Director of People Operations

Job Title: Director of People Operations Search Type: Confidential search conducted by Stoneway Talent Solutions The Opportunity: Our client is seeking a visible, approachable People Operations leader who can translate business needs, employee insights, and employment requirements into practical people strategies that strengthen the organization. This is not a traditional policy-desk position, nor is it a role defined by annual HR cycles. It is an opportunity for a hands-on leader who treats people strategy as a business discipline, earns trust across every level of the organization, and makes People Operations a place employees and leaders engage early rather than as a last resort. Opportunity Overview: The People Operations Director will own employment administration and the systems, practices, and insights that support a consistent, compliant, and high-performing employee experience. The role will partner closely with leaders across Safety & Risk, Benefits & Wellness, Talent Attraction, Employee Experience, Employee Resources, and Learning & Development. Compliance is a non-negotiable foundation of the position, but it is not its ceiling. The Director will also be accountable for strengthening manager capability, improving retention and engagement, maintaining reliable people data, and identifying organizational risks before they become escalations, resignations, or claims. The right candidate will bring sound judgment, working knowledge of employment law, fluency in people systems and data, and a record of building programs rather than simply administering them. Just as important, they will be approachable, direct, solutions-oriented, and energized by the opportunity to build something meaningful within our client’s high-growth culture. Leadership Mandate: Make People Operations visible, approachable, responsive, and closely connected to the day-to-day realities of the business. Build trust with employees and leaders by listening carefully, responding directly, maintaining appropriate confidentiality, and closing the loop. Strengthen manager capability through practical coaching, clear expectations, and support during difficult employee situations. Maintain disciplined, audit-ready employment practices across multiple locations and jurisdictions. Use people data and organizational patterns to identify emerging risks, determine root causes, and recommend action. Build compensation structures, systems, workflows, and operating practices that can support continued regional growth. Challenge leadership constructively when decisions or practices could create unintended consequences for employees, culture, compliance, or the business. Lead through challenges with a solutions-first mindset and address difficult conversations early. Develop and support a capable, trusted, and accountable People Operations team. Protect the employee experience through practical judgment, consistency, urgency, and reliable follow-through. What This Director of People Operations Will Own: Culture, Engagement & Leadership Serve as a resource, coach, and trusted confidant to the People Operations team while establishing clear expectations and meaningful accountability. Coach leaders through difficult employee conversations, helping them address issues directly while strengthening their ability to manage and develop their teams. Connect themes across departments, locations, and business units to identify organizational patterns that individual leaders may not see independently. Bring forward difficult feedback when necessary and help leaders understand the people and business implications of their decisions. Advocate appropriately for employees while balancing consistency, organizational standards, business realities, and long-term outcomes. Establish reliable communication and follow-through so employees and leaders understand what happened after raising a concern, asking a question, or providing feedback. Reinforce a consistent standard for how employees are led, supported, developed, and held accountable across the organization. Address difficult conversations early and approach challenges with a practical, solutions-first mindset. Help create an environment where employees are comfortable seeking guidance without viewing People Operations as a punitive or inaccessible function. Total Rewards, Systems & People Data Own the organization’s compensation structure, including market benchmarking, job and salary architecture, salary bands, offer guidelines, annual compensation reviews, and periodic pay equity analysis. Partner with business and finance leaders to ensure compensation decisions are competitive, consistent, financially responsible, and aligned with organizational needs. Own HRIS data integrity, workflow design, reporting practices, access controls, and audit-ready employment records. Identify opportunities to automate manual workflows, simplify processes, and improve the employee and manager experience without weakening controls. Establish clear ownership and quality standards for employee data throughout the employment lifecycle. Prepare accurate, timely people analysis covering headcount, voluntary and involuntary turnover, retention, time to fill, cost per hire, absenteeism, and engagement trends. Deliver monthly reporting that explains the risk, root cause, business impact, and recommended action rather than presenting numbers without context. Translate people data into clear decisions, priorities, and interventions that leaders can understand and act upon. Evaluate