Director, Employee Relations & Compliance

Conair LLC; Stamford (CT); Hybrid; USD 175,000 - 190,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Medical insurance

Dental insurance

Vision insurance

Disability insurance

Parental leave

Paid time off

Holidays

Volunteer days

401(k) plan

Job summary

Conair LLC in Stamford, CT seeks a Director, Employee Relations & Compliance to lead ER strategy, investigations, and HR compliance. You will partner with HR and business leaders to ensure fair, compliant, and high-performing workplaces while building scalable ER programs.

The role blends strategic leadership with hands-on expertise, overseeing high-risk matters, policy governance, analytics, and capability development. Hybrid work schedule with on-site Mon–Thu and remote Fri.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in HR, Business, Employment Relations or related field.
• 7–10 years HR experience with depth in employee relations, investigations and compliance.
• US work authorization without sponsorship required.
• Experience handling complex workplace investigations and high‑risk matters.
• Knowledge of U.S. employment laws including Title VII, ADA, ADEA, FMLA, FLSA and state laws.
• Multi‑state experience preferred.
• SHRM‑SCP, SPHR or similar certification preferred.

Responsibilities

• Lead employee relations strategy, standards, and practices to ensure fairness and business alignment.
• Serve as senior escalation point for complex ER matters and investigations.
• Advise leaders on performance management, misconduct, discipline, and workplace conflict.
• Coach HR and leaders to handle sensitive situations with consistency and risk awareness.
• Build partnerships with HRBPs, Legal, and other HR centers of excellence.
• Establish standardized investigation processes, documentation, and record retention.
• Monitor compliance with federal, state, and local employment laws and translate into policies.

Skills

Analytical skills

Executive presence

Communication skills

Influence decisions

Leadership

Education

Bachelor’s degree in HR / related field

Advanced degree preferred

SHRM-SCP / SPHR certification preferred

Job description

The Director, Employee Relations & Compliance is responsible for leading the organization's employee relations and HR compliance strategy, ensuring a fair, consistent, compliant, and high-performing workplace.

This role serves as a trusted advisor to HR and business leaders on complex employee matters, workplace investigations, policy interpretation, performance and conduct issues, and employment-related risk. The Director will build scalable ER practices, strengthen HR governance, identify trends and emerging risks, and equip HR and leaders to address employee issues confidently, consistently, and effectively.

The role combines strategic leadership with hands‑on expertise, requiring someone who can navigate sensitive employee situations while also building the systems, standards, and capabilities that strengthen the organization over time.

Key Responsibilities

Employee Relations Leadership

• Lead the company’s employee relations strategy, standards, and practices to drive consistency, fairness, accountability, and sound business decisions.
• Serve as the senior HR escalation point for complex or high-risk employee relations matters.
• Advise HRBPs and business leaders on performance management, misconduct, disciplinary action, workplace conflict, accommodations, employee complaints, and involuntary separations.
• Coach HR and leaders through difficult employee situations, balancing employee experience, business needs, precedent, and organizational risk.
• Build strong partnerships with HRBPs, Legal, leadership, and other HR Centers of Excellence.

Workplace Investigations

• Lead and/or oversee sensitive workplace investigations involving allegations such as harassment, discrimination, retaliation, misconduct, policy violations, or other employee concerns.
• Establish consistent investigation standards, including intake, risk assessment, investigation planning, interviews, findings, corrective actions, documentation, closure, and record retention.
• Ensure investigations are objective, timely, thorough, well documented, and handled with appropriate confidentiality.
• Review investigation findings and recommendations with senior HR and business leadership as appropriate.

HR Compliance & Risk Management

• Own key HR compliance practices and partner with Legal to ensure adherence to applicable federal, state, and local employment laws and regulations.
• Monitor changes in employment legislation and translate requirements into practical HR policies, processes, training, and communications.
• Develop documentation standards, and audit practices that reduce organizational risk and strengthen HR governance.
• Partner with HR leadership to proactively identify recurring issues and address root causes rather than managing issues solely on a case‑by‑case basis.

