Senior Manager, Employee Relations

Job Description

Job Description

Contract Senior Manager, Employee Relations needed ASAP!

The Employee Relations team supports the creation and maintenance of a positive, respectful, and productive work environment for employees and leaders while mitigating risk to Healthfirst. The team is responsible for responding to, investigating, and recommending resolutions for a wide range of workplace issues and complaints. Employee Relations plays an integral role in resolving concerns by coaching and advising employees and leaders, promoting consistent application of policies and practices, and identifying trends and opportunities for proactive solutions.
The Senior Manager, Employee Relations is a seasoned HR professional responsible for managing and resolving complex and sensitive employee relations matters in a consistent, empathetic, objective, and legally sound manner. The Senior Manager serves as a trusted advisor and subject matter expert to HR Business Partners, managers, and leaders, providing guidance on workplace investigations, performance management, corrective action, conflict resolution, policy interpretation, involuntary terminations, organizational changes, and other complex employee matters.
This role requires exceptional written communication, critical thinking, and editorial judgment. The Senior Manager is responsible for drafting, reviewing, refining, and, when necessary, finalizing sensitive employee relations documentation prepared by managers and HR partners to ensure it is clear, fact-based, appropriately written, consistent with company practices, and aligned with applicable policies and employment law standards.
The Senior Manager is also accountable for maintaining high standards of case management and documentation within HR Acuity. This includes ensuring assigned cases are accurate, complete, timely, and audit-ready; conducting ongoing reviews and self-audits of case records and supporting documentation; and ensuring compliance with established Employee Relations case audit requirements.
In addition, the Senior Manager will leverage employee relations data and reporting to identify trends, emerging risks, and opportunities for improvement and provide meaningful information and actionable insights to the HR Business Partners, leaders, and business areas they support.
Duties and Responsibilities
Employee Relations Consulting and Case Management

• Partner with the Director, Employee Relations and HR Compliance to build, strengthen, and advance a strategic Employee Relations Center of Excellence.
• Serve as a trusted advisor and go-to Employee Relations resource for HR Business Partners, managers, and leaders on complex and sensitive workplace matters.
• Provide guidance and coaching on performance management, corrective action, employee conduct, workplace conflict, policy interpretation, employee complaints, involuntary terminations, and other employee relations matters.
• Apply sound judgment and discretion when evaluating employee concerns and grievances, considering the facts, relevant policies and practices, employment law considerations, organizational risk, and appropriate resolution strategies.
• Guide and facilitate difficult workplace conversations, including performance discussions, corrective actions, conflict resolution, and involuntary terminations.
• Partner with HR Business Partners and leaders to promote fair, consistent, and appropriate application of Employee Relations policies, practices, and processes.
• Partner with the Accommodations team and other HR functions on sensitive or complex employee matters, as appropriate.
• Lead and contribute to HR Operations and cross-functional projects, implementations, process improvements, and strategic initiatives.

Investigations

• Manage and conduct complex, sensitive, and high-risk workplace investigations in a thorough, timely, impartial, and well-documented manner.
• Develop appropriate investigation strategies, conduct interviews, assess documentation and other relevant information, evaluate credibility, and identify findings based on available facts.
• Prepare clear and comprehensive investigation documentation, including interview notes, case summaries, findings, conclusions, and recommendations.
• Partner with HR Business Partners, HR leadership, Legal, Compliance, and other stakeholders, as appropriate, to evaluate findings and determine appropriate next steps.
• Identify broader workplace concerns, patterns, or organizational risks that emerge through investigations and recommend appropriate interventions.

Written Communication and Documentation

• Demonstrate exceptional written communication and editorial skills when preparing Employee Relations documentation for employees, managers, HR partners, senior leaders, and other stakeholders.
• Draft, review, edit, and finalize sensitive Employee Relations documentation, including performance improvement plans, corrective actions, written warnings, investigation documentation, termination documentation, case summaries, and other employee communications.
• Review and refine documentation prepared by managers and HR partners to ensure it clearly and accurately communicates performance or conduct concerns, expectations, supporting facts, required improvements, and potential consequences, as appropriate.
• Serve as a quality-control resource for sensitive Employee Relations documentation, identifying and resolving gaps, inconsistencies, unsupported conclusions, unclear language, inappropriate tone, or other issues before documents are finalized or delivered.
• Translate complex and sensitive employee matters into clear, concise, objective, and fact-based written documentation that appropriately balances employee experience, business needs, consistency, and organizational risk.
• Ensure Employee Relations documentation is professionally written, appropriately supported, consistent with company policies and practices, and suitable for the intended audience.
• Independently proofread and audit work for accuracy, completeness, consistency, grammar, tone, and overall quality before finalization.

