Director of HR

The Opportunity

We are hiring our first senior-level HR leader to build a professional, compliant, and scalable People & Culture function from the ground up. Reporting to the CEO, the Director of HR will partner with executive leadership and regional management to bring structure, consistency, and fairness to hiring, employee relations, compensation, and compliance - without slowing projects down or creating unnecessary bureaucracy. The work moves with the same urgency as the projects we deliver. This role is hands-on in the first 12 months to establish foundations and becomes increasingly strategic as the function matures. In-person presence is required across all three offices and active jobsites.

Who You Are

You are decisive, direct, and credible - equally at ease in a jobsite trailer and an executive boardroom. You move with urgency, take initiative, and inspire others to act. You think big picture, set the structure, and delegate the routine. You are comfortable with change, ambiguity, and calculated risk, and you bring others along as the business evolves.

Key Priorities (First 12-24 Months)

• Standardize HR policies and practices across offices and jobsites.
• Improve hiring, onboarding, and retention of skilled trade and professional staff.
• Reduce employment risk through stronger compliance, documentation, and ER practices.
• Inspire and develop manager capability and accountability at every level of the organization.
• Partner with safety leadership to align workforce practices with a strong safety culture.

Core Responsibilities

• HR Leadership & Infrastructure
  • Build and lead the company's first strategic HR function; serve as primary HR advisor to the CEO and executive team.
  • Evaluate current people practices and standardize policies across offices and jobsites, balancing field realities with organizational and legal requirements.
  • Establish foundational HR operating infrastructure, including HRIS, employee records, reporting cadence, and core workforce metrics.
• Talent Acquisition & Workforce Planning
  • Develop structured hiring and onboarding processes for field labor, managers, and office staff.
  • Partner with operations to forecast labor needs by region, and season.
  • Build sourcing pipelines for hard-to-find skilled trade and professional roles, including referral programs and trade-school and partnerships where applicable.
  • Strengthen onboarding so new hires - field and office - are productive, safe, and engaged from day one.
• Employee Relations & Manager Support
  • Handle employee relations issues, investigations, discipline, and terminations consistently and with sound judgment.
    * Coach and motivate leaders on performance management, documentation, and direct, respectful communication; address conflicts before they disrupt project delivery.
  • Build supervisory capability across foremen, superintendents, and office managers - hiring, feedback, accountability, and difficult conversations.
  • Serve as a trusted, accessible resource for executives, field labor, managers, and office staff alike.
• Compensation, Performance & Total Rewards
  • Evaluate wage structures, salaried roles, and incentive programs for competitiveness and internal fairness.
    * Develop clear, defensible guidelines for pay decisions, promotions, and bonuses.
  • Implement practical performance management processes suitable for a construction environment, with consistent expectations across field and office.
  • Oversee benefits strategy, vendor relationships, and annual renewals; ensure offerings are competitive and well-communicated.
• Compliance, Risk & Safety Partnership
  • Ensure compliance with federal, state, and local employment laws across all locations.
  • Oversee wage-and-hour compliance, overtime practices, job classification, and required recordkeeping.
  • Own the employee handbook, employment documentation, and response to audits, claims, or agency inquiries with discretion.
  • Partner with safety leadership to embed safety expectations into hiring, onboarding, performance, and disciplinary processes - reinforcing a culture where doing the job right and doing it safely are inseparable.

Qualifications

• Experience & Education
  • 8-12+ years of progressive HR experience, including senior-level leadership.
  • Construction, oil & gas, concrete or another trade-based industry strongly preferred.
  • Demonstrated success building or formalizing HR practices in a growing, multi-site company supporting both field and office employees.
  • Bachelor's degree required (HR, Business, or related field preferred)
  • SHRM-CP, SHRM-SCP, or SPHR certification required
• Key Attributes for Success
  • Direct, decisive, and credible with field leadership; able to engage, persuade, and inspire commitment across the organization.
  • Comfortable establishing structure from scratch while delegating routine execution to others.
  • Operates with strong autonomy and urgency; takes initiative, makes timely decisions, and balances multiple priorities.
  • Comfortable leading through change and ambiguity; willing to make calculated decisions and adjust course as the business evolves.