Job Summary

The HR Director for Partner Services, Operations provides senior-level HR leadership for the Office of the Senior Vice Chancellor for Operations and the units it supports. This position advises executive and senior leaders on complex HR issues, supervises the HR team supporting Operations and works across workforce planning, employee and labor relations, compensation, performance management, employee engagement, organizational development, policy interpretation, leave and HR operations. The role helps leaders make practical decisions that are consistent with policy, compliance requirements, risk considerations and HR best practices. Because the position operates in a public-sector higher education environment, it requires strong knowledge of State of Colorado classified staff requirements, partnership agreements, State Personnel Board Rules and campus and system policies. The HR Director works directly with central Human Resources, Legal, Employee Relations, Organizational and Employee Development and other campus and system partners.

The HR Director works regularly with the Senior Vice Chancellor for Operations and central Human Resources, Legal, Employee Relations, Organizational and Employee Development, Talent Acquisition, and other campus and system partners. This position reports to the Assistant Vice Chancellor, HR Partner Services in Central HR, with a dotted reporting line to the Associate Vice Chancellor and Senior Executive Advisor to the Senior Vice Chancellor for Operations.

Strategic Advisory Role

This role advises executive and senior leaders on sensitive and complex HR matters. The HR Director helps leaders identify workforce risks, understand policy and legal considerations, address public-sector and classified staff requirements, and make decisions that support the strategic direction and operational goals of the division. The role integrates workforce planning, succession planning, talent strategy, and organizational effectiveness to support employee engagement, compliance and operational continuity.

The HR Director must be able to work across a broad range of HR issues, including recruitment and selection, leadership staffing decisions, performance management, employee development, succession, discipline, and separation, and bring the right partners and stakeholders into the discussion. The role also ensures that HR guidance is implemented throughout the Division of Operations, and that leaders receive consistent service and follow-through.

The HR Director is expected to resolve matters at the appropriate level, recognize when an issue exceeds divisional authority or expertise, and promptly escalate sensitive, complex, or high-risk matters to the Senior Vice Chancellor for Operations or the appropriate campus or system partner.

Units Supported

• Office of the Senior Vice Chancellor for Operations (SVCO)
• Department of Public Safety (DPS)
• Employee Health and Well-being (EHWB)
• Office of Compliance, Ethics, & Policy (OCEP)
• Office of Information Technology (OIT)
• Department of Human Resources (HR)

What Your Key Responsibilities Will Be

The responsibilities below describe the primary work of the position, including senior-level HR advising, day-to-day HR generalist support, supervision of HR staff and coordination with campus partners.

Executive Consultation and Strategic HR Advising

• Serve as a senior HR advisor to executive and unit leaders on complex workforce, organizational, employee and compliance matters.
• Translate divisional priorities and operational goals into integrated workforce, talent, and HR plans, processes and recommendations.
• Advise leaders on sensitive personnel issues, leadership staffing decisions, talent risks, policy interpretation, employee relations concerns, succession, organizational change and workforce continuity.
• Work with central HR (Employee Relations, Talent Acquisition, Organizational and Employee Development), Legal, and other subject-matter experts to ensure recommendations are coordinated, compliant and consistent with university practice.
• Use workforce data, HR analytics, professional judgment and knowledge of the organization to support leaders' decision-making.

HR Team Leadership

• Provide direct leadership and supervision for the HR team supporting Operations units by establishing priorities and service expectations, assigning and reviewing work, coaching staff and building team capacity.
• Serve as the divisional escalation point for complex, sensitive, or high-risk HR matters requiring senior-level judgment, coordinated review, or executive awareness.
• Review HR team deliverables, communications, and recommendations for accuracy, consistency and alignment with university practices and the Senior Vice Chancellor for Operations' vision.
• Provide direct supervision, performance guidance, training, coaching, and development for HR team members to strengthen generalist skills, compliance knowledge, sound judgment and consistent service delivery.
• Evaluate and improve unit-level HR programs, workflows and processes.

Workforce Planning

• Advise executive and unit leaders on workforce planning, staffing models, organizational structure, leadership capacity, succession planning, recruitment priorities and talent risks.
• Assess current and future workforce needs and recommend talent acquisition, development, retention, succession, or organizational approaches that support operational priorities and continuity.
• Support organizational design, reporting-line changes, reorganizations and growth planning with unit leaders and campus partners.
• Facilitate succession planning, development planning, and strategies to retain and grow high-potential employees; partner with Talent Acquisition and unit leaders to define and execute recruiting strategies for critical, specialized and leadership roles.

