Senior Director, Employee Relations

About The Job

The Senior Director, Employee Relations is the senior leader accountable for enterprise-wide employee relations strategy, governance, and outcomes. This role sets the direction for ER risk management, investigation standards, and decision quality across the organization, ensuring consistent, fair, and legally defensible practices at scale. The Sr Director leads the Employee Relations function, serving as a primary advisor to executive leaders, HR leadership, and Legal on high risk ER issues and systemic risk.

What You'll Do

• Enterprise ER Strategy, Governance & Risk Leadership: Set enterprise ER strategy and governance, including standards for investigations, case management, escalation thresholds, and risk controls. Accountable for the organization’s ER risk posture and precedent framework, ensuring consistent decision-making and defensibility across teams, functions, and geographies. Advise executive and senior business leaders on complex, high-stakes workforce decisions; align with HR and Legal on options, implications, and risk mitigation.

• Oversight, Escalations & Advisory: Provide oversight for the most sensitive investigations and ER matters, ensuring rigor, defensibility, and alignment with enterprise standards. Translate complex risk scenarios into clear executive options and recommendations, driving timely, principled, and consistent outcomes. Partner with ER and HR leadership and Legal to identify emerging ER risks and trends, and drive enterprise actions to address systemic issues.

• Functional Leadership, Capability & Operating Model: Lead and develop the ER team, setting expectations for quality, consistency, and service delivery; establish operating rhythms and performance standards. Provide coaching to ER leaders, HRBPs, and managers on complex or escalated matters; ensure appropriate escalation pathways and consistent application of precedent. Drive continuous improvement of ER operating models, tools, guidance, and analytics; partner cross-functionally to strengthen prevention, early intervention, and risk reduction.

• Enterprise Change, Workforce Actions & Stakeholder Leadership: Lead ER strategy and governance for enterprise-wide change, restructures, reductions in force, or other high-impact workforce actions. Advise executives on decision sequencing, communications, and mitigation strategies to protect trust, employee experience, and risk posture. Represent ER in enterprise governance forums and high-visibility discussions, influencing outcomes and ensuring alignment across HR, Legal, and business leadership.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in Human Resources, Business, Law or related field.

• 12+ years of progressive experience in employee relations, investigations, and/or HR risk leadership, including people and/or functional leadership.

• Demonstrated success leading enterprise-level, executive-impact ER strategy, escalations, and complex workforce actions.

• Exceptional judgment, executive presence, and ability to influence senior leaders across HR, Legal, and the business.

• Pioneering ability to think systemically about risk, precedent, and organizational impact.

• Advanced written and verbal communication skills, including executive-ready materials.

Compensation

Pay Range: Start: $130,800.00 | End: $196,200.00
Geographic Specific Pay Structure: $143,920.00 USD - $215,880.00 USD
For candidates living in California, New York City, or other eligible locations, geographic specific pay structures, compensation, and benefits may apply. Click here to learn more.

Skills

• Risk Management (NM) - Advanced
• Strategic Thinking (NM) - Advanced
• Technical & Digital Acumen (NM) - Intermediate
• Organizational Dynamics (NM) - Expert
• Dispute Resolution (NM) - Expert
• Learning Agility & Critical Thinking (NM) - Expert
• Cross Functional Partnering & Planning (NM) - Expert
• Policy & Procedure (NM) - Expert
• Project Management (NM) - Expert
• Customer Centricity (NM) - Expert
• Investigation Acumen (NM) - Expert
• Prioritization (NM) - Expert
• Accountability (NM) - Advanced
• Emotional Intelligence (NM) - Expert
• Negotiation & Managing Objections (NM) - Expert
• HR Ethics (NM) - Expert
• Business Influence (NM) - Advanced
• Crisis Management (NM) - Advanced
• Adaptive Communication (NM) - Expert
• Organizational & Political Savvy (NM) - Expert
• Statutes & Regulation (NM) - Advanced
• Data Collection & Analysis (NM) - Advanced