Director of Human Resources

Bristol Associates, Inc.; California (MO); On-site; USD 150,000 - 210,000; Full time

Job summary

Bristol Associates, Inc. is seeking a Director of Human Resources to lead HR across a growing restaurant group in California.

The role will drive employee relations, compliance, safety, benefits, compensation, and talent operations as the company expands to multiple locations. The ideal candidate will have extensive HR leadership experience in distributed hourly settings, strong knowledge of California employment law, and a track record of building scalable HR programs.

Qualifications

• Five+ years of progressive HR experience, including 3+ years at manager/director level.
• Multi-unit experience in restaurants, retail, hospitality, or similar distributed hourly workforce.
• Knowledge of California employment law: wage/hour, leave administration, FEHA.
• Experience conducting workplace investigations and producing written findings.
• Experience managing workers' compensation and safety programs.
• Experience administering benefits and annual renewal/open enrollment.
• Experience building HR programs, policies, or processes.
• Proficiency with HR software systems in an enterprise stack.
• Bachelor's degree in HR or related field or equivalent experience.
• Frequent travel to California restaurant locations.

Responsibilities

• Oversee team member relations, investigations, and corrective action.
• Ensure compliance with federal/state employment law; wage and hour, training, reporting.
• Administer policies, handbook, personnel records, and lifecycle processes.
• Lead safety, workers' comp, loss control, unemployment, and incident reporting.
• Manage benefits and leave administration and renewal cycles.
• Design compensation structures, job design, performance, and engagement.
• Build HR infrastructure for new state entries and openings.
• Process payroll and payroll tax; set wage/hour policy standards.
• Direct hourly restaurant recruiting, hiring, and team member training; support management hiring.
• Develop additional HR policies and strategies.

Skills

People leadership

Employee relations

Regulatory compliance

Education

Bachelor's degree in HR or related field

PHR/SPHR certification

Tools

HRIS

Payroll systems

Case management software

Job description

Our executive recruiting firm is conducting a search for a rapidly growing restaurant group with extensive menu offerings and signature cocktails that leave guests coming back for their mouth-watering selections. Taking pride in making their meals from scratch, the organization is looking for an experienced Director of Human Resources to spearhead their HR department as they continue to develop more locations.

Overview:

The Director of Human Resources will oversee the company’s team member relations, employment law compliance, safety and workers’ compensation, and benefits administration across multiple locations. The ideal candidate will assess current capabilities and functional requirements, evaluate HR policies and processes against the company’s current scale, and recommend staffing and systems aligned to strategy and growth objectives. The role reports directly to the Founder.

Responsibilities:

• Team Member relations, workplace investigations, and corrective action
• Federal and state employment law compliance. Wage and hour, mandated training, and required reporting
• Policy, handbook, personnel records, and employment lifecycle administration
• Safety and the Injury and Illness Prevention Program, workers' compensation claims and loss control, unemployment claims, and guest incident reporting
• Benefits and leave administration, including the annual renewal and open enrollment cycle
• Compensation structure, job design, performance management, and engagement
• Employment infrastructure for new state entry and new restaurant openings
• Payroll processing and payroll tax administration. The Director of HR sets wage and hour policy and the compliance standards payroll executes against
• Restaurant-level hourly recruiting, hiring, and Team Member training. This position sets the standards those activities must meet and supports management-level hiring
• Other HR and personnel related policies and strategies

Qualifications:

• Five or more years of progressive Human Resources experience, including three or more at manager or director level with full functional ownership
• Multi-unit experience in restaurants, retail, hospitality, or a comparable distributed hourly workforce environment
• Command of California employment law: wage and hour, leave administration, and the Fair Employment and Housing Act
• Direct experience conducting workplace investigations and producing written findings
• Direct experience managing workers' compensation claims and an occupational safety program
• Direct experience administering benefit plans and an annual renewal/open enrollment cycle
• Experience building Human Resources programs, policies, or processes
• Comfort with information technology systems, including evaluating, implementing, and administering software supporting Human Resources functions within an existing enterprise technology stack
• Bachelor's degree in Human Resources, Business Administration, or a related field, or equivalent experience
• Frequent travel to restaurant locations, primarily within California

Preferred:

• PHR, SPHR, SHRM-CP, or SHRM-SCP certification. California-specific certification such as the PHRca
• Full-service restaurant industry experience
• Multi-state experience, particularly Nevada or Arizona
• Experience managing PAGA and class action wage and hour exposure
• Professional working proficiency in Spanish

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About Bristol Associates, Inc. – Executive Search:

Bristol Associates, Inc. is a boutique executive recruiting firm that specializes in highly focused, personalized searches in all verticals for the following industries: Casino Gaming, Facility and Concession, Food and Beverage, Healthcare, Hotel and Resort, Nonprofit, Restaurant, and Travel, Tourism, and Attraction.

As a third-generation, family-owned business, we believe that people and connections have always been the core of our organization. We concentrate on building lasting, real relationships with clients, candidates, and within our own team. Our tenured recruiters have unrivaled experience, professional expertise, and comprehensive industry knowledge, and our ever-expanding database and long-standing, valuable contacts in our extensive network allow us to source and deliver the best talent in today's market. That's the recipe Bristol Associates has used to place executive talent with leading companies for over 55 years.