Employee and Labor Relations

• Advise leaders on complex employee grievances, performance concerns, disciplinary actions, investigations, workplace conflict and sensitive employee matters.
• Coordinate with Employee Relations, Legal, the Senior Executive Aide to the Senior Vice Chancellor for Operations, and other subject-matter experts on matters requiring specialized review, executive awareness, or escalation.
• Help leaders make sound, well-documented decisions that account for employee impact, policy requirements, operational needs and legal or reputational risk.
• Provide guidance to leaders on employee relations practices, performance documentation, workplace expectations and when to escalate concerns.

Compensation

• Advise leaders on compensation considerations, including pay equity, market alignment, compression, range of penetration, length of service and internal consistency.
• Oversee unit compensation review and assignment in partnership with central HR and compensation experts.
• Review the staff's annual merit roster process and support consistent, well-documented compensation decisions.
• Use compensation data to identify issues, develop recommendations and support consistent decision-making.

Performance Management

• Oversee the staff performance management cycle, including communications, leader guidance, documentation expectations and unit-level calibration sessions.
• Advise leaders on performance concerns, corrective action, goal setting, accountability and use of performance tools and processes.
• Support performance management approaches for units that do not use Cornerstone or have different performance systems.
• Partner with leaders and Employee Relations to ensure performance concerns are addressed consistently and fairly.

Employee Engagement

• Advise leaders on employee engagement strategies that support retention, culture, operational effectiveness and employee experience.
• Serve as a unit Engagement Champion by supporting survey communication, action planning, assessment and follow-through.
• Help leaders interpret engagement data, identify themes and develop practical recommendations.
• Support employee listening strategies and culture-building efforts across Operations units.

HR Reporting and Technology

• Develop and interpret HR reports, workforce data and HR analytics for divisional and unit leadership, as necessary.
• Use data to identify trends, inform workforce recommendations, evaluate HR processes, and support leaders' decision-making.
• Support unit leaders and HR staff through HR technology implementations, including communication, training, adoption and change management.
• Oversee learning and training related to HR technologies and related processes.

Leave and System Policies

• Serve as a senior resource on CU System and campus policies, federal and state employment requirements, and HR best practices.
• Lead leave, reasonable accommodation, and related employer processes for supported units in coordination with campus and system partners.
• Advise leaders on policy interpretation, documentation, process consistency, and risk considerations.
• Work with Human Resources, Legal, ADA, and other offices to support consistent application of policies and processes.

Learning and Organizational Development

• Partner with Organizational and Employee Development on learning, leadership development, team effectiveness, and organizational development needs.
• Identify learning and development gaps and recommend programs, resources, or interventions.
• Advise leaders on change management, onboarding, leadership transitions, organizational culture, and team development.
• Support development of individual-contributors, managers and executive onboarding approaches.

Continuous Improvement

• Improve HR processes, workflows, service delivery and leader-facing HR guidance.
• Identify opportunities to clarify roles, improve coordination, reduce duplication and strengthen consistency across supported units.
• Support organizational change, operational transitions and evolving workforce needs by helping leaders design practical HR solutions.
• Maintain knowledge of HR trends, best practices, higher education HR guidelines, public- and private-sector practices and emerging compliance issues.

Position Context and Scope

This position supports a complex group of Operations units with different structures, compliance needs, employee populations, schedules, and work environments. The HR Director must provide practical, senior-level HR guidance, involve specialized partners when needed and help ensure unit decisions are consistent with university, campus, system, state, federal and regulatory requirements.

Employee Types Supported

• Classified Staff
• Graduate Appointments
• Retirees
• Student Employees and Stipend Employees
• Temporary Staff
• University Staff

Scope of Support

• Support internal employee survey processes, including survey development, communication, interpretation of results and division-specific recommendations.
• Coordinate Global Professional Employer Organization employee logistics, including procurement, contracts, onboarding, compliance and stakeholder coordination.
• Support workforce development, organizational planning and change management for growing or evolving Operations functions.
• Maintain and interpret compensation data, including length of service, range of penetration, compression, equity and market adjustment considerations.
• Support compliance with partnership agreements and State Personnel Board Rules for classified staff.
• Coordinate with central HR and Public Safety's Internal Affairs team on employee relations matters requiring specialized review or escalation.
• Support the distinct cultural, operational, and HR needs of Public Safety employees and leaders.
• Support the development of individual- contributors, managers and executive onboarding programs.
• Support employees and leaders in units with non-standard sc