Policy & Governance

• Lead the development, review, interpretation, and consistent application of employment policies and HR standards.
• Ensure policies balance legal requirements, business needs, employee experience, and practical implementation.
• Partner with HRBPs to drive consistency in how policies and employment practices are applied across functions and locations.
• Identify opportunities to simplify policies and processes while maintaining appropriate organizational safeguards.

ER Analytics & Insights

• Establish meaningful ER metrics and dashboards to track case volume, type, severity, investigation timelines, outcomes, repeat issues, and organizational trends.
• Analyze ER data to identify emerging risk areas, leadership or organizational themes, and opportunities for proactive intervention.
• Present insights and recommendations to senior HR leadership.
• Use data to measure effectiveness and continuously improve ER practices.

Manager & HR Capability

• Build HRBP and manager capability in employee relations, performance management, documentation, difficult conversations, investigations, and policy application.
• Design and facilitate training on employee relations, workplace conduct, investigations, compliance, and risk management.
• Promote a culture in which leaders address performance and workplace issues early, directly, fairly, and consistently.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in human resources, Business, Employment Relations, or a related field required; advanced degree preferred.
• 7-10 years of progressive HR experience, with significant depth in employee relations, investigations, and employment compliance.
• Legally authorized to work in the United States, without requiring, now or in the future, sponsorship for employment visa status.
• Experience managing complex and sensitive workplace investigations and high-risk employee matters.
• Strong working knowledge of U.S. employment laws and regulations, including areas such as Title VII, ADA, ADEA, FMLA, FLSA, and state employment requirements.
• Experience operating within a multi-state organization is strongly preferred.
• Demonstrated ability to advise senior leaders and influence decisions where legal risk, business considerations, employee experience, and organizational precedent must be balanced.
• Strong analytical skills with the ability to identify patterns and translate ER data into actionable business insights.
• Excellent judgment, discretion, executive presence, and communication skills.
• SHRM-SCP, SPHR, or similar HR certification preferred.

Compensation

Conair has established a good faith salary range for this position. The salary range reflects the Company's reasonable expectation for the role at the time of posting and is based on a variety of factors including business needs, market conditions, candidate qualifications, experience, skills, and internal equity. The anticipated base salary range for this position is $175,000 to $190,000 annually.

In addition to base salary, this position is eligible to participate in Conair's annual bonus program. Conair also offers a comprehensive benefits package that includes medical, dental and vision coverage; short‑and long-term disability insurance; paid parental leave; paid time off; 11 paid holidays; two paid volunteer days; employee product discounts; and a 401(k) plan with employer contributions. Eligibility for certain benefits may vary based on employment status and plan terms.

Environmental Factors

This role is performed in a professional office environment and requires prolonged periods of sitting, working on a computer, and using standard office equipment. The position follows Conair's hybrid work model, requiring on‑site presence at the Stamford, CT office Monday through Thursday, with the flexibility to work remotely on Fridays.

About Conair

Conair is a leading international designer, manufacturer, and marketer of branded personal care and small kitchen appliances, cookware, hairbrushes & accessories, cosmetic bags, and travel accessories.

Conair has always been driven by a passion for innovation; it's part of the Company's DNA. Trendsetting products have been invented by Conair since its inception in 1959, keeping the Company always a step ahead of the competition. The company's domestic and international divisions offer a diversified mix of consumer and professional products sold in over 120 countries. The Family of Conair brands includes CONAIR, Cuisinart, BabylissPRO, Scünci , TRAVELSMART by CONAIR, and Waring.

Conair's passion for innovation gets stronger with each decade, as evidenced by the over 1,000 patents the Company has obtained worldwide. Today, Conair and its brands are names known throughout the world. Conair continues to introduce its brands to new and emerging markets, year after year. By the 1990s, most households in America owned at least one Conair product. Today many have more than one, and the Company's goal is to ensure that every household in the world eventually owns one of our products.

Equal Opportunity Employer Minorities/Women/Protected Veterans/Disabled