Director Employee Relations and HR Compliance

Avera Health; Sioux Falls (SD); On-site; USD 120,000 - 180,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

PTO day 1 for eligible hires

Up to 5% employer matching retirement

Career development and mentorship

Job summary

Avera Health in Sioux Falls seeks a Director of Employee Relations and HR Compliance to lead enterprise-wide ER strategy, governance, and risk management. This role oversees investigations, policy governance, leave management, and workforce compliance, partnering with Legal and HR leaders to ensure lawful, fair outcomes.

You will mentor ER professionals, drive analytics on case data, and build scalable practices across multiple facilities.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's in Human Resources, Business, Organizational Leadership, or related field.
• 7-9 years progressive HR experience with employee relations focus.
• Strong ability to interpret employment requirements and translate policy considerations into guidance.
• Experience with investigations, documentation, and executive communication.

Responsibilities

• Set and lead enterprise Employee Relations strategy, governance, and standards.
• Provide senior guidance on complex, high-risk employee relations matters.
• Develop tools and resources to strengthen leader capability and risk management.
• Oversee workplace investigations, policy governance, and documentation controls.
• Partner with Legal and other stakeholders on regulatory and reputational risk.
• Lead HR compliance governance and audits, including affirmative action and regulatory reporting.

Skills

HR leadership

Investigations

Policy interpretation

Executive communication

Risk management

Education

Bachelor's in HR or related field

SHRM/PHR preferred

Tools

Workday

HRIS

Job description

Location: Plaza 4-Sioux Falls Worker Type: Regular Work Shift: Day Shift (United States of America)

Position Highlights: You Belong at Avera. Be part of a multidisciplinary team built with compassion and the goal of Moving Health Forward for you and our patients. Work where you matter.

A Brief Overview

The Director of Employee Relations and HR Compliance sets the strategic direction and provides enterprise leadership and governance for Employee Relations practices and HR compliance programs. The role establishes consistent, scalable, and legally sound practices across the organization, providing strategic oversight of investigations, policy governance, workplace accommodations and leave related practices, leader consultation, regulatory readiness, documentation standards, and employee relations risk and analytics. The Director serves as a senior organizational advisor on complex and high risk employee matters while identifying emerging employment risks and strengthening organizational capability through effective Employee Relations frameworks, leader consultation, and development of Employee Relations Professionals and operational leaders.

What you will do

Employee Relations Strategy and Leadership

• Set and lead the enterprise Employee Relations strategy, operating model, governance framework and standards, ensuring alignment with organizational culture, workforce priorities, employee experience, and business objectives.
• Serve as a senior organizational advisor on complex, sensitive, or high risk employee relations matters, providing strategic guidance that promotes fair, consistent, timely, and legally sound outcomes.
• Establish and advance Employee Relations frameworks, standards, tools, resources and self service guidance that strengthen leader capability, organizational consistency, and effective risk management.
• Build the capability and effectiveness of the Employee Relations function through case consultation, legal and regulatory updates, scenario based learning, feedback, and professional development.

Workplace Investigations, Case Management and Risk

• Establish and govern organization-wide standards, protocols, templates, documentation requirements, and quality controls for workplace investigations and employee relations case management.
• Provide oversight and direction for complex, sensitive, or high risk investigations involving alleged policy violations, discrimination, harassment, retaliation, disruptive conduct, workplace conflict, or other significant employee concerns.
• Ensure investigation and case management practices meet standards for objectivity, appropriate scope, documentation, confidentiality, credibility assessment, consistency, and risk management.
• Partner with Legal and other stakeholders to assess and mitigate significant employment related legal, regulatory, reputational, workforce, or operational risks.

HR Compliance and Policy Governance

• Provide leadership and governance for HR compliance, promoting consistent application of employment laws, regulatory requirements, and organizational policies.
• Provide governance for HR policies, including interpretation, review, implementation, education, and identification of policy, compliance, or process gaps.
• Provide oversight and coordination of HR responsibilities associated with applicable regulatory reporting, affirmative action initiatives, audits, and external agency responses.
• Anticipate and assess changes in employment requirements and risks, translating implications into practical guidance, controls, policies, training, and standardized HR practices.

Labor Relations

• Provide strategic oversight and direction for the organization's labor relations strategy and readiness, promoting consistent and effective labor relations practices.
• Partner with HR and operational leadership in union represented areas to support compliance with collective bargaining agreements and applicable labor requirements and provide guidance during collective bargaining and contract negotiations.

Leave, ADA and Return to Work

• Partner with HR leaders and subject matter experts to ensure leave and accommodation processes, vendor relationships, documentation standards, employee privacy, and practices align with policy and legal requirements.

