Human Resources Business Partner

Human Resources Business Partner – Manufacturing

Location: Minneapolis, Minnesota
Work Arrangement: Hybrid — three days onsite each week
Employment Type: Full-Time, Exempt
Salary Range: $90,000–$110,000 annually

About the Opportunity

Guided Niche is partnering with a growing client operating in the Minneapolis–Saint Paul market to identify an experienced and highly resourceful Human Resources Business Partner – Manufacturing .

This opportunity is ideal for an HR professional with an entrepreneurial spirit—someone who is comfortable navigating ambiguity, finding solutions, building processes, and moving work forward without waiting for a perfect roadmap.

The successful candidate will be curious, practical, collaborative, and willing to roll up their sleeves. This person must be able to balance strategic thinking with hands‑on execution while building credibility with executives, operational leaders, supervisors, and frontline employees.

About the Role

The Human Resources Business Partner will support the organization’s manufacturing operations while partnering with leaders across the business. This position will provide hands‑on HR leadership in employee relations, performance management, workforce planning, recruitment, onboarding, compliance, employee development, and organizational effectiveness.

The HRBP will be expected to learn the business, understand operational challenges, identify what is getting in the way, and help build practical solutions that work.

This is not a narrowly defined or highly transactional HR role. It requires someone who can see what needs to be done, determine the best path forward, engage the right people, and follow through.

The position follows a hybrid schedule with three days each week onsite in Minnetonka. Regular visits to a nearby manufacturing operation and occasional schedule flexibility may be required to support employees working across multiple shifts.

What You Will Do

Partner With the Business

• Serve as a trusted HR advisor to executives, operational leaders, supervisors, and employees.
• Develop a strong understanding of the company’s business model, manufacturing operations, workforce, culture, and growth objectives.
• Translate business challenges into practical people strategies and HR solutions.
• Coach leaders on communication, accountability, performance, employee development, and effective people-management practices.
• Identify organizational and workforce risks before they become larger problems.
• Balance employee needs, operational realities, legal requirements, and business priorities.
• Help leaders navigate change, growth, evolving responsibilities, and shifting business demands.

Lead Employee Relations

• Build strong, credible relationships with employees across departments, levels, backgrounds, and shifts.
• Respond to employee questions, workplace concerns, and employee relations matters promptly and professionally.
• Conduct fair, thorough, and well-documented workplace investigations.
• Guide leaders through performance improvement, corrective action, conflict resolution, accommodations, leave, and separation processes.
• Promote consistent and appropriate application of company policies.
• Identify employee relations trends and recommend proactive solutions.
• Handle sensitive information with confidentiality, sound judgment, and professionalism.

Strengthen the Manufacturing Workforce

• Partner with manufacturing leadership to understand staffing levels, production needs, attendance patterns, skill gaps, and workforce challenges.
• Support workforce planning for business growth, production changes, seasonal needs, and hard‑to‑fill roles.
• Collaborate with recruiting to attract and hire production, maintenance, warehouse, supervisory, and other manufacturing talent.
• Improve onboarding, orientation, training, and early‑tenure employee retention.
• Help strengthen attendance, engagement, communication, recognition, and employee accountability.
• Support career development, succession planning, cross‑training, and internal advancement opportunities.
• Partner with leaders to create a respectful, safe, productive, and high‑performing work environment.

Build and Improve HR Practices

• Evaluate existing HR processes and identify opportunities to simplify, strengthen, or build what is missing.
• Create practical tools, resources, processes, and communication materials that leaders can use.
• Help establish consistency without losing the flexibility needed in a growing organization.
• Take ownership of projects and move them from concept through implementation.
• Use sound judgment to determine when to follow an established process and when a new solution is needed.
• Bring ideas forward, test solutions, learn from results, and continuously improve.
• Remain flexible and willing to support needs that fall outside a traditional HRBP job description.

