Senior Human Resources Manager (Apex)

SENIOR MANAGER, HUMAN RESOURCES

Build the HR function for a growing commercial landscaping company

We are a $120M commercial landscaping, aquatics maintenance, and commercial installation company operating from 18 locations across North Carolina, South Carolina, and Florida. We have grown quickly — organically and through acquisition — and our HR function has not kept pace.

Our long-tenured HR leader is retiring after 26 years. That leaves an unusual opportunity: the fundamentals of HR at this company are largely unbuilt. Policies, processes, systems, metrics, and manager training are all open ground. We are not looking for someone to maintain what exists. We are looking for someone to build it.

This role leads HR for roughly 1,200 employees, including approximately 300 H-2B visa employees annually and a workforce that is about 60% Hispanic. It carries three direct reports and reports to the VP of Centralized Services.

ROLE SNAPSHOT

Reports to

VP, Centralized Services

Direct reports

3 (2 HR Administrators, 1 Corporate Recruiter)

Workforce

~1,200 employees

Footprint

18 locations across NC, SC & FL

Business lines

Commercial landscaping, aquatics, install

Travel

Regular travel to operating locations

What You'll Own

HR Foundations

• Build the core infrastructure: policies, handbook, employee files, onboarding, offboarding, and recordkeeping standards that hold up across 18 locations.
• Establish a clear operating model defining what corporate HR owns versus what branch and regional leaders own.
• Assess what exists today, identify the real risks, and sequence the work by business impact, not by what's easiest.

Employee Relations & Compliance

• Handle complex employee relations matters, investigations, and terminations with consistency and sound judgment.
• Coach field leaders through performance, conduct, attendance, and documentation issues.
• Keep us compliant with federal, state, and local employment law across three states, partnering with counsel on claims and agency inquiries.

H-2B & Workforce Planning

• Own the annual H-2B program end to end: forecasting, filing readiness, compliance controls, onboarding, and employee support.
• Coordinate across legal counsel, operations, payroll, safety, housing, and transportation to make the season work.
• Improve return rates and workforce stability through better planning and a better employee experience.

Talent Acquisition

• Lead the recruiting function and directly manage the Corporate Recruiter.
• Set company-wide hiring standards, interview practices, and metrics that regional recruiters follow.
• Build pipelines for the roles that are hardest to fill including crew leaders, technicians, branch leadership, and aquatics.

Managers, Teams & Growth

• Put a practical performance management process in place and train managers to actually use it.
• Lead HR due diligence and workforce integration for acquisitions.
• Build simple, reliable reporting on turnover, hiring, and workforce health that leadership can act on.
• Put modern technology and AI to work across HR including applicant tracking, HRIS and payroll, onboarding, document management, and Spanish-language communication to allow a small team to support 1,200 people well.
• Set practical, responsible ground rules for how AI is used in hiring and employee data, so we gain speed without creating bias or compliance risk.

What Success Looks Like in Year One

• Transition secured. Institutional knowledge captured and recurring HR processes documented before the retirement handoff closes.
• Roadmap agreed. A prioritized HR plan built on a real assessment of risk and gaps, aligned with executive leadership.
• Consistency established. Employee relations, documentation, and policy application handled the same way in every location.
• H-2B under control. A documented annual calendar, clear ownership, and compliance controls in place before next season.
• Visibility created. Turnover, time-to-fill, and retention tracked and reported, with the first improvements already showing.
• Technology in motion. A clear plan for HR systems and AI-enabled tools, with at least one manual process replaced and measurably faster.

What We're Looking For

Required

• 8+ years of progressive HR experience, including leading an HR team.
• Experience supporting multi-location, field-based, hourly workforces in landscaping, construction, manufacturing, distribution, food service, or similar.
• Real depth in employee relations, investigations, and employment compliance.
• Track record of building HR processes where none existed, not just running someone else's.
• Willingness to travel regularly to our locations. This job is not done from a desk.

Strongly Preferred

• Bilingual English/Spanish.
• H-2B or seasonal/agricultural immigration program experience.
• Experience supporting acquisitions and post-close integration.
• SHRM-SCP, SPHR, or equivalent certification.
• Hands-on use of HR technology and AI tools, implementing an HRIS or ATS, automating manual processes, or using AI to speed up sourcing, reporting, and translation.

Compensation

We publish our range because we would rather be straight with you up front.

Base salary

$115,000 – $140,000

Annual incentive

10% base

Placement within the range depends on experience, with the upper end reserved for candidates who bring H-2B expertise, bilingual capability, and multi-state field workforce leadership. Full benefits package included.

Why This Role Is Worth a Conversation

If you are currently the strong second-in-command at a larger HR organization and waiting for a seat to open, this is your seat. You will not inherit someone else's system — you will decide what the system is. You will have direct access to executive leadership, a real budget, a team, and a company that is growing fast enough to make the work matter. You will also get to choose the tools. We are actively investing in technology and AI across the business, and we would rather build a modern HR function now than modernize a dated one later.

It is also honest work. We have gaps, and some are uncomfortable. If you want a polished function to fine-tune, this is not it. If you want to build something and point at it in three years, apply.