Performance Management

• Provide Employee Relations leadership, governance, and consultation supporting the organization's performance management practices.
• Advise leaders on performance management, corrective action, conflict resolution, documentation, policy interpretation, difficult conversations, and employee engagement.
• Establish practical training, tools, resources and guidance that strengthen leader capability, and accountability while promoting consistent employee management practices.
• Promote a respectful and accountable work environment through effective early intervention, conflict resolution, and prevention of retaliation.

Analytics, Quality and Continuous Improvement

• Establish an Employee Relations measurement and quality framework, including measures of case timeliness, trends, recurring issues, documentation quality, and compliance indicators.
• Leverage workforce and case data to identify trends, emerging risks, systemic issues, and opportunities for policy, leader education, and process improvement.
• Strengthen data governance, integrity, and reporting practices to support reliable Employee Relations analytics, risk assessment, and organizational decision making.
• Lead and support HR compliance audits, Employee Relations quality reviews, and continuous improvement efforts to strengthen consistency, legal defensibility, and operational effectiveness.

Strategic Partnerships

• Build and influence strategic partnerships across HR, Legal, Compliance, Security, and operational leadership to ensure consistent approaches to complex employee relations and HR compliance matters.
• Partner with HR Operations, HR Business Partners, and Centers of Expertise, including Benefits, Leave, Talent, Total Rewards, Employee Health, HR Insights, HRNow and HRIS/Workday, to integrate Employee Relations practices with organizational policies, workforce strategies, HR programs, and business needs.

Responsibilities include interviewing, hiring, developing, training, and retaining employees; planning, assigning, and leading work; appraising performance; rewarding and coaching employees; addressing complaints and resolving problems.

Essential Qualifications

The individual must be able to work the hours specified. To perform this job successfully, an individual must be able to perform each essential job function satisfactorily including having visual acuity adequate to perform position duties and the ability to communicate effectively with others, hear, understand and distinguish speech and other sounds. These requirements and those listed above are representative of the knowledge, skills, and abilities required to perform the essential job functions. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential job functions, as long as the accommodations do not cause undue hardship to the employer.

Required Education, License/Certification, or Work Experience

• Bachelor's in Human Resources, Business, Organizational Leadership, or a related field, or an equivalent combination of education and relevant experience.
• 7-9 years Progressive Human Resources experience with significant responsibility for complex employee relations, workplace investigations, policy interpretation, employment compliance, organizational risk, and advising leaders on high risk employee matters.
• Demonstrated ability to interpret employment requirements and translate complex legal, regulatory, and policy considerations into practical organizational guidance.
• Strong investigation, written documentation, consultation, facilitation, conflict resolution, and executive level communication and influence capabilities, with demonstrated discretion, neutrality, and sound judgment in handling sensitive matters.

Preferred Education, License/Certification, or Work Experience

• Master's SHRM-Certified Professional (SHRM-CP) - Society For Human Resource Management (SHRM) or SHRM-Senior Certified Professional (SHRM-SCP) - Society For Human Resource Management (SHRM) or Professional in Human Resources (PHR) - Human Resource Standards Institute (HRCI) or Senior Professional in Human Resources (SPHR) - Human Resource Standards Institute (HRCI) Advanced professional development related to employee relations, investigations, employment law, labor relations, or HR compliance.
• Experience leading an Employee Relations or HR compliance function in a large, multi-site, or highly regulated organization.
• Experience with leave, ADA, and return to work practices; Workday systems and reporting; policy governance, regulatory reporting, and affirmative action programs.
• Healthcare experience.

Expectations and Standards

Commitment to the daily application of Avera’s mission, vision, core values, and social principles to serve patients, their families, and our community. Promote Avera’s values of compassion, hospitality, and stewardship. Uphold Avera’s standards of Communication, Attitude, Responsiveness, and Engagement (CARE) with enthusiasm and sincerity. Maintain confidentiality. Work effectively in a team environment, coordinating work flow with other team members and ensuring a productive and efficient environment. Comply with safety principles, laws, regulations, and standards associated with, but not limited to, CMS, The Joint Commission, DHHS, and OSHA if applicable.

Benefits You Need & Then Some

• PTO available day 1 for eligible hires.
• Up to 5% employer matching contribution for retirement.
• Career development guided by hands‑on training and mentorship.

Avera is an Equal Opportunity Employer - Qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, national origin, disability, Veteran Status, or other categories protected by law.

If you are an individual with a disability and would like to request an accommodation for help with your online application, please call 1-605-504-4444 or send an email to [e-mail].

At Avera, the way you are treated as an employee translates into the compassionate care you deliver to patients and team members. Because we consider health care a ministry, you can live out your faith, uphold the dignity and respect of all persons while not compromising high-quality services.

Join us in making a positive impact on moving health forward.