Director, Employee Relations

H.W. Kaufman Group; Farmington Hills (MI); On-site; USD 100,000 - 130,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Competitive compensation

Employer paid continuing education

Health and welfare benefits

401K with employer match

Paid vacation, sick time, holidays

Access to Kaufman Wellness Program

Job summary

A global insurance firm is seeking a Director, Employee Relations to lead employee relations across multiple locations in the U.S. This role involves managing a team of HR Business Partners, ensuring compliance with employment law, and fostering a positive workplace culture. The ideal candidate will have 8 to 10 years of experience in HR leadership, strong knowledge of employee relations practices, and effective relationship-building skills. This position offers competitive compensation and benefits including 401K and health insurance.

Qualifications

• 8 to 10+ years of experience in employee relations, HR leadership, or employment law.
• Prior experience managing investigations and employment litigation.
• Strong knowledge of employee relations best practices.

Responsibilities

• Lead employee relations strategy across North America.
• Serve as escalation point for sensitive employee relations matters.
• Conduct investigations requiring advanced analysis and discretion.
• Manage a team of HR Business Partners.
• Advise on employment law and performance management.

Skills

Employee relations strategy

Investigations management

Relationship-building

U.S. employment law knowledge

Education

Bachelor's degree or equivalent experience

Advanced degree preferred

Job description

H.W. Kaufman Group is seeking a Director, Employee Relations to lead our U.S. employee relations function across a complex, multi-location insurance organization. This role ensures consistent, legally compliant and values-driven handling of employee relations matters across H.W. Kaufman Group.

The Director will oversee investigations, employment litigation, and regulatory matters while directly managing a team of approximately 5 HR Business Partners, providing leadership, coaching and alignment across geographically dispersed offices to foster a high-performance, transparent and respectful workplace culture.

Responsibilities

• Lead and execute the organization’s employee relations strategy across North America locations
• Serve as the senior escalation point for employee relations matters, including investigations involving harassment, discrimination, retaliation, misconduct, privacy and other sensitive issues
• Conduct and oversee investigations requiring advanced analysis, cross-functional collaboration and discretion
• Partner closely with Legal on legal case management, employment litigation and administrative charges (e.g., EEOC, NLRB, state agencies), including investigations conducted at the direction of counsel
• Directly manage and develop a team of HR Business Partners (field-based and headquarters-based), ensuring consistency in ER practices and leader support
• Document, analyze and report on ER trends, metrics and root causes to mitigate risk, improve employee experience and strengthen organizational culture; track solutions
• Establish and maintain strong, trusted relationships at all levels of the organization; consult and influence leaders and stakeholders to advance a high-performance culture
• Advise leaders and team members on employment law, performance management, corrective action and conflict resolution
• Complete research and other employee relations special projects

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree or equivalent experience required, advanced degree preferred
• 8 to 10+ years of progressive experience in employee relations, HR leadership, or employment law–related roles, preferably within financial services or similar industries
• Demonstrated experience managing investigations and employment litigation
• Prior people management experience, preferably with leading HR Business Partners or ER teams
• Strong knowledge of U.S. employment law and employe relations best practices
• Demonstrated influential leadership and relationship-building skills

Benefits

• Competitive compensation
• Employer paid continuing education courses and designations via access to Kaufman Institute
• Health and welfare benefits including medical, vision and dental
• 401K with employer match
• Paid vacation, sick time, and holidays
• Access to Kaufman Wellness Program

About Our Company

H.W. Kaufman Group is a powerful global network of companies dedicated to shaping the future of insurance. With over 2,000 dedicated professionals across an extensive network of over 60 offices around the world, we lead by offering innovative solutions that are at the forefront of the industry. We are privately and family owned and thus free from the influence of Wall Street. This allows us the ability to adapt to constantly fluctuating market conditions. From brokerage, underwriting and real estate to claims, loss control and risk management services, our depth of services is unrivaled.

The H.W. Kaufman Group of companies is an equal opportunity employer. All employment decisions are based on business needs, job requirements and individual qualifications, without regard to race, color, religion, gender, gender identity, age, national origin, disability, veteran status, marital status, pregnancy, sexual orientation, genetic information or any other status or condition protected by the laws or regulations in the locations where we operate. In addition, Kaufman will make reasonable accommodations to known physical or mental limitations of an otherwise qualified person with a disability, unless the accommodation would impose an undue hardship on the operation of our business.