5-7 years of employee relations experience, preferably in California employment context.
Strong skills in managing workplace investigations and employee support programs.
Expertise in leave administration and workplace accommodations processes.
Experience collaborating with legal teams on compliance issues and investigations.
Proficient in identifying operational challenges and implementing process improvements.
Established ability to interpret policies while balancing employee needs and organizational risk.
Strong communication and relationship-building skills, with professionalism in sensitive matters.
Responsibilities
Act as the primary contact for managers and employees on employee relations issues and workplace policies.
Conduct employee relations investigations, documentation, and resolution recommendations.
Collaborate with leadership and legal on complex employee matters, ensuring compliant solutions.
Design and improve employee relations processes and documentation for operational effectiveness and visibility.
Administer leave programs and coordinate workplace accommodations with various stakeholders.
Draft and implement People policies, ensuring consistent application and communication across the organization.
Partner cross-functionally to support workplace compliance initiatives and enhance employee experience.
Benefits
Holistic compensation package including competitive salary and equity plan.
Paid vacation, sick time, company holidays, and parental leave for family bonding.
Comprehensive health wellness options with HMO and PPO plans, life insurance, and disability coverage.
Opportunities for professional development and reimbursement for learning initiatives.
Collaborative and dynamic work environment focused on innovation and disruption in the manufacturing industry.
Full Job Description
Purpose
The Senior Employee Relations Specialist helps protect the organization from people-related risk while fostering a high-performance culture. This role ensures workplace issues are managed fairly and consistently, managers are equipped to navigate complex employee matters, and the policies, processes, and operational infrastructure needed to scale the organization remain compliant, effective, and trusted. The Role
Employee Relations & Workplace Support
Serve as a primary point of contact for managers and employees regarding employee relations concerns, workplace issues, policy interpretation, and employee experience matters.
Conduct Tier 1 and Tier 2 employee relations intake, investigations, fact-finding, documentation, and resolution recommendations.
Partner with managers to address employee concerns, performance-related matters, workplace conflicts, and policy-related questions in a consistent and compliant manner.
Collaborate with People leadership and Legal on complex, sensitive, or high-risk employee relations matters.
Maintain accurate and organized employee relations documentation, investigation records, and case files.
Identify employee relations trends and recommend proactive solutions that improve employee experience and reduce organizational risk.
Support consistent application of company policies, procedures, and workplace practices across the organization.
Design, implement, and continuously improve employee relations systems, workflows, documentation standards, intake processes, and escalation frameworks that improve consistency, visibility, and operational effectiveness.
Leave, Accommodations & Workplace Compliance
Administer Leave of Absence programs, including employee communications, documentation management, case tracking, and return-to-work coordination.
Coordinate workplace accommodations and interactive process activities in partnership with employees, managers, healthcare providers, and external vendors.
Support workers' compensation administration, claim coordination, return-to-work planning, and documentation management.
Coordinate immigration case administration and partnership with external immigration counsel and vendors.
Monitor assigned compliance programs and ensure accurate documentation, process adherence, and timely follow-through.
Policy Governance, Organizational Health & Operational Scalability
Proactively identify policy gaps, workplace trends, organizational risks, and opportunities to improve employee experience and operational effectiveness.
Draft, maintain, and implement People policies, procedures, and operational guidelines in partnership with People leadership, Legal, and business stakeholders.
Support policy communication, training, and change management efforts to promote consistent application across the organization.
Develop systems, reporting, and organizational health insights that improve visibility into employee relations activity, compliance programs, workplace trends, and operational effectiveness.
Create and maintain self-service resources, SOPs, process documentation, workflow tools, and knowledge resources that improve consistency, scalability, and manager/employee enablement.
Identify and implement process improvements that enhance operational efficiency, organizational effectiveness, and employee experience.
Cross-Functional Partnership
Partner closely with Legal, Payroll, Finance, Security, Talent Acquisition, and business leaders to support employee experience and workplace compliance initiatives.
Build trusted working relationships with managers and leaders across the organization.
Support organizational initiatives and projects that improve People Operations effectiveness and employee experience.
Influence stakeholders through data, process recommendations, and operational insights that improve organizational outcomes.
Basic Qualifications
Ability to lawfully access information and technology that is subject to US export controls
Experience independently managing employee relations matters, workplace investigations, and employee support programs while exercising sound judgment and discretion.
Experience applying California employment practices and workplace compliance requirements in the administration of employee relations, leave, accommodations, and related workplace programs.
Experience conducting employee relations intake, investigations, fact-finding, documentation, and case management activities.
Experience administering leave of absence, workplace accommodations, workers' compensation, or similar employee programs.
Experience partnering with Legal on employee relations, workplace investigations, accommodations, leave administration, or compliance matters.
Demonstrated judgment in interpreting and applying policies, procedures, and workplace practices while balancing employee experience, business needs, and organizational risk.
Experience identifying operational challenges and improving processes, workflows, systems, or documentation to enhance consistency, scalability, and organizational effectiveness.
Strong relationship-building, analytical, communication, and problem-solving skills.
Professionalism and discretion when handling sensitive and confidential employee matters.
Ability to perform the essential functions of the position in a standard office environment, including extended periods of computer-based work.
Ability to move throughout company facilities and/or transport light materials as needed to support business activities.
Experience utilizing HRIS systems, case management platforms, Jira, Power BI, workflow tools, or similar operational technologies.
Experience developing dashboards, operational reporting, workforce insights, or organizational health metrics.
Experience using data and trend analysis to identify risks, inform decision-making, or drive process improvements.
Familiarity with immigration administration and vendor coordination.
Bachelor's degree in Human Resources, Business Administration, Organizational Psychology, Analytics, or a related field.
Work Environment
This role will be based onsite in our Torrance, CA headquarters and will ultimately relocate to our Long Beach, CA facility.
Fast-paced, highly collaborative environment supporting a rapidly scaling organization.
Significant cross-functional interaction with managers, employees, leadership, and external partners.
Opportunity to influence both employee experience and the operational infrastructure that enables organizational growth.
Compensation
At Divergent, our pay range is based on the level of the job. For this role, we will consider candidates at level S05 as evaluated through our interview process.
Holistic Compensation Package: Enjoy a world-class compensation package that includes a competitive salary, equity plan, and discretionary results-based incentive bonus opportunities, ensuring you're truly valued for your contributions.
Wellness and Time Off: Embrace a healthy lifestyle with paid vacation, sick time, and company holidays, including a year-end shutdown to recharge. We support growing families with paid parental leave, recognizing the importance of bonding time.
Comprehensive Health and Wellness: Prioritize your well-being with our comprehensive health and wellness benefits, offering both HMO and Premium PPO options. Additionally, benefit from company-sponsored life insurance and short and long-term disability coverage for peace of mind.
Investment in Growth: We're committed to your professional development. Take advantage of reimbursement opportunities for learning and development initiatives, empowering you to continuously expand your skill set and reach peak performance.
Collaborative and High-Performing Environment: Join our collaborative, dynamic, and high-performing team within a fast-paced, mission-driven company. Together, we're disrupting the traditional manufacturing industry, fostering innovation, and integrating people and technology to reduce our footprint.
