Job Class: Manager II, 0992
Salary Range: $132,527-$180,933/annually
Appointment Type: Permanent Exempt (what does this mean?)
Calendar: Full Time / Full Year
As an
HR School Partner, you will serve as the primary Human Resources partner to an assigned portfolio of SFUSD schools, with particular responsibility for supporting principals and people managers with employee relations, workplace investigations, performance management, collective bargaining agreement interpretation, and effective people management.
The HR School Partner will help school leaders address employee concerns fairly, consistently, and promptly. You will advise leaders on performance and conduct concerns, conduct workplace investigations, support appropriate documentation and corrective action, and help ensure employee performance evaluations are meaningful, timely, and aligned with District expectations. You will also help principals understand and apply collective bargaining agreements, partnering closely with Labor Relations on grievances, contractual disputes, and other matters requiring specialized labor expertise. You will work side-by-side with principals to understand their needs, resolve concerns quickly and effectively, and build their capacity as people managers.
This role requires a leader who can independently assess complex employee situations, gather and analyze information, provide clear and practical recommendations, and coach leaders through difficult conversations and decisions. The HR School Partner must balance responsiveness to school leaders with consistency, due process, employee rights, collective bargaining obligations, and the District's responsibility to maintain effective and equitable workplaces.
HR School Partners will work closely with Labor Relations, Legal, Leaves and Accommodations, Staffing, and other Human Resources teams to ensure employee matters are addressed through the appropriate processes and that school leaders experience Human Resources as a coordinated and effective partner. You will help principals navigate the District's central-office systems, coordinate support across HR functions, and remain engaged until issues are appropriately addressed. Rather than requiring school leaders to determine which HR office owns an issue, you will help connect the right people, clarify next steps, and move the work toward resolution.
Essential Duties
The duties specified below are representative of the range of duties assigned to the job code/class and are not intended to be an inclusive or exhaustive list.
As the
HR School Partner, you will:
- Serve as the primary Human Resources advisor to principals and people managers within an assigned portfolio of schools on employee relations and performance-management matters; working directly on site with principals and building an effective, productive relationship with the principal and other administrators
- Advise and coach school leaders on employee performance, conduct, attendance, workplace conflict, professional expectations, and other employee concerns.
- Conduct fair, thorough, timely, and impartial workplace investigations, including developing investigation plans, interviewing complainants, respondents, and witnesses, reviewing relevant evidence, assessing credibility, documenting findings, and preparing written investigation reports.
- Assess employee concerns and determine the appropriate HR pathway, including investigation, performance management, corrective action, progressive discipline, informal resolution, referral to Labor Relations, or engagement of another specialized HR function.
- Support principals in addressing performance concerns early and effectively through clear expectations, feedback, documentation, coaching, improvement plans, and other appropriate interventions.
- Provide consultation and support throughout the employee performance evaluation process, helping leaders establish expectations, provide actionable feedback, document performance, complete evaluations effectively and on time, and align evaluation outcomes with subsequent performance-management actions.
- Review performance documentation and proposed corrective actions for clarity, consistency, sufficient documentation, and alignment with District policies, procedures, and applicable collective bargaining agreements.
- Coach managers in preparing for and conducting difficult employee conversations, including performance conferences, investigatory meetings, corrective conversations, and other sensitive interactions.
- Develop strong working knowledge of SFUSD's collective bargaining agreements and provide school leaders with practical guidance regarding contractual provisions affecting day-to-day people management.
- Partner closely with the principal to address grievances, potential contract violations, disciplinary matters, past-practice questions, bargaining obligations, and other labor relations issues.
- Help principals understand and consistently fulfill their obligations under collective bargaining agreements, Board policies, administrative regulations, and District procedures.
- Identify potential labor, employee-relations, or legal risks early and engage Labor Relations, Legal Counsel, or other specialized partners as appropriate.
- Facilitate resolution of workplace conflict and employee concerns when informal intervention is appropriate, while recognizing matters requiring formal investigation or other processes.
- Support principals in responding to employee complaints and concerns in a manner that is timely, respectful, consistent, and appropriately documented.
- Maintain accurate, complete, and confidential case documentation and ensure appropriate records are maintained in accordance with District requirements.
- Track employee-relations cases and ensure timely follow-up, communication, and resolution.
- Identify patterns across employee-relations cases, investigations, grievances, evaluations, and performance concerns and recommend systemic interventions, training, or improvements.
