Chief Human Resources Officer

EnergyUnited; Statesville (NC); Hybrid; USD 180,000 - 280,000; Full time

Job summary

EnergyUnited, a North Carolina electric cooperative, seeks a Chief Human Resources Officer to lead enterprise talent management, workforce planning, leadership development, and employee experience across the cooperative.

The CHRO will advise the CEO and board, shape culture, implement HR policies, manage benefits, compliance, and HR technology, and ensure sustainable talent pipelines for current and future strategy.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in human resources, business administration, organizational development, or a related field.
• A minimum of ten years of progressively responsible HR leadership experience, including senior leadership responsibility, is preferred.
• Demonstrated experience advising a CEO, executive leadership team or board is required.
• Experience in workforce planning, succession, leadership development, organization design, and HR operations is required.
• SHRM-SCP or SPHR or an equivalent credential is preferred.

Responsibilities

• Develop and promote a human resources and talent strategy aligned with Energy United’s business strategy, values, and commitments.
• Own an integrated talent management system covering planning, recruiting, onboarding, performance, development, succession, retention, recognition, and offboarding.
• Establish operating standards, tools, calendars, decision rights, service expectations, and measures for each stage of the employee journey.
• Lead multiyear workforce planning including capability needs, critical positions, retirement exposure, staffing risks, skill gaps, and talent-supply constraints.
• Maintain succession plans for executives and other business-critical positions including readiness and development actions.
• Design leadership development, coaching, mentoring, and career path programs to strengthen leadership and internal mobility.
• Advise on organizational structure, role clarity, spans of control, and change management.

Skills

Leadership

Executive presence

Strategic planning

Communication

Education

Bachelor's degree in HR or related field

Master's degree preferred

Tools

HRIS

MS Excel

Analytics tools

Job description

EnergyUnited is a Cooperative that requires a leadership, workforce capabilities, culture, organizational structure, and talent pipeline required to execute its current and future strategy.

About the Role

The Chief Human Resources Officer is the executive accountable for EnergyUnited’s enterprise talent management system and for ensuring the Cooperative has the leadership, workforce capabilities, culture, organizational structure, and talent pipeline required to execute its current and future strategy. The CHRO leads human resources strategy, operations, compliance, organizational effectiveness, employee experience, workforce planning, and leadership development. The CHRO advises the Chief Executive Officer, partners with the executive leadership team, and provides the Board of Directors with clear information regarding workforce performance, talent risk, succession readiness, and organizational health.

Responsibilities

• Develop, promote, and maintain a human resources and talent strategy aligned with EnergyUnited’s business strategy, values, and member commitments.
• Own an integrated talent management system covering workforce planning, recruiting, onboarding, performance management, development, succession, retention, recognition, and offboarding.
• Establish clear operating standards, tools, calendars, decision rights, service expectations, and measures for each stage of the employee journey.
• Lead multiyear workforce planning, including future capability needs, critical positions, retirement exposure, staffing risks, skill gaps, and talent-supply constraints.
• Integrate workforce requirements and actions into annual business planning, budgeting, and long-range strategy.
• Maintain succession plans for executives, leadership and other business-critical positions, including successor readiness and documented development actions.
• Design leadership development, coaching, mentoring, and career path programs that strengthen leadership capability and internal mobility.
• Advise the Chief Executive Officer and executive leadership team on organizational structure, role clarity, spans of control, decision rights, leadership effectiveness, and change management.
• Provide the Board and appropriate committees with workforce, succession, compensation, culture, and talent-risk information within established governance responsibilities.
• Lead recruiting strategy, employment practices, candidate experience, and selection standards required to attract a strong and capable workforce.
• Develop and lead a comprehensive healthcare and employee benefits strategy that balances employee needs, market competitiveness, affordability, plan sustainability, and responsible cost management. Regularly evaluate plan design, utilization, employee participation, vendor performance, healthcare trends and alternative funding or delivery approaches, and provide the Chief Executive Officer and executive leadership team with recommendations and measurable results.
• Oversee the strategy, design, administration, compliance, financial performance, and continuous improvement of employee benefit plans, including medical, pharmacy, dental, vision, wellness, disability, life insurance, the 401(k) plan, workers’ compensation, the Employee Assistance Program and the NRECA Retirement and Security Program.
• Maintain a practical performance management system covering goal setting, coaching, feedback, development planning, performance review, and corrective action.
• Promote consistency, documentation, differentiation and leader accountability in performance and talent decisions.
• Lead employee engagement, culture, recognition, and employee-communication practices and convert employee feedback into clear actions.
• Oversee employee relations, workplace investigations, grievances, disputes, accommodations, leave, conflict resolution, and disciplinary matters.
• Identify systemic employee-relations trends, escal…
• Ensure compliance with applicable local, state, and federal employment requirements, including Affimative Action, ERISA, FMLA, FLSA, ADA, EEO-1 and HIPAA.
• Recommend, develop, interpret, and provide guidance on employee policies, procedures, handbooks, and applicable Board policies.
• Oversee employee records, benefits administration, required reporting and recordkeeping and coordinating with payroll processing, and the effective management of third-party providers.
• Lead the strategy, governance, implementation, data quality, security coordination, and continuous improvement of the HRIS and related HR technology.
• Develop and present human-capital dashboards and analysis for the Chief Executive Officer, executive leadership team and Board, including workforce performance, talent risks, and agreed actions.
• Coordinate responsible use of artificial intelligence and automated tools in employment processes with appropriate human review, privacy, security, and bias controls.
• Serve as EnergyUnited’s Chief Privacy Officer and lead privacy governance, reporting, training, risk assessment, and incident coordination in partnership with Legal, Information Technology, Cybersecurity and Records Management.
• Ensure employee information is maintained securely, accurately, confidentially and in accordance with applicable access and retention requirements.
• Partner with operational and safety leadership to strengthen safety culture, employee engagement, training, leadership accountability, and continuous improvement.
• Lead workforce continuity planning, emergency staffing support, employee communication, employee assistance, and workforce recovery activities.
• Lead, coach, develop and evaluate HR staff and establish clear priorities, roles, standards, and performance expectations.
• Develop and manage the HR budget and monitor third-party providers for service quality, cost effectiveness, compliance, and performance.
• Benchmark practices, monitor outcomes, simplify processes, and implement improvements that create measurable business and employee value.
• Observe and promote all Cooperative policies, work rules, safety rules, and regulations and be available during emergency situations.

