HR Business Partner

Keene State College; Keene (NH); On-site; USD 58,000 - 103,000; Full time

Job summary

Keene State College invites applications for an HR Business Partner (HRBP) to provide strategic guidance and hands-on consultation in human resources and organizational development. The HRBP partners with leaders and employees across the workforce, including union and non-union environments, tailoring HR strategies to meet the organization's needs.

This is a full-time, on-campus position based in Keene, NH, with a Monday-Friday schedule.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree and five years of HR experience.
• Master’s degree and three years of HR experience.
• Experience in a unionized environment preferred.
• SHRM/HRCI or equivalent certification preferred.

Responsibilities

• Provide strategic HR guidance and consultation to leaders and employees.
• Lead organizational development, workforce planning, and succession planning initiatives.
• Manage employee relations, investigations, and policy adherence.

Skills

Confidential data handling

Clear communication

Process improvement

Organization

Multitasking

Education

Bachelor’s degree in HR

Master’s degree in HR

Tools

HCM system

Job description

Keene State College invites applications for a Human Resources Business Partner (HRBP) to support achievement of the College’s mission by providing strategic guidance and hands‑on consultation in human resources and organizational development. The HRBP partners with leaders and employees across a diverse workforce, including operational, academic, administrative, unionized, and non-union environments, tailoring HR strategies to meet the needs of the organization.

This is a full-time, benefited, on-campus position based in Keene, New Hampshire, with a Monday-Friday work schedule.

Key responsibilities include workforce planning, organizational design, employee development, performance management, employee relations, employee initiatives and training, policy development and application. The HRBP also serves as the primary point of contact for managers and employees, helping them navigate the HR services delivery model and access the resources and support they need.

Organizational Development and Strategic Partnership (40%) :

• Using independent judgment and metric based assessment of each organization’s climate, culture and strategic initiatives, provide guidance to leaders throughout management levels on organizational development, including workforce planning, staffing structure, succession planning, recruiting, employee development, performance management, organizational learning and labor relations.
• Act as a change agent through process design analysis to support change and transformation driving towards best practice solutions.
• Provide consult in the engagement of employees in strategic department/unit/college initiatives. Counsel, educate, and advise managers and employees on KSC and USNH policies, and collective bargaining agreements.
• Provide guidance to management regarding HR processes for job changes, new position requests, position updates, position reviews, increase requests, temporary assignments, equity requests and performance bonuses.
• Liaise cross functionally with colleagues across the Human Resource, Legal, Finance and Academic Administration teams. Drive strategic decision making through use of data and analytics, leveraging our internal HCM system, to evaluate patterns and trends and provide insight for HR program initiatives.
• Gather feedback through stay and exit interviews and collaborate with managers on action items.
• Champion strategic HR initiatives and programmatic changes and the engagement with employees and supervisors related to these activities, including training and communication support.

Employee Relations and Compliance (40%) :

• Manage employee issues in both formal and informal situations, through investigation, mediation, and data collection and analysis to recommend and facilitate resolutions.
• Foster a fair and equitable workplace culture by partnering, coaching, and advising supervisors/managers and employees on issues that pertain to employee relations, ADA, legal compliance, collective bargaining agreement parameters and performance management.
• Manage complex issues involving understanding, interpreting, communicating, and consistently applying KSC and USNH policy, state/federal laws and their interdependencies, Collective Bargaining Agreements, often involving partnership with other KSC/USNH departments and offices.
• Research/investigate and compile pertinent data to influence consistent and compliant resolutions.
• Serve as an advocate for employee needs and concerns and represent employees in a broader context to the campus community.

Training and Special Projects (20%) :

• Act as a cultural ambassador for continuous improvement and learning.
• Design and deliver standard and custom training programs on a broad range of HR topics (e.g., performance management, team building, supervisory development, succession planning, orientation etc.) resulting in improved supervisory and management practices and improved employee retention.
• Provide leadership for HR and campus initiatives, special projects, process improvement and committees.
• Review and provide feedback on policy revisions, updates to the HR Website, and campus communications.
• Stay current on HR laws and attend professional development.
• Other duties as assigned.

Minimum Acceptable Education & Experience:

• Bachelor’s degree and five years of related experience in personnel/human resources work or Master’s degree and three years of related experience, involving a year or more in a specialized field, if required.

Knowledge, Skills & Abilities

• Ability to work with and maintain confidential data and information.
• Ability to communicate clearly, concisely, accurately, and professionally, both verbally and in writing.
• Process improvement capability and flexibility to find better solutions to complete the work.
• Ability to thrive in an ambiguous and rapidly changing environment.
• Ability to organize, multi-task and prioritize tasks.
• Ability to make recommendations to effectively resolve problems or issues.

Other Requirements

• Effective interpersonal skills and desire to work in a collaborative environment with institutional leaders and System, as well as colleagues within HR.
• Demonstrated attention to detail and accuracy within a fast-paced environment.
• Professionalism, confidentiality, discretion, and good judgment.
• Proficiency with standard technology platforms.
• Demonstrated problem-solving skills that result in resolution of issues/concerns in a timely manner.

Preferred Qualifications

• Higher Education experience a plus, along with work experience in a unionized setting preferred.
• Professional Human Resources certification from SHRM/HRCI or other similar professional organization is also preferred.

EEO Statement

The University System of New Hampshire is an Equal Opportunity/Equal Access employer. The University System is committed to creating an environment that values and supports diversity and inclusiveness across our campus communities and encourages applications from qualified individuals who will help us achieve this mission. The University System prohibits discrimination on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, age, national origin, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, disability, genetic information, veteran status, or marital status.

Compensation Pay Range

$57,590.00 - $102,850.00 The pay range for this position is listed above. Actual offer will be based on skills, qualifications, experience, and internal equity, in addition to relevant business considerations. More information on benefits can be found here: USNH Employee Benefits | Human Resources

To learn more about Keene State College, the University System of New Hampshire, and the Keene community, please visit: https://www.keene.edu, https://www.usnh.edu/ or https://www.ci.keene.nh.us.

Location:

Keene