Director People Compliance

Western-Veterinary-Partners-1; Denver (CO); On-site; USD 150,000 - 170,000; Full time

Job summary

Western Veterinary Partners seeks a Director, People Compliance in Denver to write, own, and maintain the people policy library and employee handbooks across states, ensuring enterprise standards replace hospital-by-hospital practices.

You will translate federal, state, and local employment laws into practical procedures, lead annual audits, coordinate with Legal, and maintain audit-ready evidence to close gaps efficiently.

Qualifications

• Minimum of 10+ years in HR compliance, employment law compliance, employee relations, or HR operations.
• Leadership experience in programs or teams (5+ years).
• Deep knowledge of U.S. multi-state employment law incl. FLSA, FMLA, ADA, EEO, I-9 and pay transparency.

Responsibilities

• Own and maintain the people policy library and employee handbooks across states.
• Replace local practices with enterprise standards and templates.
• Monitor employment law changes and communicate updates internally.
• Define policy owners, versions, review dates, and approvals.
• Advise HR, Operations, and hospital leaders on practical implementation.

Skills

HR compliance leadership

Employment law (US multi-state)

Policy writing

Auditing & controls

Training & governance

Education

Bachelor’s degree in HR, Business, Legal Studies, or related field

Job description

About us: Western Veterinary Partners (WVP) is a mission-driven company based in Denver, CO. We are driven by our values of integrity, collaboration, alignment, growth, support, and relationships. WVP acquires, invests in, and supports general practice animal hospitals throughout the United States. Post-acquisition, WVP supports its partner practices with the non-clinical side of the business. Our local and collaborative support provides veterinarians with attractive operational benefits of a larger group while maintaining the clinical autonomy and local practice identity.

The Director, People Compliance, makes sure our people policies are compliant and systems to document and audit are in place. The role is responsible for writing and maintaining our policies, and running the checks and balances (audits, controls, and documentation) that show those policies work in in practice in every hospital.

You will turn federal, state, and local employment law into clear, practical policies, and advise the teams that run day-to-day processes on how to put them into practice. Then you will test whether we do what we say we do, keep the evidence audit-ready, and drive any gaps to closure.

Key responsibilities

Policy ownership

• Write, own, and maintain the people policy library and employee handbooks, including leave, accommodations, return-to-work, wage and hour, time off, conduct, and hiring standards.
• Replace locally built, hospital-by-hospital practices with enterprise standards, templates, and processes that every hospital uses.
• Monitor federal, state, and local employment law in every state where we operate, and update policies before new requirements take effect. Communicate changes through appropriate internal channels.
• Give every policy an owner, a current version, a review date, and a documented approval.
• Advise HR, Operations, and hospital leaders on how to put each policy into practice: the process steps, system settings, forms, and records needed to follow it.
• Answer policy interpretation questions and know when to bring in Legal.

Compliance assurance (the checks and balances)

• For each policy, define the controls that show it is followed and the evidence that proves it, such as records, system reports, acknowledgments, and sign-offs.
• Build and run an annual audit plan that tests whether hospitals and HR teams do what policy says, covering areas such as pay practices and classification, meal and rest breaks, leave and accommodations, Form I-9, workplace safety, licenses and credentials, required training, notices and postings.
• Run audits under the direction of Legal when findings should be privileged.
• Keep documentation audit ready, to ensure that each policy is in place and working.
• Document findings, assign owners and due dates for corrective actions, and retest to confirm each one is fixed.
• With Learning, select purchased compliance training content, deliver it through the LMS, and use completion records as audit evidence.
• Own the people compliance calendar so every filing, posting, training, and review deadline has a named owner, and verify each is completed on time.
• Serve as the main contact for external audits, agency inspections, and inquiries, in partnership with Legal.

Reporting and governance

• Report quarterly to HR leadership on policy status, audit results, open findings, repeat issues, and emerging risks.
• Build compliance metrics and dashboards and automation to gather audit evidence and track remediation.

Acquisitions

• Review people policies and practices during due diligence for practice acquisitions, and flag compliance gaps early.
• Audit newly acquired hospitals against our policies on a set timeline after close in partnership with Operations.

Partnership and leadership

• Partner with Legal, Payroll, Benefits, Talent Acquisition, Learning, Employee Relations, Operations, and Internal Audit. Those teams run the processes; this role sets the standard and checks the result.

Qualifications

Required

• Bachelor’s degree in Human Resources, Business, Legal Studies, or a related field, or equivalent experience.
• 10+ years of progressive experience in HR compliance, employment law compliance, employee relations, or HR operations, including 5+ years leading programs or teams.
• Deep working knowledge of U.S. multi-state employment law, including FLSA and state wage and hour rules, FMLA and state leave, ADA, EEO, Form I-9, and pay transparency.
• Track record of building a multi-state HR compliance program that pairs policy ownership with audits, controls testing, and documented remediation.
• Experience drafting and maintaining employee handbooks and policies across multiple states.
• Strong judgment and discretion with confidential information; able to explain regulations in plain language to hospital managers and executives alike.
• Ability to influence senior leaders and cross-functional partners without direct authority.

Preferred

• Experience in a multi-site, hourly-heavy environment, such as healthcare, veterinary, retail, or hospitality.
• California wage and hour experience, including meal and rest periods, alternative workweek schedules, and PAGA.
• Experience building workplace safety (OSHA) compliance programs across multiple sites.
• Experience with acquisition-driven organizations, including people due diligence and integration.
• Experience with professional license and credential tracking programs.
• Familiarity with governance, risk, and compliance (GRC) or audit management tools.
• Hands-on use of AI and automation to support compliance tracking, research, or documentation.

This role is not open to receiving agency candidates and any contingent submissions will not be honored.

The application window will be open for the next two weeks ending October 30, 2026. This opportunity will remain online based on business needs which may be before or after the two-week window.

#LI-CH1

This is a good-faith estimate based on the role's requirements at the time of posting. Within the range, individual pay is determined by work location and additional factors, including job-related skills, experience, and relevant education or training. This position is also eligible for bonus and incentive compensation, the terms of which will be provided at the time of offer. The Company offers a comprehensive benefits package that may include medical, dental, and vision benefits, vacation, sick leave, 401(k), and other benefits depending on role and location. A complete description of benefits available for this position will be provided during the hiring process. Where required under applicable law, Company provides eligible employees with paid sick leave, health emergency leave, and other legally mandated benefits programs, all in accordance with the requirements of applicable state and local law depending on the location of the practice you support.

$150,000 - $170,000 USD

Western Veterinary Partners is an Equal Opportunity Employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, creed, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, national origin, ancestry, age, physical or mental disability, medical condition, genetic information, marital status, pregnancy, childbirth or related conditions, veteran or military status, or any other characteristic protected by applicable federal, state, or local law. Western Veterinary Partners is committed to providing reasonable accommodations for qualified individuals with disabilities and disabled veterans in the job application process. If you need assistance or an accommodation due to a disability, please contact [e-mail]. Hiring decisions will be based on merit, qualifications and the legitimate needs of the business.