HR Acuity, Case Documentation, and Audit Compliance

• Maintain complete, accurate, timely, and audit-ready Employee Relations case records in HR Acuity in accordance with established Employee Relations case management standards and audit requirements.
• Ensure cases are appropriately categorized and contain comprehensive case notes, relevant dates, supporting documentation, findings, outcomes, and other required information.
• Maintain timely case activity and updates throughout the lifecycle of each matter and ensure cases are appropriately documented and closed upon resolution.
• Conduct regular self-audits of assigned HR Acuity cases to identify and remediate documentation gaps or other areas that do not meet established Employee Relations case audit standards.
• Audit Employee Relations documentation and case files for accuracy, completeness, consistency, appropriate supporting information, and compliance with established documentation and case management requirements.
• Take ownership of case documentation quality and ensure assigned cases can withstand internal review, audit, or other appropriate scrutiny.
• Identify recurring case documentation or audit issues and recommend process improvements, tools, training, or other solutions to strengthen overall Employee Relations case management practices.

Reporting, Analytics, and Client Support

• Utilize HR Acuity and other available systems and tools to generate recurring and ad hoc Employee Relations reports for HR Business Partners, leaders, and supported business areas.
• Analyze Employee Relations data to identify case trends, volumes, issue types, outcomes, recurring concerns, emerging risks, and other meaningful patterns.
• Translate Employee Relations data into clear, relevant, and actionable insights for supported clients rather than providing data without appropriate context or interpretation.
• Prepare reports, summaries, presentations, and other materials that communicate Employee Relations activity, trends, risks, and recommended actions to HR and business stakeholders.
• Partner with HR Business Partners and leaders to understand the Employee Relations needs of their respective business areas and provide relevant data and insights to support informed decision-making.
• Monitor trends across supported business areas and proactively identify opportunities for intervention, education, process improvement, or other preventive measures.
• Ensure information contained in reports, presentations, and case summaries is accurate, appropriately contextualized, and suitable for the intended audience.

Risk Management, Training, and Continuous Improvement

• Counsel HR colleagues and managers on emerging Employee Relations issues, potential organizational risks, and appropriate strategies to mitigate risk.
• Review reduction-in-force documentation and related processes, providing guidance to HR Business Partners and leaders to support consistency, appropriate documentation, and risk mitigation.
• Maintain current knowledge of federal, state, and local employment laws, regulatory developments, and Employee Relations best practices.
• Apply knowledge of employment law and regulatory requirements when providing Employee Relations guidance and identify opportunities to educate relevant stakeholders.
• Develop and deliver training, tools, resources, and communications for HR colleagues, managers, and other stakeholders on Employee Relations practices, documentation expectations, workplace trends, and areas of organizational risk.
• Review Employee Relations policies, procedures, documentation standards, and case management processes and recommend enhancements that improve quality, consistency, efficiency, and compliance.
• Use case data, audit findings, stakeholder feedback, and Employee Relations trends to identify opportunities for continuous improvement.
• Perform additional duties as assigned.

Minimum Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree from an accredited institution.
• 10+ years of professional Human Resources experience.
• 5+ years of experience managing a broad range of complex Employee Relations matters and conducting workplace investigations.
• Demonstrated ability to effectively collaborate with, advise, and influence senior leaders, managers, and HR professionals across an organization.
• Exceptional written communication and editing skills, with demonstrated ability to draft, review, revise, and finalize complex and sensitive Employee Relations documentation.
• Demonstrated ability to synthesize complex information and clearly communicate facts, findings, recommendations, expectations, and decisions in writing.
• Demonstrated knowledge of employment law standards, Employee Relations best practices, and workplace investigation protocols.
• Demonstrated ability to coach, influence, navigate conflict, and provide practical guidance to employees, managers, and HR partners.
• Experience maintaining detailed Employee Relations case records and working within established case management, documentation, quality, and audit requirements.
• Demonstrated ability to independently review and audit work for accuracy, completeness, consistency, and compliance with established standards.
• Strong analytical and reporting skills, including the ability to interpret Employee Relations data, identify trends and patterns, and translate findings into meaningful business insights and recommendations.
• Excellent interpersonal and verbal communication skills, with the ability to communicate effectively with employees and leaders at all levels of the organization.
• Strong critical-thinking, judgment, and problem-solving skills, including the ability to appropriately assess risk and navigate ambiguous or sensitive situations.
• Highly detail-oriented and organized, with the ability to manage multiple complex and time-sensitive matters simultaneously.
• Ability to work independently while recognizing when escalation, consultation, or collaboration with other HR or business stakeholders is appropriate.
• Demonstrated ability to handle highly confidential and sensitive information with discretion.
• Proficiency in Microsoft Office applications, including Word, Excel, and PowerPoint.

Preferred Qualifications

• Strong facilitation, training, and presentation skills.
• Experience using HR Acuity, ServiceNow, and Workday.
• Experience utilizing HR Acuity or a comparable Employee Relations case management platform for case documentation, auditing, reporting, and trend analysis.
• Experience developing or improving Employee Relations programs, documentation standards, case management practices, reporting, training, or quality-assurance processes within a complex organization.
• Experience preparing Employee Relations reporting and insights for HR Business Partners, senior leaders, or other internal clients.