Performance Accountability

• Workforce plan execution and critical-skill readiness.
• Succession coverage and successor development for critical roles.
• Recruiting effectiveness, vacancy risk, retention, turnover and internal mobility.
• Employee engagement, culture, safety participation, and leadership effectiveness.
• Performance management quality and development-plan completion.
• Healthcare and benefits strategy effectiveness, including cost trends, plan competitiveness, employee participation, vendor performance, employee experience, and the long-term financial sustainability of benefit programs.
• Compliance, employee relations, privacy, and workforce risk management.
• HR service quality, technology adoption, data quality, budget performance, and process improvement.

Qualifications

• A bachelor’s degree in human resources, business administration, organizational development, or a related field is required. A relevant master’s degree is preferred.
• A minimum of ten years of progressively responsible human resources leadership experience, including significant senior leadership responsibility, is preferred.
• Demonstrated experience leading an enterprise HR function and advising a Chief Executive Officer, executive leadership team or governing board is required.
• Demonstrated experience in workforce planning, succession, leadership development, organization design, employee relations, compensation, benefits, HR operations, and employment compliance are required.
• Experience in the electric utility, cooperative, infrastructure or another operationally complex and safety-sensitive environment is preferred.
• SHRM-SCP, SPHR or a comparable senior professional credential is preferred.
• Strong proficiency with Microsoft Office, HR information systems, analytics, and technology-enabled process improvement is required.
• Above-average oral and written communication skills, executive presence, sound judgement, confidentiality, business acumen, and strong interpersonal and coaching skills are required.
• The individual is expected to work extended or irregular hours when necessary, assist during emergency situations and perform all assignments safely.

WORKING CONDITIONS

• Normal working conditions and hours are 8:00 a.m. until 5:00 p.m. Some irregular working hours may be required. Must be available for work during adverse weather conditions.
• This position is categorized as Hybrid, which allows work associated with the position to be performed at both an EnergyUnited office location and the employee’s home. The employee will report to an EnergyUnited office for meetings, training, performance reviews, and other business needs as deemed necessary by the Chief Executive Officer.
• This position is classified as a Non-Direct Operational Position. Employees assigned to headquarters or non-direct operational positions must establish domicile within one of the nineteen counties served by the Cooperative or within a forty-road-mile radius of an EnergyUnited EMC office.
• Sedentary work with occasional standing and walking.
• Ability to use a computer and other standard office equipment, including frequent keyboard use.
• Ability to communicate clearly and receive detailed information through oral communication, with or without reasonable accommodation.
• Occasional exposure to severe weather and operational environments where electrical and other workplace hazards may be present.
• Ability to perform the essential functions of the position with or without reasonable accommodation.