Support Safety and Compliance

• Partner with Safety, Operations, and HR leadership to reinforce safe work practices and employee accountability.
• Support workers’ compensation processes, incident follow‑up, return‑to‑work planning, and employee communication.
• Help ensure compliance with federal, state, and local employment laws.
• Maintain accurate and confidential employee documentation.
• Participate in operational and workforce planning meetings.
• Monitor workforce information such as turnover, attendance, vacancies, overtime, employee relations activity, and retention.
• Use workforce data to identify trends and recommend practical actions.

What You Bring

Required Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in Human Resources, Business Administration, Organizational Development, or a related field, or an equivalent combination of education and relevant experience.
• Five or more years of progressive human resources experience.
• Meaningful experience managing employee relations and partnering directly with operational leaders.
• Strong working knowledge of employment law, workplace investigations, performance management, leave administration, accommodations, and HR best practices.
• Demonstrated ability to coach leaders and navigate complex or sensitive employee situations.
• Strong written communication, documentation, organization, and problem‑solving skills.
• Ability to manage competing priorities in a fast‑paced and evolving environment.
• Ability to work independently while remaining collaborative and connected to the broader team.
• Ability to maintain confidentiality and exercise sound professional judgment.
• Proficiency with HR information systems, Microsoft Office, and workforce reporting tools.
• Ability to travel between the Minnetonka office and nearby operational locations.
• Ability to adjust working hours periodically to connect with employees and leaders across multiple shifts.

Preferred Qualifications

• HR experience in manufacturing, food production, distribution, warehousing, hospitality, or another operational environment.
• Experience supporting an hourly, multilingual, or multi‑shift workforce.
• Experience with workforce planning, high‑volume recruitment, safety programs, workers’ compensation, and organizational change.
• Professional HR certification, such as SHRM‑CP, SHRM‑SCP, PHR, or SPHR.
• Experience implementing or improving HR processes, programs, or systems.
• Experience using ADP or a comparable HRIS.
• Bilingual or multilingual communication skills.

The Right Person for This Role

The right candidate will:

• Bring an entrepreneurial mindset and a strong sense of ownership.
• Be energized by building, improving, and figuring things out.
• Remain effective when every answer or process is not already defined.
• Ask thoughtful questions and learn the business before recommending solutions.
• Be willing to enter the operation, observe what is happening, and talk directly with employees and leaders.
• Know how to find the answer when the answer is not immediately available.
• Take initiative without losing sight of collaboration, communication, and organizational alignment.
• Move comfortably between strategic conversations and hands‑on execution.
• Communicate directly, respectfully, and professionally.
• Follow through on commitments and hold themselves and others accountable.
• Recognize that strong HR partnership requires both employee advocacy and business understanding.

What Success Looks Like

The successful HR Business Partner will:

• Become a trusted and credible resource for employees and leaders.
• Develop a strong understanding of the business and its manufacturing operations.
• Strengthen leader capability, communication, and accountability.
• Address employee concerns promptly, consistently, and thoughtfully.
• Improve onboarding, engagement, attendance, and retention.
• Build practical and sustainable HR processes where structure is needed.
• Use workforce information to identify concerns and recommend solutions.
• Help create a safe, respectful, compliant, and high‑performing workplace.
• Bring forward solutions—not simply identify problem(s).

Compensation and Benefits

The anticipated starting salary range for this position is $90,000–$110,000 annually . Actual compensation will be determined based on relevant experience, qualifications, internal equity, and business needs.

The client offers a competitive benefits package that includes health and welfare benefits, retirement benefits, paid time off, paid holidays, professional development opportunities, and additional programs in accordance with applicable plan terms and eligibility requirements.

Equal Employment Opportunity

Guided Niche and its client are equal opportunity employers. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, creed, religion, national origin, sex, pregnancy, marital status, familial status, disability, age, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, genetic information, veteran status, public‑assistance status, or any other characteristic protected by applicable law.

Reasonable accommodations are available throughout the application and selection process for qualified individuals with disabilities.