- Develop and monitor key performance indicators related to employee-relations case management, investigation timeliness, performance evaluations, and service delivery.
- Train principals and people managers on employee relations, workplace investigations, documentation, performance management, collective bargaining agreements, and other effective management practices.
- Build the capacity of school leaders to independently address routine people-management issues while recognizing when Human Resources involvement is necessary.
- Identify system concerns and areas of improvement for the central office to improve on, provide feedback for system improvement to ensure that principal needs are being met.
- Establish strong relationships with principals, employees, union representatives, and HR colleagues while maintaining appropriate neutrality, confidentiality, and professional judgment.
- Exercise sound judgment in complex and sensitive employee matters and communicate recommendations clearly, directly, and respectfully.
- Performs other related duties as assigned
The strongest candidates will have:
- Five (5) years of progressively responsible professional experience in school administration, employee relations, labor relations, human resources, or a closely related field, including experience advising and supporting people managers on complex employee matters.
- Previous experience as a site-based school administrator, with a strong understanding of the day-to-day realities of leading and managing employees in schools.
- Demonstrated expertise in employee relations, including workplace investigations, performance management, progressive discipline, performance evaluations, grievances, and other complex employee matters.
- Knowledge of the FRISK model or comparable approaches to documenting and addressing employee performance and conduct concerns.
- Demonstrated ability to coach managers through employee performance concerns, conflict, difficult conversations, corrective action, and other sensitive personnel matters.
- A proven record of effective project management, including planning, organizing, prioritizing, and using resources to take action and achieve goals.
- Strong interpersonal skills and demonstrated ability to build trusting and effective working relationships with school leaders, employees, labor partners, senior District leaders, and colleagues.
- Comfort working directly in schools across the K-12 system and adapting support to the differing needs and contexts of school communities.
- Flexibility, initiative, and an entrepreneurial mindset necessary to build and continuously improve a new role while operating within a large, complex urban school system.
- Strong analytical and systems-thinking skills, including the ability to interpret data, identify patterns, inform strategy, and build effective systems and infrastructure where none exist.
- Excellent leadership and interpersonal skills and high professional standards for responsiveness, customer service, follow-through, and quality of work.
- Ability to work effectively across multiple functions and levels of a complex organization and navigate central-office systems on behalf of school leaders.
- Ability to effectively manage conflict, facilitate difficult conversations, and remain calm and solutions-oriented when perspectives or interests differ.
- California admin certification
- HR certification (PHR, SPHR, SHRM, SHRM-SCP)
Minimum Qualifications
Education & Experience- Bachelor's degree (B.A. / B.S) from an accredited college or university
- Three years of related professional-level experience
Substitution- Up to 4 years of education requirement may be substituted for additional experience on a year-for-year basis
What We Offer
SFUSD offers a competitive salary of $132,527-$180,933/annually commensurate with experience in a similar position. We offer a comprehensive benefits plan including dental and vision plans, a defined benefit pension plan, disability, life insurance, flexible spending account options and vacation time. We also offer an inclusive and equity-centered environment where we encourage staff to bring their whole selves to work.
How to Apply
- Visit https://jobs.sfusd.edu/ and create a new account to begin your application.
- You will be prompted to electronically attach a letter of interest, resume, list of professional references
and any applicable credentials or licenses
- Our Human Resources team will then review your entire application to determine your eligibility status
and contact you directly should you move forward in the process
- Applicants may be contacted by email about this recruitment and, therefore, it is their responsibility to ensure that their registered email address is accurate and kept up-to-date. Also, applicants must ensure that email from SFUSD and CCSF is not blocked on their computer by a spam filter. To prevent blocking, applicants should set up their email to accept SFUSD and CCSF mail from the following addresses ([redacted].edu, [redacted].org, [redacted].org, [redacted].com, [redacted].com, [redacted].org, [redacted].org, [redacted].org, [redacted].com, [redacted].org, [redacted].org, [redacted].org, [redacted].org, [redacted].edu, [redacted].info, and [redacted].com).
Verification
Applicants may be required to submit verification of qualifying education and experience at any point during the recruitment and selection process. If education verification is required, information on how to verify education requirements, including verifying foreign education credits or degree equivalency, can be found at http://sfdhr.org/how-verify-education-requirements.
Note: Falsifying one's education, training, or work experience or attempted deception on the application may result in disqualification from this and future job opportunities with the San Francisco Unified School District.
