SENIOR HUMAN RESOURCES MANAGER

Partners for Justice (PFJ) was founded to transform public defense locally and across the United States, diminishing the effect of race and wealth on legal outcomes. This means ensuring that public defenders are equipped to assist clients with the underlying drivers of legal system involvement, to address the civil and family enmeshed penalties of arrest, to secure better legal outcomes both inside and outside the courtroom, and to help more clients emerge from prosecution with their rights, life, and future protected. Since our launch in 2018, PFJ has grown rapidly and we now support public defender agencies across the country through embedded collaborative defense teams and capacity building support.

PFJ’s Client Advocate Program is central to our collaborative defense model. Through the program, PFJ embeds trained Client Advocate Fellows in host public defender offices, immediately expanding teams’ capacity to provide wraparound support and help clients navigate the complex civil consequences of arrest. Client Advocate Fellows serve in time-limited positions—typically two years—while receiving ongoing training, supervision, and professional development.

Overview

PFJ is seeking an experienced and people-centered Senior Human Resources Manager to strengthen the systems that support PFJ’s national team and Client Advocate fellows across multiple states. The Senior Human Resources Manager is a new role reporting to PFJ’s Co-Executive Director, Rebecca Solow. In this role, you will own a set of PFJ’s core people processes, from onboarding and offboarding to benefits administration, performance management, and employee relations. You will also lead PFJ’s labor relations work and keep our employee handbook, policies, and required trainings current and compliant across the jurisdictions where we operate. Working closely with PFJ’s Recruiting and Training teams, supervisors, and senior leadership, you will help ensure that PFJ’s internal practices reflect the same commitment to dignity, equity, and fairness that drives our mission.

Human Resources Manager Responsibilities

• Labor and Employee Relations: Support PFJ leadership on labor relations matters, including engagement with employee representatives, bargaining preparation, and administration of any collective bargaining agreements. Advise supervisors and host public defender offices on shared personnel issues. Advise supervisors on employee relations concerns, conduct or coordinate workplace investigations, and recommend fair, consistent resolutions.
• Onboarding & Employee Lifecycle : Manage the end-to-end administrative lifecycle for national team staff and PFJ-employed Client Advocates, including offer paperwork, I-9 and new hire documentation, payroll and benefits enrollment, systems access, and separation processes such as final pay, COBRA/Cal-COBRA notices, and exit interviews. Partner with the Recruiting and Training teams to ensure a seamless experience for new staff.
• Performance Management Support: Coordinate PFJ’s performance review cycles for both national staff and Client Advocates, as well as year-end promotion process in partnership with the Senior Leadership Team. Maintain review templates and timelines, support supervisors in delivering clear feedback, and guide performance improvement and disciplinary processes consistent with PFJ policy.
• Benefits & HR Administration: Oversee PFJ’s benefits programs, including medical, dental, and 401k plans, working with brokers and vendors on annual renewals and open enrollment. Serve as the go-to resource for staff on benefits and leaves of absence, including FMLA, CFRA, pregnancy disability leave, parental leave, and state disability programs. Track the benefits budget and support annual 401k contributions and compliance testing.
• Employee Handbook and HR Policies: Keep PFJ’s Employee Handbook and related policies current, clear, and compliant with federal, state, and local employment law in each jurisdiction where PFJ employs staff. Draft policy updates, coordinate review with employment counsel, and communicate changes to staff.
• Compliance and Required Training: Track and deliver legally required employee trainings, such as harassment prevention, and maintain completion records. Manage employment compliance obligations, including required postings, recordkeeping, wage and hour classification, and state registrations.
• Strengthen HR Systems and Data : Maintain accurate personnel records and HR information systems. Produce regular reports on headcount, turnover, and other people metrics to inform leadership decisions.
• Collaborative Support: As a growing organization, we often collaborate across teams. You may lead or join national team working groups and contribute to a small portfolio of special projects. You will serve as a resource and thought partner to leadership and managers internally on human resources best practices.

Desired qualifications

People who share lived experiences with our clients are encouraged to apply, given the insight such experience brings into the systems in which we operate.

Desired skills or experience:

• Commitment to PFJ’s mission and to our vision of collaborative, client-led representation for low-income people involved in the criminal legal system.
• At least eight years of progressive human resources experience, with a specific background in labor relations, HR compliance, and HR operations. A relevant graduate degree, such as a master’s in human resources or labor relations, may substitute for years of experience.
• Nonprofit experience is highly desirable; experience in public defense, legal services, or other mission-driven organizations is a plus.
• Labor relations experience is highly desirable, such as working with unions or employee representatives, supporting collective bargaining, or administering a collective bargaining agreement.
• Working knowledge of federal employment law and multi-state compliance; familiarity with California employment law is a plus.
• Hands-on experience administering employee benefits and leaves of absence, and managing onboarding, offboarding, and performance review processes.
• Sound judgment and discretion in handling confidential and sensitive matters, with the ability to build trust with staff at all levels.
• Strong writing skills; experience drafting or revising employee handbooks, policies, or staff communications preferred.
• Experience and comfort with HRIS and payroll platforms (e.g., Justworks), and collaborative tools (e.g., Slack, Google Suite, Airtable, and spreadsheets).
• Ability to travel occasionally for conferences or site visits as needed; we expect this role to require travel approximately three times per year.
• Ability to work productively with distributed, remote teams and, ideally, experience working in a start-up or growing organization.

Equal Employment Opportunity Policy & Fair Chance Hiring

PFJ provides equal employment opportunities to all employees and applicants for employment and prohibits discrimination and harassment of any type without regard to race, color, religion, age, sex, national origin, disability status, genetics, protected veteran status, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, or any other characteristic protected by federal, state or local laws. This policy applies to all terms and conditions of employment, including recruiting, hiring, placement, promotion, termination, layoff, recall, transfer, leaves of absence, compensation, and training. Furthermore, qualified applicants with arrest or conviction records will be considered for employment in accordance with the fair chance ordinances of the jurisdictions we work within, including but not limited to the Los Angeles County Fair Chance Ordinance and the California Fair Chance Act.