HR Generalist

Payroll deadlines do not move. Employee concerns cannot sit unanswered. HRIS data cannot be “close enough.” RISE is seeking an HR Generalist to take primary ownership of payroll administration, employee relations, performance-management support, policy guidance, and ongoing employee-record maintenance. This role is built for someone who is equally comfortable auditing payroll data and coaching a manager through a difficult conversation. The right person will bring accuracy to the administrative work, sound judgment to employee matters, and consistent follow-through to both. This is not a purely relationship-driven HR role. Being approachable matters, but so do controls, documentation, deadlines, and accountability. The HR Generalist reports to the Director of Human Resources and works closely with another HR Generalist who primarily oversees recruiting, onboarding, leave administration, benefits, compensation benchmarking, and offboarding. Each role has clear areas of ownership, but both are cross-trained to provide reliable coverage when needed. Why RISE RISE is a fast-moving, geographically distributed organization operating across real estate development, construction, property management, asset management, and residential communities. The work of this role has a direct impact on whether employees are paid accurately, managers are equipped to lead, workplace concerns are addressed promptly, and HR policies are applied consistently. You will have the opportunity to strengthen payroll practices, improve manager capability, build clearer HR processes, and contribute to a dependable, accountable HR team. Key Responsibilities Payroll and Timekeeping Own the payroll calendar and coordinate payroll preparation, review, approval, and completion. Review timekeeping, pay, deductions, employee changes, and labor allocations for accuracy. Follow up with managers regarding missing punches, incomplete timecards, missed approvals, and payroll exceptions. Review employee-submitted direct-deposit, tax-election, and profile changes in Paycor. Coordinate payroll corrections, adjustments, and exception items. Conduct post-payroll audits and maintain clear supporting documentation. Partner with managers, and HR team members to resolve payroll-related questions. Protect confidential pay, banking, tax, and employee information. Employee Relations and Manager Support Serve as a primary resource for employee questions, workplace concerns, and day-to-day employee-relations matters. Coach managers through performance, attendance, conduct, communication, and workplace-behavior issues. Support corrective actions, documented coaching, performance-improvement plans, and difficult employee conversations. Conduct or assist with workplace investigations, including interviews, documentation review, and recommended next steps. Maintain clear, factual, and confidential employee-relations documentation. Escalate legally sensitive, high-risk, or complex matters to the Director of Human Resources. Track active matters to ensure follow-up occurs and issues do not stall. HRIS, Policy, and Compliance Maintain accurate employee records in Paycor after the onboarding handoff. Process approved changes involving pay, job title, reporting structure, department, location, status, and labor allocation. Audit HRIS data and correct incomplete or inconsistent information. Explain HR policies in clear, practical language and support consistent application across the organization. Identify unclear or outdated policies and recommend improvements. Maintain accurate documentation and follow established approval, confidentiality, and record-retention requirements. Assist with reporting, audits, compliance reviews, and broader HR projects. Cross-Coverage and Process Improvement Develop working knowledge of recruiting, onboarding, Form I-9 administration, leave, benefits, compensation benchmarking, and offboarding processes. Provide reliable backup coverage during absences, deadline conflicts, emergencies, and high-volume periods. Maintain clear procedures, checklists, and documentation so essential work does not depend on one person’s memory. Identify process gaps that create payroll errors, inconsistent decisions, weak documentation, or unclear accountability. Recommend practical improvements to workflows, communications, reports, and manager resources. What Success Looks Like Payroll is completed accurately and on schedule. Timekeeping problems are identified before payroll deadlines. Payroll and employee-data changes have clear approvals and an auditable record. Employee concerns are documented and addressed within reasonable timeframes. Managers receive practical guidance and become more capable of leading difficult conversations. Corrective-action documentation is clear, consistent, and defensible. High-risk matters are escalated before decisions are finalized. Employee records remain accurate and current. HR ownership and handoffs are clear. Essential processes are documented and can be covered by another trained HR professional. The HR Director can focus on strategic and high-risk work rather than preventable process failures. Qualifications Progressive experience in an HR Generalist, payroll, employee-relations, HR operations, or related role. Hands-on experience supporting or administering payroll. Experience reviewing timekeeping records, payroll reports, employee changes, and exception items. Working knowledge of employee relations, performance management, corrective action, and workplace investigations. Experience coaching managers through performance or conduct concerns. Experience maintaining employee information within an HRIS. Experience with Paycor is strongly preferred. Working knowledge of employment laws and HR compliance requirements related to payroll, employee relations, and personnel records. Strong attention to detail and the ability to identify inconsistencies before they become larger problems. Clear written communication and objective documentation skills. Sound judgment, discretion, and strong follow-through. Ability to balance scheduled payroll deadlines with unpredictable employee-relations needs. PHR, SPHR, SHRM-CP, or SHRM-SCP certification is preferred but not required. This Position May Be a Fit If You are willing to question information when something does not look right. You can work accurately with payroll data without losing sight of the people behind it. You are comfortable having direct, professional, and sometimes difficult conversations. You review facts before automatically agreeing with the employee, manager, or most senior person in the room. You can document objectively and separate evidence from assumptions. You believe managers should be coached to lead—not encouraged to hand every difficult conversation to HR. You respect clear ownership but will step in when a teammate genuinely needs coverage. You document your processes so another person can successfully follow them. You understand that strong HR work requires both empathy and accountability. This role will probably not be a fit for someone who treats payroll as basic data entry, avoids conflict, resists cross-training, keeps important processes undocumented, or expects the HR Director to make every routine decision. About RISE RISE is a vertically integrated real estate organization with experience across development, construction, property management, asset management, and residential communities. Our work is complex, but our purpose is straightforward: create places where people can live well, work well, and feel connected. That purpose extends to our employees. We believe strong organizations are built through accountability, service, thoughtful leadership, and genuine care for people. Love. Serve. Care. AI Hiring Disclaimer RISE may use artificial intelligence tools to support portions of the hiring process, including application review, resume analysis, candidate screening, and evaluation of applicant responses. These tools support our recruitment team and do not replace human judgment. All final hiring decisions are made by people. #J-18808-Ljbffr