People Services Generalist

About The Department

The People Services department within the Biological Sciences Division (BSD) of the University of Chicago provides HR support to BSD administrative and operational leaders for over 2400 staff employees in mission critical research positions. The BSD is the largest unit of the University, established in 1930, and includes faculty from the clinical and basic sciences. It delivers undergraduate, graduate, medical, and postgraduate education in the biological sciences, along with outstanding patient care and world-renowned research.

Job Summary

The People Services Generalist will report to the Associate Director of People Services and support BSD departments focusing on Academic Affairs as well as Human Resources. This role supports activities related to BSD Faculty employment including; the full life cycle of Faculty recruitment & Postdoctoral Scholars, onboarding and offboarding, attending offsite career events, investigating pay discrepancies, generating HR reports, and organizing employee engagement activities.

Responsibilities

• Serves as a key resource to BSD staff and departmental administrators on all HR related matters ensuring HR services are provided in a timely and professional manner.
• Solves HR administrative issues in consultation with appropriate University of Chicago administrative offices such as Shared Services, Payroll, or Student Employment, communicating directly with all stakeholders to ensure issues are successfully resolved.
• Generates standing and ad hoc reports on compliance and HR metrics using Workday.
• Responsible for providing follow-up on HR compliance reporting and tracking for the assigned unit.
• Coincides work authorization efforts for designated unit by acting as a liaison to the Office of International Affairs, University Human Resources, and/or Payroll, which includes but is not limited to running Visa reports and owning Visa applications by the direction of the HRBP.
• Gains and maintains knowledge of University Human Resource policies and procedures as well as federal, state and local employment and labor laws, staying abreast of changes and implementing the changes into the day-to-day workflow.
• Coincides HR activities supporting employee training, communication, engagement and wellness.
• Manages the full life cycle of Student Employment.
• Supports staff hiring processes, including developing job descriptions, interviewing and reference checking, handling employment offers, and conducting orientation. Drafts templates and routine offer letters. Maintains appropriate human resources data and records, solving a range of straightforward problems using standard procedures.
• Provides professional support to a unit's employee/labor relations efforts, including handling grievances, disciplinary warnings, and employee complaints.
• Performs other related work as needed and provides solutions to ongoing process/ project improvement initiatives.

Education

• Minimum Qualifications: Bachelor’s degree in a related field, or an equivalent combination of education and relevant experience.
• Work Experience: 2-5 years of work experience in a related job discipline.

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience as a human resources professional in higher education or healthcare environment strongly preferred.
• Experience working with Workday or other Human Resources Information Systems.
• Experience working with Interfolio.
• Working knowledge of employment regulations and typical human resources procedures.
• Demonstrated experience delivering quality customer service.

Technical Skills

• Strong and broad software knowledge and usage including: word processing, spreadsheet, e-mail, and web, as well as a strong knowledge of Microsoft Office suite.
• Knowledge of Workday or similar human resources information systems.

Preferred Competencies

• Celebrate diversity and inclusion.
• Strong customer service skills and ability to interact with and serve a diverse population with tact, courtesy, clarity, and diplomacy.
• Demonstrated ability to work independently and as part of a team.
• Foster partnership and collaboration.
• Exhibit business acumen and organizational astuteness.
• Demonstrated ability to work on multiple projects simultaneously, juggle competing deadlines, set priorities, and meet deadlines with minimal supervision despite heavy workload and tight deadlines.
• Display strategic agility.
• Display emotional intelligence.
• Exhibit resilience and optimize resources.
• Excellent organizational and communication skills.
• Demonstrate excellent critical thinking and problem-solving skills utilizing appropriate resources to resolve issues with high attention to detail.
• Able to handle sensitive and confidential situations and information with absolute discretion.
• Able to write and edit standard documents such as job descriptions, training materials, or offer letters with minimal oversight.
• Able to demonstrate professional behavior in a respectful way.