Senior Manager of Employee Relations

About Our Organization

Youth Guidance creates and implements school-based programs that enable children to overcome obstacles, focus on their education, and ultimately, to succeed in school and in life.  We believe that no matter what challenges a young person faces, they are more likely to succeed when they have caring adults in their lives. Our highly trained staff guides kids to overcome the life and academic challenges facing the youth. We meet kids where they are — physically and emotionally — to help them focus on their education, make positive choices, and remain on the right path toward life success.

Founded in 1924 and celebrating 100 years of impact this year, Youth Guidance is a leading provider of outcomes-driven programs serving more than 18,000 youth around the country.  For more information, visit www.youth-guidance.org.

Position Summary**:**The Senior Manager of Employee Relations leads the organization's efforts to foster a fair, respectful, and inclusive work environment by managing employee relations strategies, programs, and policies. This role is responsible for driving resolution of complex employee issues, partnering with leadership to ensure compliance with employment laws, and developing systems to monitor ER trends and risks. The ideal candidate will bring a strategic mindset and strong analytical acumen to create dashboards and ER metrics that guide proactive decision-making and risk mitigation.

Essential Duties/Responsibilities:

• Plans, leads, coordinates, and implements policies, processes, training, initiatives, and surveys to support the organization’s human resource compliance and strategy needs.

• Manages the development and execution of HR programs encompassing disciplinary processes, employee disputes, internal investigations, and performance management.

• Design and lead the development of the Employee Relations strategy and dashboards to monitor trends in grievances, investigations, turnover, and engagement across departments and regions.

• Manage employee records policies and requests in partnership with the Chief Risk Officer & General Counsel, overseeing processes and conducting periodic audits to ensure
  legal compliance

• Monitors and ensures the organization’s compliance with federal, state, and local employment laws and regulations, and recommends best practices; reviews and modifies policies and practices to maintain compliance.

• Maintains knowledge of trends, best practices, regulatory changes, and new technologies in human resources, talent management, and employment laws; applies this knowledge to communicate changes in policy, practice, and resources to upper management.

• Manage and update the agency policies for employees, including annual review and updates to the employee handbook

• Provide training on compliance areas

• Provide expert-level coaching and guidance to HR Business Partners and managers in managing employee performance and engagement challenges.

• Partner with Training & Development to create and deliver training programs for leaders on ER topics, conflict resolution, and compliance.

• Lead cross-functional ER initiatives aligned with culture, engagement, and organizational values.

• Collaborate with program and regional leaders to gather audit-related data and ensure compliance with internal policies, employment laws, and grant or contract requirements.

• Prepare reports for leadership, the board of directors, and external stakeholders as appropriate

• Other duties as needed

Minimum Qualifications:

Education/Experience/Training

• Bachelor’s degree in Human Resources or related field. A Master’s degree is preferred.

• HRCI or SHRM certified preferred

• Data-driven & analytical

• 8+ years of overall business experience including HR and operations management (minimum of 4 – 8 years HR experience required; non-profit experience preferred)

• Demonstrated experience in employee relations within an academic or unionized educational environment is preferred.

• Experience with BambooHR, Paycom, or similar HRIS operations

Skills/Abilities

• In-depth knowledge of human resources and government contractor standards and regulations

• Management experience of a team in a manner that cultivates and sustains a strong team-oriented culture, with an emphasis on results and accountability

• Experience working and managing multi-state operations

• Experience designing and implementing new business capabilities

• Engagement in strategic planning activities; ability to modify strategies in response to dynamic operating conditions in which economic, political, and cultural realities are changing constantly

• Change leadership capability to lead the organization through culture changes and processes.

• Strong consulting, influencing, and coaching skills, and an ability to build trust and relate to people at all levels

• Proven track record of building and maintaining highly engaged, high-performing teams

• Highly ethical with strong decision-making skills and judgment to drive the right impact for Youth Guidance

• Serve as a strong champion of inclusion and diversity

• Proven ability to manage confidential and sensitive situations with professionalism and discretion.

• Strong consulting, influencing, and conflict resolution skills.

• Exceptional knowledge of employment law, workplace investigations, and best practices in Employee Relations.

• High analytical acumen and experience using data to drive strategic decisions.

• Strong organizational and project management skills; ability to manage competing priorities.

• Commitment to continuous improvement, DEIB, and fostering a positive workplace culture.

Leadership Core Competencies

• Continuous improvement-minded:  Takes initiative to identify and execute strategies and processes to continuously improve one’s leadership to strengthen organization’s overall impact.​

• Develops and motivates others: Motivates others and supports their development through strong coaching and mentoring. Effectively stewards self and others through both small and large scale change**.** ​

• External representation and relationship building: Represents the organization among external stakeholders, and builds strong, trusting relationships with stakeholders​

• Leads with vision: Has an inspiring vision for the future of the organization, beyond the status quo, and communicates it effectively; leads with courage and willingness to take risks in service of impact​

• Manages with data: Understands data; analyzes data and identifies insights and implications​

• Strategic thinking and resource management:  Considers the future of the organization proactively and responsively; weighs diverse inputs to inform strategies; identifies innovative opportunities when relevant; makes and communicates decisions that effectively balance tradeoffs between financial sustainability and impact​

• Team building: Builds strong relationships with teams and colleagues; fosters effective teams and collaborative interactions

Physical Demands

The physical demands described here are representative of those that must be met by an employee to successfully perform the essential functions of this job. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions

Work Environment

The work environment characteristics described here are representative of those an employee encounters while performing the essential functions of this job. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.

• Occasional local and national travel

Benefits Youth Guidance offers a competitive benefit package for eligible full-time employees including the option to participate in medical, dental, and vision plans as well as short-term disability, life insurance, flex spending accounts, pet insurance, 401k, a wellness program and more. You may also qualify for Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF).

Compensation

$73,000-$106,000

Pay is determined by your educational background and relevant professional experience.

Our Values

At Youth Guidance, we believe that creating a welcoming and supportive environment where everyone feels valued and respected is fundamental to realizing our vision of bright and successful futures for all young people. We acknowledge that many systems and institutions intended to support youth do not provide fair treatment or access for everyone. We strive to celebrate the unique qualities of youth and recognize them as empowered leaders, problem-solvers, and experts of their own experiences.

Youth Guidance is an equal opportunity employer. Youth Guidance does not discriminate based on race, color, religion, sex, national origin, disability, veteran status, marital status, sexual orientation, or any other characteristic protected by applicable law and is committed to fostering a welcoming and supportive environment where everyone feels valued and respected. People of all backgrounds are encouraged to apply.