Position:HR Operations Director

Department: Human Resources

Reports To: Chief People Officer

Location: 3180 Presidential Drive Atlanta, GA 30340

Summary:

The HR Operations Director serves as the operational anchor of the Human Resources department. This role is responsible for running the day-to-day HR operations team, owning the systems and compliance infrastructure that keep HR functioning, and providing the structure, standards, and professional development that the on-site HR Managers need to succeed. The HR Operations Director translates HR strategy into reliable, repeatable execution - ensuring that payroll is accurate, compliance obligations are met, data is trustworthy, and the team performs consistently across all sites.

Essential Job Functions:

This represents a list of essential job duties. Other duties or special projects may be assigned as needed.

Uphold the standards and values of LifeLine Animal Project:

Save Lives -- Build Community -- Be Exceptional Stewards -- Be Courageous --

Be Compassionate -- Take Responsibility -- Respect, Embrace and Celebrate Diversity

Team Leadership & Development:

• Directly manage on-site HR Managers and one HR Administrative Assistant, setting clear performance standards, expectations, and accountability structures.
• Strengthen and improve upon existing operational structure: refine standardized workflows, enhance checklists, reinforce recurring deadlines, and optimize the cadence of structured check-ins.
• Compassionately coach and develop HR Managers as HR professionals - expanding their expertise, judgment, and capacity over time.
• Serve as the primary escalation point for HR operational issues across all sites.
• Respect, embrace, and celebrate diversity by championing a positive, inclusive, and high-performance culture, always focused on LifeLine's mission to save lives.
• Courageously help to build a community of animal welfare advocates by supporting and engaging volunteers who aid LifeLine's mission.

Compliance & Risk Management:

• Maintain required certifications and ensure compliance with safety regulations and employment law across all organizational sites.
• Take responsibility to maintain a comprehensive, documented audit trail for all compliance activities - eliminating single-point-of-failure dependencies on any individual's institutional memory.
• Ensure background checks are completed and documented for every hire, including any additional checks required at specific sites.
• Monitor training completion toward the organization's goal of 40 hours per employee each year, and ensure county shelter staff meet the 40 hours required under county contracts.
• Monitor regulatory changes in employment law and proactively update practices and documentation accordingly.
• Respond to DOL unemployment compensation notifications and participate in administrative hearings.

Payroll Oversight:

• Own the end-to-end payroll process across all three payrolls, submitting payrolls in ADP and managing post-run reconciliation.
• Establish and enforce consistent payroll deadlines, with clear accountability expectations for supervisors across all three payrolls.
• Conduct a comprehensive audit of ADP payroll configuration early in tenure; implement validation rules that catch errors before payroll runs.
• Ensure payroll records, adjustments, and corrections are thoroughly documented and audit-ready at all times.

HRIS & Systems Administration (ADP):

• Serve as the organization's ADP system owner - responsible for configuration, data integrity, reporting, and user access management.
• Exhibit exceptional stewardship by conducting a full audit of ADP modules in use versus modules available but unused.
• Build and maintain standard HR reports and dashboards to support leadership decision-making and regulatory compliance.
• Partner with IT and vendors on any system updates, integrations, and troubleshooting.

Benefits Administration:

• Work with the broker to manage all aspects of employee benefits - including new-hire enrollment, qualifying life event changes, and the annual open enrollment process.
• Serve as the primary organizational contact for benefits vendors, brokers, and carriers.
• Act as the internal resource for employee benefits questions, resolving issues promptly and accurately.
• Track benefit plan performance and costs, and provide the CFO and CPO with the data and analysis needed for renewal negotiations and plan design.

Workers' Compensation:

• Oversee the workers' compensation process across all sites, ensuring claims, adjuster contact, and return-to-work are handled consistently by the on-site HR Managers.
• Ensure claim records are maintained accurately.
• Liaise with the organization's workers' comp carrier during escalated and complex matters, where applicable.
• Track claim trends and identify workplace risk patterns; collaborate with operations leadership to reduce injury exposure.

HR Policy Documentation:

• Own and maintain all core HR policy documents: the employee handbook, leave of absence policies, disciplinary procedures, and workplace safety protocols.
• Ensure policies are current, legally compliant, consistently applied, and clearly communicated across all sites and employee populations.
• Establish a regular review cycle for all HR policies.

Qualifications:

To perform this job successfully, an individual must be able to perform each essential duty satisfactorily.

• Compassion for animals and the people who love and care for them.
• Deep working knowledge of employment law, wage and hour regulations, and HR compliance requirements.
• Proven ability to build operational structure and standardize processes in environments where those systems are underdeveloped.
• Skilled at developing others - able to assess capability gaps and build practical development plans for direct reports.
• High degree of accuracy and attention to detail, particularly in payroll, data management, and compliance documentation.
• Strong project management and prioritization skills; comfortable managing multiple deadlines simultaneously.
• Clear, direct communicator who can translate HR requirements into actionable expectations for supervisors and managers.
• PHR, SPHR, SHRM-CP, or SHRM-SCP certification preferred.
• Must have a means of travel that ensures prompt arrival for work shifts.
• Must pass a background check.

Education and/or Experience:

Bachelor's degree in Human Resources, Business Administration, or a related field; or equivalent combination of education and experience.

5+ years of progressive HR experience, with at least 3 years in a supervisory or leadership capacity.

Demonstrated experience running payroll in ADP Workforce Now, with fluency across the platform's full capabilities.

Experience in a multi-site organization is strongly preferred.

Background in nonprofit, social services, or healthcare sectors is a plus.

Work Environment:

This is a full-time, hybrid position. Regular travel between organizational sites is expected. Some evening or weekend availability may be required as needed.