound judgment. 
• Partner with the Director of People & Talent and other appropriate stakeholders on matters involving significant organizational, legal, reputational, or team member risk. 
• Establish employee relations, performance management, policy interpretation, investigations, manager coaching, and confidentiality as core responsibilities.  

Talent & Organizational Capability -

• Partner with leaders to identify critical talent, capability gaps, retention risks, succession needs, and development priorities. 
• Connect performance, development, career progression, internal mobility, recruiting, and succession conversations into an integrated approach to talent. 
• Partner closely with Talent Acquisition, Learning & Development, Total Rewards, and other People & Culture colleagues to address business and workforce needs. 
• Support leaders in strengthening internal talent pipelines and building organizational capability for future growth. 

Culture, Engagement & Change -

• Help translate Rincon's culture and engagement strategy into meaningful actions within assigned business areas. 
• Use engagement surveys, listening data, team member feedback, and workforce indicators to identify organizational opportunities and risks. 
• Partner with leaders to develop and execute practical actions that improve engagement, retention, team effectiveness, and the team member experience. 
• Coach leaders and managers through organizational change and help ensure clear, consistent, and effective implementation of People initiatives. 
• Connect engagement insights with leadership action, organizational effectiveness, career progression, and change enablement.  

People Analytics & Business Insight -

• Use workforce data to identify trends, diagnose organizational issues, and inform recommendations. 
• Analyze indicators such as turnover, retention, engagement, performance, internal mobility, hiring, tenure, and other workforce measures. 
• Move beyond reporting what happened to helping leaders understand why it happened, what it means, and what action should follow. 
• Measure the effectiveness of People interventions and adjust approaches based on results. 

HR Business Partner Practice Leadership -

• Partner closely with the Director of People & Talent to strengthen Rincon's HR Business Partner operating model and standards. 
• Help establish consistent approaches to business partnership, case management, leader support, workforce planning, and organizational effectiveness. 
• Serve as a senior resource and thought partner to other HR Business Partners through consultation, case calibration, knowledge sharing, and collaborative problem solving. 
• Identify opportunities to improve People processes, tools, practices, and service delivery across the organization. 
• Retain enterprise accountability for defining and governing the HRBP operating model and ensuring consistent, high impact partnership across business lines.  
  
   

What You’ll Bring:

• Bachelor’s degree in Human Resources, Business Administration, Organizational Development, Communication, or a related field; equivalent experience may be considered. 
• 7+ years of progressive HR experience, including broad HR business partner support, complex employee relations, manager and leader advisory work, and experience influencing business decisions through sound judgment and people expertise. 
• Strong knowledge of federal, state, and local employment laws; California employment law experience preferred. 
• Experience supporting performance management, investigations, policy interpretation, retention, organizational change, workforce planning, leader coaching, and organizational effectiveness initiatives. 
• Strong interpersonal, written, and verbal communication skills. 
• Ability to build trusted, credible relationships with senior leaders, managers, People & Culture colleagues, and team members across a multi-location organization. 
• Excellent judgment, discretion, organization, and follow-through. 
• Proficiency with Microsoft Office applications and experience using HRIS or related people systems. 
• PHR, SPHR, SHRM-CP, or SHRM-SCP certification (nice to have). 
• Experience in professional services, consulting, environmental consulting, engineering, construction, field-based, or multi-location environments preferred. 

Investing In You  
The base salary range for this full-time position is $110,000-$130,000 plus a generous benefits program. Salary ranges are based on the market median of similar jobs, according to third-party salary benchmark surveys. Base pay is determined based on internal equity and a candidate’s job-related knowledge, skills, and experience. 

We offer a comprehensive Total Rewards Package designed to support employee well-being, growth, and financial security. Our benefits are designed to offer flexibility and choice, including health coverage options, employer-sponsored insurance, retirement benefits, generous time off, and programs that support learning, growth, and community engagement. 

Explore more about our culture, benefits, and life at Rincon on our  Culture and Benefits page . 

Additional Employment Information  
Individuals offered employment must successfully complete a pre-employment drug screening as a condition of employment. Additionally, those hired who may be assigned to federal projects will be subject to further drug testing, including screening for cannabinoids (THC/marijuana), in compliance with the Drug-Free Workplace Act of 1988 and other applicable federal regulations, which take precedence over California state and local laws. 

 

Rincon Consultants does not accept unsolicited applicant/candidate resumes from search firm recruiters and/or temporary agencies that do not have a signed contract and specified work order with Rincon Consultants. Further, such resumes received will be deemed the sole property of Rincon Consultants and no fees will be paid in the event Rincon Consultants subsequently hires such individual. Rincon Consultants is an equal opportunity employer. All aspects of employment will be based on merit, competence, performance, and business needs. We do not discriminate on the basis of race, color, religion, marital status, age, national origin, ancestry, physical or mental disability, medical condition, pregnancy, genetic information, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, veteran status, or any other status protected under federal, state, or local law.