Regional HR Manager

The Regional Human Resources Manager is accountable for Ascent's enterprise people strategy, owning how the company identifies, attracts, recruits, develops, and retains top talent across a multi-site manufacturing organization.

This role designs, governs, and continuously improves the systems, standards, and leadership practices that enable Ascent to build a high-performing workforce at scale. This role will raise the consistency, quality, and effectiveness of our people processes across the organization.

Core Accountability Areas

1. Enterprise People Strategy Ownership

• Own and continuously evolve Ascent's end-to-end people strategy, including:
  • Talent identification and workforce planning
  • Employer positioning and talent attraction
  • Recruiting strategy and selection standards
  • Leadership development and capability building
  • Retention, engagement, and succession planning
• Translate business and growth priorities into clear talent and workforce strategies
• Establish enterprise standards, success metrics, and accountability for all people-related outcomes

2. Enterprise HR Ownership & Direction

• Define and own Ascent's HR operating model, governance, and decision rights
• Set enterprise policies, frameworks, and standards while simplifying where possible
• Ensure consistency, rigor, and scalability across all sites as the business grows
• Eliminate fragmentation and redundancy in how HR work is performed

3. Leadership & Organizational Architecture

• Serve as the primary people advisor to the CEO and executive leadership team
• Own organizational design, leadership models, and succession planning
• Evaluate leadership effectiveness and intervene when structure, capability, or behavior limits performance
• Lead change management efforts tied to growth, restructuring, and performance improvement

4. Employee Relations Risk & Labor Strategy

• Own enterprise employee relations strategy and risk posture across union and non-union environments
• Serve as final escalation point for complex, high-risk, or precedent-setting employee matters
• Set labor relations strategy, including negotiation posture, bargaining principles, and governance
• Partner with Legal to manage investigations, disputes, and employment-related risk

5. Talent, Performance & Reward Architecture

• Design and govern enterprise frameworks for:
  • Performance management and differentiation
  • Leadership and professional development
  • Succession planning and critical role coverage
  • Compensation philosophy and incentive design
• Ensure reward and development systems reinforce accountability, results, and retention of top performers

6. HR Operating Model & Service Provider Ownership

• Own the HR operating model, including internal structure and external leverage
• Maintain direct accountability for all non-payroll HR-related service providers, including:
  • Benefits administration
  • Leave of absence and disability management
  • Recruiting and search partners
  • HRIS and people analytics vendors
  • Employment counsel and labor advisors
• Set service standards, cost discipline, and performance expectations across the HR ecosystem

7. Cross-Functional Partnership

• Build strong, collaborative partnerships with Finance, Legal, IT, Operations, and the Payroll team
• Partner with Payroll leadership to:
  • Simplify employee lifecycle touchpoints
  • Drive efficiency and experience improvements while preserving clear ownership boundaries
• Manage all aspects of due diligence to support M&A

8. Evolution of Regional HR Execution

• Initially provide leadership, standards, and oversight for regional and site-level HR execution
• Over time, assume direct accountability for regional HR execution, consolidating responsibility and reducing unnecessary layers
• Ensure continuity of service while raising expectations for consistency, judgment, and impact

Qualifications

• 15+ years of progressive HR leadership experience in multi-site, manufacturing or industrial environments
• Strong written and verbal communication skills; strong ability to communicate with all levels of the workforce
• Demonstrated success owning enterprise talent strategies across the full employee lifecycle
• Proven ability to design systems, govern execution, and absorb responsibility as organizations scale
• Strong judgment in employee relations, labor strategy, and executive decision-making
• Experience operating in public or highly regulated environments strongly preferred

Success Looks Like

• Ascent consistently identifies, attracts, develops, and retains top talent
• Leaders are accountable for people outcomes, not just results
• HR operates as a unified, disciplined system rather than a collection of local practices
• Employee relations risk is proactively managed and reduced