whether People Operations systems, structures, and workflows can support continued regional growth and recommend improvements before capacity becomes a constraint. Compliance, Employee Relations & Risk Management Maintain compliance with applicable federal, state, and local employment requirements, including FLSA, FMLA, ADA, Title VII, EEO, USERRA, OSHA-related employment obligations, and applicable state requirements. Own I-9 and E-Verify administration, required employment postings, records‑retention practices, EEO-1 reporting, and other required employment filings. Maintain the integrity, confidentiality, accessibility, and appropriate separation of personnel records, medical documentation, investigation materials, and other sensitive employment information. Administer leaves of absence, workplace accommodations, employee grievances, and unemployment claims from initial intake through documentation and resolution. Conduct prompt and impartial workplace investigations, maintain clear supporting documentation, and engage legal counsel when the nature or risk of a matter warrants additional guidance. Maintain current job descriptions, employment policies, employee records, and required HR training. Ensure payroll practices, employee classifications, timekeeping records, and wage-and-hour documentation withstand internal and external review. Monitor regulatory developments across the organization’s operating footprint and translate changes into timely updates to policies, practices, systems, and training. Provide leaders with guidance that protects the organization while avoiding an automatic or unnecessarily restrictive “no.” Recognize when a matter requires confidentiality, escalation, legal review, or immediate intervention and act with appropriate urgency. Business Partnership & Organizational Problem Solving Stay connected to the work by attending operational meetings, walking offices and jobsites as appropriate, and understanding the day-to-day realities affecting each team. Build trusted relationships across corporate, operational, and field environments rather than managing People Operations primarily through email, reports, or scheduled meetings. Monitor early indicators such as absenteeism, manager turnover, complaints, exit‑interview themes, regrettable departures, employee‑relations patterns, and recurring policy questions. Distinguish isolated events from broader organizational patterns and determine when the business needs a targeted intervention or systemic solution. Bring leadership the issue, supporting evidence, likely root cause, organizational risk, and recommended course of action before a problem becomes an escalation, resignation, or claim. Develop practical solutions when recurring patterns indicate a gap in leadership capability, policy, communication, training, systems, or organizational design. Balance employee advocacy, business needs, compliance requirements, and cultural expectations without losing credibility with any one stakeholder group. Follow issues through implementation and evaluate whether the intervention produced the intended result. People Operations Team & Cross‑Functional Partnership Clarify responsibilities, decision rights, workflows, and handoffs across the broader people function. Partner effectively with Safety & Risk, Benefits & Wellness, Talent Attraction, Employee Experience, Employee Resources, and Learning & Development. Prevent gaps or duplication by establishing clear ownership for work that crosses multiple people‑related functions. Create effective operating rhythms for reviewing employee trends, compliance priorities, workforce risks, and cross‑functional initiatives. Coach and develop People Operations team members through clear expectations, real‑time feedback, exposure to business challenges, and meaningful accountability. Model the responsiveness, discretion, credibility, and follow‑through expected from the entire People Operations function. Strengthen the team’s ability to resolve issues at the appropriate level rather than relying unnecessarily on escalation. Create processes that provide necessary consistency without introducing avoidable bureaucracy. Ideal Candidate Profile: Progressive People Operations or human resources leadership experience, including meaningful responsibility for building and improving programs rather than only administering established processes. Demonstrated experience leading employment administration, employee relations, compliance, compensation, HR systems, and people reporting. Working command of employment law and regulatory obligations, accompanied by the judgment to apply requirements without defaulting unnecessarily to “no.” Experience supporting a growing, multi‑location, or regionally distributed workforce and building trust across geographic distance. A proven record of measurably improving retention, engagement, hiring, leadership effectiveness, or another significant people outcome, with the ability to explain how the improvement was achieved. Experience coaching managers through employee performance, conduct, conflict, accommodations, leaves, investigations, and other sensitive workplace matters. Fluency with HRIS platforms, people analytics, workflow automation, reporting, and employment‑data governance. Ability to interpret people data, identify meaningful patterns, and turn analysis into a clear recommendation and course of action. Strong written and verbal communication skills, including the ability to communicate appropriately across in‑person, written, and digital