Human Resources Generalist

Human Resources Generalist

Neighborhood Legal Services, Inc. | Buffalo, NY

Department - Human Resources

Reports To - Director of Staff Enrichment & Organizational Culture

Location - In-person | Buffalo, NY; supports NLS offices and staff across the service area

Schedule - Full-time; 35-hour work week

Salary - $55,000-$70,000, depending on experience

About NLS

Neighborhood Legal Services, Inc. (NLS) is a nonprofit public interest law firm that provides free civil legal services to low-income individuals, people with disabilities, and others facing barriers to stability, safety, and access to justice. Through advocacy, legal advice, representation, and community education, NLS helps clients address urgent civil legal needs involving housing, public benefits, family, disability, and related matters.

With more than 120 staff working across offices in Buffalo, Niagara Falls, Lockport, and Batavia, NLS is one of the largest providers of civil legal services in Western New York. Our work is carried out by attorneys, paralegals, advocates, support staff, managers, and administrative professionals who share a commitment to fairness, dignity, and meaningful access to justice.

For an HR professional, joining NLS means supporting the people who deliver critical civil legal services across Western New York. HR at NLS is not just paperwork; it is part of the infrastructure that helps employees do difficult, mission-centered work with reliable systems, clear communication, and a workplace grounded in fairness, dignity, and respect.

The Opportunity

NLS is seeking a Human Resources Generalist to serve as a primary HR operations owner across the employee lifecycle. This is a true Generalist role for someone who is ready to manage core HR workflows with independence after ramp-up, including leave administration, recruitment administration, onboarding and offboarding coordination, HRIS/ADP maintenance, standard reporting, routine benefits/vendor support, payroll coordination, and employee communications.

The ideal candidate is organized, detail-oriented, service-minded, and comfortable balancing employee support with compliance, confidentiality, deadlines, and accurate documentation. This role is a strong fit for someone who enjoys practical HR operations and wants meaningful responsibility in a mission-driven nonprofit environment.

What You Will Do

• Employee support: Serve as a primary HR point of contact for employee and supervisor questions related to benefits, leave, ADP/timekeeping, time off, onboarding, employment processes, and general HR procedures.
• HR inbox and follow-through: Monitor the HR inbox, identify urgency, respond within approved guidance, route items when needed, and track follow-up through completion.
• Leave administration: Manage routine leave administration after ramp-up, including leave intake, date tracking, documentation, vendor/payroll/benefits coordination, and employee follow-up.
• Leave/pay calculations: Calculate leave-related time and compensation, including PTO usage, paid/unpaid leave periods, pay differentials, benefit premium impacts, and payroll-log updates.
• Benefits and vendor support: Respond to routine benefits questions and assist with vendor-access issues such as HRA/FSA, medical, dental, vision, enrollment, and related troubleshooting. Assist with open enrollment coordination.
• Recruitment and hiring: Coordinate the recruitment and hiring lifecycle, including job postings, external vendor posting, candidate communications, interview scheduling, reference checks, job-fair participation as assigned, offer letters, hiring documentation, and handoff to onboarding.
• Onboarding and employee lifecycle coordination: Coordinate operational onboarding steps, new hire paperwork, HR onboarding components, IT/system access notices, payroll/ADP steps, benefit enrollment information, and supervisor communications.
• Offboarding administration: Coordinate routine separation/offboarding steps, including separation paperwork, benefits/COBRA-related forms, ADP status updates, payroll coordination, IT offboarding notices, and supervisor checklists.
• ADP/HRIS and reporting: Serve as the primary HR-side user for routine ADP/HRIS employee data, records, reports, and updates; run and review standard HR reports; validate employee lists, finance/grant data, ACA-related information, census reports, and other recurring HR data requests.
• Process reliability: Use checklists, templates, SOPs, and source documents to ensure accuracy, consistency, confidentiality, and timely follow-through, while helping identify process gaps.
• Escalation and judgment: Independently handle routine matters and escalate unusual, high-risk, legally complex, or policy-sensitive issues to HR leadership when appropriate.

What We Are Looking For

• Bachelor's degree in human resources, business, organizational development, public administration, or a related field required.
• Minimum of two years of full-time Human Resources experience required, preferably in HR generalist, HR operations, benefits, recruitment, payroll coordination, HRIS, leave administration, or employee lifecycle work.
• Hands-on experience with lifecycle recruitment administration and employee orientation/onboarding processes.
• Hands-on experience with leave administration, benefits/vendor coordination, HR reporting, recruitment administration, onboarding/offboarding, or payroll coordination.
• Experience using, maintaining, and reviewing HRIS/payroll or employee-record systems; ADP experience preferred.
• Working knowledge of federal and New York State employment and leave concepts, including FMLA, New York Paid Family Leave, New York disability benefits, wage/hour concepts, employee records, and confidentiality requirements.
• Ability to independently calculate leave-related time, pay impacts, PTO offsets/differentials, benefit-premium impacts, and other routine HR/payroll coordination items after training on NLS-specific procedures.
• Strong written and verbal communication skills, including the ability to draft clear, professional employee and candidate communications.
• Demonstrated organization, attention to detail, critical thinking, analytical ability, and ability to manage multiple assignments and deadlines.
• Ability to interpret and apply policies, checklists, benefit/vendor guidance, CBA provisions, and HR procedures to routine matters, while recognizing when escalation is required.
• Comfort using Microsoft Office, Excel, Outlook, Teams, shared-document platforms, and HRIS/reporting tools.
• Commitment to fairness, respect, cultural humility, public service, and access to justice.

Preferred Experience

• Experience in a nonprofit, legal services, public interest, unionized, or mission-driven environment.
• Experience supporting HRIS process improvements, reporting, modules, data-quality practices, or workflow documentation.
• SHRM-CP, PHR, or progress toward a relevant HR certification is welcome but not required.
• Second language skills are a plus but not required.

Why Join NLS?

• Mission-driven impact: Support the staff who provide free civil legal services to individuals and families across Western New York.
• Meaningful HR ownership: Help strengthen HR systems, employee experience, communication, process reliability, and operational trust.
• Collaborative team environment: Work closely with HR leadership, Finance/Payroll, supervisors, and staff across programs and offices.
• Work-life balance and benefits: NLS offers a 35-hour work week, reduced summer hours, telework options where applicable, comprehensive benefits, paid time off, professional development, pension plan, HRA/FSA options, and Public Service Loan Forgiveness eligibility where applicable.

Working Conditions

• Work is performed primarily in an office environment and includes regular use of a computer, telephone, copier/scanner, and related office equipment.
• May require coordination with staff across multiple NLS offices and occasional travel or in-person meeting support as assigned.
• Must be able to maintain confidentiality while working with sensitive employee, payroll, benefits, leave, medical, and organizational information.
• Ability to lift up to 15 pounds occasionally.

Disclaimer

This job description is not intended to be an exhaustive list of all responsibilities, duties, skills, or working conditions associated with the position. Duties may change at any time with or without notice based on organizational needs.

How to Apply

Please submit a resume and cover letter through the NLS Career Center. No phone calls, please.

Equal Employment Opportunity

Neighborhood Legal Services is an equal opportunity employer. Employment decisions, including recruiting, hiring, placement, promotion, compensation, and training, are made without discrimination or harassment based on race, color, religion, creed, sex, pregnancy,