Labor Relations Manager

Job Overview

The Labor Relations Manager serves as a key advisor to school and departmental leadership across the Division, providing expert guidance on the interpretation and application of collective bargaining agreements (CBAs), personnel policies, and labor-related legal requirements. This role is responsible for administering the negotiated grievance process, including investigating grievances and supporting the Division’s response to unfair labor practice (ULP) charges, while ensuring consistent, compliant, and defensible outcomes.

Roles And Responsibilities

• Serves as primary point of contact and subject matter expert to assigned schools/departments providing guidance on the interpretation and application of collective bargaining agreements, grievance procedures, School Board policies, regulations, applicable laws and due process requirements.
• Works in a confidential capacity with access to sensitive human resources and labor relations information, including but not limited to, grievance strategy, investigations contract administration, and labor relations matters requiring discretion and judgment.
• Investigates reports and complaints of policy violations and related allegations, including analyzing evidence and preparing written reports of findings and recommendations.
• Leads the coordination and development of responses to requests for information (RFIs), contract interpretation inquiries, and grievance step responses, ensuring accuracy, legal sufficiency, and consistency with Division policy, collective bargaining agreements, and HRTD labor relations strategy.
• Participates in impacts-and-effects bargaining, in coordination with labor leadership and HRTD leadership, when operational changes trigger required bargaining obligations.
• Assists in drafting proposed bargaining language, analyzing union proposals, and researching operational, fiscal, or legal implications of labor-related issues.
• Advises assigned schools and departments on employee relations matters within a unionized environment, ensuring alignment with Virginia law, School Board policies, and applicable collective bargaining agreements.
• Counsels and supports leaders on responses to workplace concerns, including the application of progressive discipline, ensuring consistency with prior case outcomes, due process, and defensibility across cases.
• Develops and drafts written corrective actions, disciplinary documentation, and separation recommendations.
• Serves as a liaison between assigned schools/departments and employee representatives to facilitate effective communication, resolve issues at the lowest appropriate level, and uphold management rights under the collective bargaining agreement.
• Supports the Supervisor of Grievance Management in the administration of the negotiated grievance process, ensuring matters are handled in a timely, consistent, and procedurally compliant manner.
• Drafts grievance step responses that accurately reflect contractual requirements, School Board reserved management rights, LCPS policies, and applicable legal standards, while maintaining consistency with prior interpretations and outcomes.
• Aids in the preparation of materials for grievance hearings, mediation, and arbitration, including compiling evidence, developing timelines, and organizing supporting documentation; may represent the Division in grievance proceedings under the direction of the Supervisor or Director.
• Provides analysis and recommendations on grievance matters, including identification of risk, trends, and potential impacts to operations, policy, or contract administration.
• Supports post-resolution follow-up, including implementation of outcomes, documentation updates, and recommendations for policy, practice, or training adjustments to mitigate future risk.
• Develops job aids, implementation guides, workflow tools, and communication materials to support leaders in navigating a unionized environment, with particular attention to building capability within a labor-inexperienced workforce.
• Identifies training needs based on grievance activity, recurring issues, and areas of risk.
• Stays current with federal and state labor and employment laws, VDOE regulations, and evolving best practices in labor relations.
• Maintains awareness of trends, identifies areas of risk, and provides recommendations for improving consistency and reducing exposure.
• Performs other duties as assigned. May be called upon to support any function within Workplace and Labor Relations.

Qualifications

• Education: Bachelor’s degree in Human Resources, Labor Relations, Public Administration, Education, or related field.
• Experience: Five (5) years of progressively responsible experience in human resources, employee relations, or labor relations, with a demonstrated focus on labor relations functions.
• Licenses and Certifications: Demonstrated experience handling grievances, supporting arbitration processes, and resolving labor-management disputes in a structured, contract-driven environment.
• Knowledge, Skills And Abilities: Advanced knowledge of labor relations principles, collective bargaining agreements, and applicable employment laws, with the ability to interpret and apply complex contractual and regulatory requirements to real-world situations. Demonstrated ability to analyze complex and sensitive issues, exercise sound professional judgment, and escalate complex, high-risk, or precedent-setting matters to Labor Relations leadership as appropriate. Strong knowledge of employment law, labor law, and public-sector collective bargaining frameworks, including grievance processes, impacts-and-effects bargaining, and employee rights (e.g., Weingarten, Garrity, and Loudermill). Ability to interpret and apply collective bargaining agreements, policies, regulations, and operational protocols to complex, real-world situations with consistency and sound judgment. Advanced analytical skills, including evaluating evidence, assessing credibility, identifying risk, and developing clear, defensible recommendations and written responses. Skilled in conflict resolution, mediation, and coaching leaders through sensitive employee and labor relations matters. Ability to exercise sound judgment in complex or politically sensitive environments while balancing legal, operational, and employee relations considerations. Strong written and verbal communication skills, with the ability to convey complex or challenging information clearly and professionally. Ability to build and maintain effective working relationships, manage multiple priorities in a fast-paced environment, and handle sensitive and confidential information with discretion. Strong organizational skills and proficiency with Microsoft Office and human resources systems to support case management, documentation, and reporting.

Physical Requirements

• While performing the duties of this job, the employee is regularly talking, expressing or exchanging ideas by means of the spoken word. The employee must convey detailed or important spoken instructions to other workers accurately, loudly, or quickly.
• The employee must possess normal cognitive abilities including the ability to learn, recall and apply certain practices and policies.
• Work requires frequently sitting and/or remaining in a stationary position for long periods of time; exerting up to 25 pounds of force occasionally and negligible amounts of force frequently to lift, carry, push, pull or otherwise move objects.