Senior Human Resources Manager

Colorado State University

$100K — $130K *
Education, Government & Non-Profit
5 - 7 years of experience
Job Overview by Ladders

Qualifications

  • Bachelor's degree in HR, business, or related field, or equivalent education and experience
  • 5+ years of progressive HR experience with leadership engagement
  • Strong knowledge of federal and state employment laws and HR practices
  • Experience in managing employee relations and advising on performance and workforce planning
  • Preferred background in higher education or shared governance environments

Responsibilities

  • Serve as the primary HR advisor for leadership on workforce and organizational strategy
  • Translate HR strategy into actionable processes for unit leaders
  • Coach leadership through change and complex people decisions
  • Manage and develop the HR team within the unit
  • Ensure effective implementation of enterprise HR solutions in local contexts
  • Provide initial consultation on employee relations and conflict resolution
  • Analyze workforce data to inform leadership on risks and trends

Benefits

  • Hybrid work model with onsite presence
  • Opportunity to support various campus HR teams
  • Access to Centers of Expertise (COEs) and Shared Services for HR solutions
  • Focus on leadership development and team coaching opportunities
  • Involvement in strategic HR planning aligned with enterprise goals
Full Job Description
Job Description

Position Summary

The Senior Human Resources Manager (Sr. HR Manager) serves as the senior HR presence within an assigned college or division and leads the unit's embedded HR team. Reporting to a Senior HRBP with a dotted line to the dean or VP, this role is the strategic interface between enterprise HR and the embedded units by advising leadership on workforce decisions, connecting the unit to the Centers of Expertise (COEs) and Shared Services, and ensuring enterprise standards are applied with appropriate local context. The Sr. HR Manager translates institutional HR strategy into unit-level action.

Roles hired through this pool may primarily serve a unit or college and will have the opportunity to support additional campus human resources teams. Positions will be onsite with possibility for hybrid work.

Job Duties

Strategic Advisory & Leadership Partnership

  • Serve as the primary HR advisor to the dean/VP and unit leadership team on workforce strategy, organizational design, talent risks, employee relations, and leadership effectiveness within a shared governance environment


  • Translate enterprise HR strategy and institutional priorities into unit-relevant actions, processes, and clear decision guidance for leaders.


  • Coach leaders and managers through change, restructuring, difficult conversations, and complex or high-risk people decisions


  • Participate in the unit's strategic and workforce planning in alignment with enterprise HR strategy


Team Leadership & Development

  • Lead, coach, and develop the unit's embedded HR staff; set clear role expectations and hold the team accountable to enterprise service and escalation standards


  • Manage workload distribution and coverage across the team based on unit size, complexity, and risk; ensure consistent service through peak cycles


Operational Alignment

  • Act as the connector between the unit and the COEs, ensuring COE-designed solutions are applied consistently and effectively within the unit in areas of talent acquisition, talent management, total rewards, employee relations, time and labor, absence, data management, and payroll functions


  • Provide initial employee relations consultation and guidance including coaching managers and facilitating conflict resolution


  • Steward complex, high-risk, cross-unit, repeat, or strategic matters to the Senior HRBP, COEs, or Shared Services through proper escalation paths.


Workforce Strategy & Organizational Health

  • Support unit-specific workforce planning, performance management, talent strategy, succession considerations, and organizational effectiveness in partnership with the Senior HRBP


  • Use workforce and people data to surface risks and trends and to inform unit leadership decisions; translate analytics into actionable insight for non-HR leaders


  • Steward enterprise standards while balancing unit nuances.


  • Monitor unit workforce outcomes and partner with leaders to act on them


Conditions of Employment

  • Pre-employment Background Check


Minimum Qualifications

  • Bachelor's degree in HR, business, or a related field, or equivalent combination of education and experience


  • 5+ years of progressive HR experience, including business partner or generalist work with leadership-facing responsibility


  • Demonstrated working knowledge of federal and state employment laws, regulations, and HR practices, with the ability to advise leaders in their application to workforce matters.


  • Demonstrated experience managing employee relations matters and advising leaders on performance management, workforce planning, organizational design, and organizational effectiveness


Preferred Qualifications

  • Higher education or other shared-governance / faculty-relations experience


  • Experience leading or maturing an HRBP function during organizational change


  • Familiarity with Workday and data-informed HR practice


  • Experience with labor relations, talent management, talent acquisition, training, and total rewards.


  • Experience leading, coaching, and developing staff


Salary Range

$100,000-$130,000

Application Instructions

To apply, please upload a Resume and a Cover Letter. This is an evergreen posting. Applications will be reviewed as hiring needs arise, and qualified applicants may be contacted if a suitable opportunity becomes available.

Please note, applicants may redact information from their application materials that identifies their age, date of birth, or dates of attendance at or graduation from an educational institution.

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