channels. Demonstrated discretion and sound judgment when handling confidential, sensitive, or high‑risk matters. Action‑oriented, entrepreneurial, adaptable, innovative, and self‑directed. Comfortable moving between strategic organizational questions and detailed employment‑administration work. Long‑term interest in building and improving the People Operations function within the organization rather than treating the position as a temporary step between roles. Leadership Characteristics: Visible and approachable Builds relationships before problems arise, maintains a consistent presence across the organization, and makes it easy for employees and leaders to seek guidance. Business‑minded Connects people decisions to operational performance, organizational risk, employee retention, leadership effectiveness, and long‑term growth. Grounded and hands‑on Stays close to the work, handles important details personally when needed, and does not separate strategy from execution. Discreet and trustworthy Handles sensitive information carefully, protects confidentiality, and earns confidence through consistency, fairness, and sound judgment. Courageous Raises difficult issues early, communicates plainly, and provides candid guidance even when the message may be uncomfortable. Solutions‑oriented Moves beyond identifying problems to determining root causes, building practical solutions, and following through on implementation. Analytical and perceptive Recognizes patterns across employee feedback, workforce data, leader behavior, and business conditions that others may not see. Consistent and fair Applies standards thoughtfully and reliably while recognizing when circumstances require judgment rather than a mechanical response. Organized and proactive Maintains disciplined compliance practices, anticipates emerging issues, and acts before small concerns become organizational risks. Culture Alignment: Technical knowledge and compliance capability are required, but cultural alignment will determine long‑term success. The strongest candidate will see our client as a place to build a people function that supports employees, strengthens leaders, and helps the business scale without losing the relationships and mindset that make the organization distinct. Client Value What It Looks Like in This Role Challenges traditional HR thinking, questions processes that no longer serve the organization, and builds better solutions without sacrificing discipline or compliance. Humble and hands‑on Leads with humility, remains close to employees and the work, and steps into the details rather than operating solely from a policy or executive level. Creates alignment among employees, leaders, operations, field teams, and people‑function partners while avoiding functional silos. Keeps commitments Protects confidentiality, follows through on commitments, communicates transparently, and closes the loop with employees and leaders. What Will Make This Candidate a Strong Fit: They are known by name across the organization because they invest time in relationships rather than relying solely on process or position. They speak plainly and can explain complicated employment matters without excessive jargon, alarm, or bureaucracy. They are equally comfortable coaching a senior leader, listening to an employee concern, reviewing workforce data, and correcting a documentation gap. They understand that credibility comes from responsiveness, discretion, consistency, sound judgment, and follow‑through. They can uphold employment requirements while still helping the business find a practical way forward. They notice patterns early and instinctively begin building the solution rather than simply escalating the concern. They do not confuse employee advocacy with automatic agreement, or business partnership with avoiding difficult feedback. They care about whether leaders become stronger through People Operations’ involvement rather than becoming dependent on the function. They are energized by growth, evolving systems, complex situations, and the opportunity to build durable organizational practices. They demonstrate a genuine, long‑term interest in helping our client become a place where people want to stay, contribute, develop, and do their best work. Operates primarily as a policy administrator and is uncomfortable being visible, accessible, or closely connected to employees and operations. They treat compliance as the full scope of People Operations rather than the minimum foundation of the role. Defaults to “no” without exploring compliant, practical alternatives that address the business need. Waits for issues to escalation instead of monitoring early indicators and intervening while concerns are still manageable. Identifies risks or recurring problems but does not bring forward a recommendation, build a solution, or follow through on implementation. Take employee issues away from managers rather than coaching managers to handle responsibilities appropriately. Is uncomfortable moving between strategic planning and detailed administrative execution. Present people data without explaining its meaning, likely cause, organizational impact, or recommended action. Applies policies mechanically without considering context, consistency, precedent, or broader effect on the organization. Maintains People Operations as a separate or inaccessible function rather than an embedded business partner. Requires fully developed infrastructure and established processes rather than being willing to build, improve, and adapt them. #J-18808-Ljbffr