The Senior People Business Partner is a trusted advisor and hands-on partner to business leaders, helping them navigate people, performance, and organizational challenges in a dynamic and evolving business.
This role requires the ability to operate at both a strategic and tactical level -bringing sound judgment and business perspective to complex people decisions while also owning the execution required to move those decisions forward. The Senior People Business Partner will have particular responsibility for organizational effectiveness, performance management, and employee relations, while serving as a broader advisor to leaders on their teams and talent.
This role may support leaders and employees across both the United States and Canada, requiring familiarity with the different employment practices, regulatory environments, and employee relations considerations that apply across each country.
Responsibilities and Duties:
- Serve as a trusted advisor to business leaders, developing a strong understanding of their organization, priorities, talent, and challenges and translating business needs into practical people solutions.
- Partner with leaders on organizational effectiveness, including team structures, roles and responsibilities, reporting relationships, workforce needs, and organizational changes.
- Support leaders in evaluating talent and organizational decisions, considering business objectives, employee impact, cost, risk, and long-term effectiveness.
- Lead the people-related planning and execution associated with organizational changes, ensuring decisions are thoughtfully implemented, communicated, and documented.
- Coach leaders through performance management matters, helping establish clear expectations, providing effective feedback, addressing performance concerns, and determining appropriate next steps.
- Develop and support performance improvement plans and related documentation when needed.
- Lead and resolve employee relations matters, including employee concerns, workplace conflicts, policy issues, investigations, disciplinary actions, and other complex employee situations.
- Conduct workplace investigations and provide clear, well-supported recommendations based on the facts, business context, applicable policies, and risk.
- Help leaders distinguish between performance, capability, behavior, role clarity, organizational, and management issues to identify the right solution to a problem.
- Provide candid counsel and constructive challenge to leaders, including when a different approach may better support the business or organization.
- Partner with Talent Acquisition, Total Rewards, People Operations, HRIS, Legal, and other People Team functions to execute solutions effectively.
- Identify recurring themes or organizational challenges and recommend practical actions to improve leader effectiveness, employee experience, and business outcomes.
- Support the implementation of broader People Team programs and priorities within assigned business areas.
- Maintain strong ownership and follow-through, remaining engaged from initial assessment through successful execution and resolution.
Skills and Competencies:
- Strong business acumen and the ability to connect people and organizational decisions to business outcomes.
- Deep working knowledge of employee relations, performance management, and HR best practices.
- Demonstrated ability to advise and influence leaders on complex and sensitive people matters.
- Strong consultative and problem-solving skills, including the ability to identify root causes, challenge assumptions, and develop practical recommendations.
- Ability to assess risk thoughtfully and balance legal, employee, and business considerations.
- Experience supporting organizational design, workforce planning, organizational change, and talent decisions.
- Strong judgment and the ability to make effective decisions in situations that may be ambiguous or have competing considerations.
- Ability to move comfortably between strategic consultation and detailed, hands-on execution.
- Excellent written and verbal communication skills, including the ability to navigate difficult conversations effectively.
- High level of ownership, discretion, and follow-through.
- Ability to manage multiple priorities and sensitive matters in a fast-paced, evolving environment.
- Proficiency with HCM systems; Workday experience preferred.
Experience and Education Requirements:
- Bachelor's degree in Human Resources, Business Administration, or a related field; Master's degree preferred.
- 5+ years of progressive HR experience, with a focus on business partnership and employee relations.
- Experience supporting employees and leaders in both the United States and Canada strongly preferred.
- Working knowledge of Canadian employment practices and provincial employment standards, with experience navigating employee relations, performance management, and organizational changes in a Canadian context strongly preferred.
- Demonstrated experience advising and influencing business leaders on complex people decisions.
- Experience supporting organizational change, workforce planning, or organizational effectiveness initiatives preferred.
- Experience working in a fast-paced, changing, or decentralized business environment preferred.
- HR certification (e.g., SPHR, SHRM-SCP, CHRP, CHRL) is preferred.
Salary range: $100,000 - $110,000 USD
