HR Business Partner Senior

University of Kentucky; Lexington (KY); On-site; USD 74,000 - 122,000; Full time

Job summary

The University of Kentucky is seeking a Senior HR Business Partner to serve as a strategic advisor to the EVPFA area, delivering HR consultation and project support across research, clinical, education, and administrative missions.

This role partners with senior leaders on people strategy, organizational effectiveness, workforce planning, and HR governance, while guiding performance management and program development.

Qualifications

• Master’s degree required.
• Minimum of five years of progressive HR experience, with at least four years in a business partner capacity.
• Experience in a complex, multi-unit organization; preferred in academic medical center, large healthcare system, or major research university.

Responsibilities

• Partner with leaders to define, design, and launch change initiatives and provide data-driven insights for decision-making.
• Identify root causes of issues and design quick, cross-unit solutions.
• Build relationships with EVPFA leaders to advance HR best practices and program delivery.
• Provide project management leadership for multiple initiatives from concept to completion.
• Collaborate with core HR units to identify and remove barriers to project delivery.
• Lead HR process and service delivery improvements, documenting workflows and protocols.
• Prioritize communication between service line leaders and core HR to align objectives.
• Provide EVPFA leadership with timely information to aid strategic decisions.
• Contribute to UK Strategic Plan goals through HR initiatives.

Education

Master’s degree

Job description

Job Title

HR Business Partner Senior

Requisition Number

RE55686

Working Title

Senior HR Business Partner, EVPFA

Department Name

3J510:Human Resources Administration

Work Location

Lexington, KY

Grade Level

49

Salary Range

$73,861-121,888/year

Type of Position

Staff

Position Time Status

Full-Time

Required Education

MA

Click here for more information about equivalencies:

https://hr.uky.edu/employment/working-uk/equivalencies

Required Related Experience

5 yrs

Required License/Registration/Certification

None

Physical Requirements

The essential job functions of this position require: communicating effectively; building positive working relationships with individuals from a variety of backgrounds; abiding by University guidelines; maintaining confidentiality; prioritizing and managing work effectively; providing exceptional customer service; performing work in a sedentary position; reporting to meetings at different locations both on campus and off campus; and interacting with individuals from various levels throughout the university.

Shift

Primarily days with core hours from 8a-5p, M-F. Additional hours required as workload demands.

Job Summary

The HR Business Partner Senior serves as a senior-level strategic advisor to the Executive Vice President for Finance & Administration area, providing strategic HR consultation and project support for complex workforce matters across research, clinical, education, and administrative missions. This role partners with senior leaders on people strategy, organizational effectiveness, workforce planning, complex employee relations, HR governance, performance management consultation, HR program and process development, protocol development, and reorganization assistance.

Primary responsibilities include:

• Partner with leaders to define, design, and launch change initiatives and provide insightful data to guide decision-making and propose proactive solutions.
• Solve problems and get to the root cause of any issue, design and quickly implement solutions that may cut across units and functional areas.
• Build and maintain relationships with key leaders within the EVPFA domain, with the goal of anticipating ways to advance business objectives through HR best practices and program/service delivery.
• Provide project management leadership for multiple simultaneous initiatives from point of concept development through project completion.
• Partner collaboratively with core HR units to proactively identify and communicate support required to meet project deliverables, removing barriers, and identifying creative solutions.
• Lead HR process and service delivery improvement initiatives, with emphasis on documenting and communicating workflows, protocols, tools, and/or process changes to best support end-users.
• Prioritize communication efforts between service line leaders and core HR areas to promote alignment and understanding of business and HR objectives/goals.
• Provide EVPFA domain senior leadership with timely and appropriate information to assist in strategic decision-making.
• Contribute to overall HR goals and initiatives focused on meeting UK Strategic Plan goals.

Education and Experience

• Master’s degree required
• Minimum of five years of progressive HR experience, with a minimum of four years in a business partner capacity supporting director-level and above stakeholders
• Demonstrated experience in a complex, multi-unit organization; experience in an academic medical center, large healthcare system, or major research university strongly preferred
• Demonstrated experience managing high-complexity employee relations matters with legal, regulatory, or governance dimensions
• PHR, SPHR, SHRM-CP, or SHRM-SCP certification preferred; advanced certification or relevant graduate coursework is valued

Does this position have supervisory responsibilities?

No

Deadline to Apply

10/01/2026

Our University Community

We value the well-being of each of our employees and are dedicated to creating a healthy place for everyone to work, learn and live. In the interest of maintaining a safe and healthy environment for our students, employees, patients and visitors, the University of Kentucky is a Tobacco & Drug Free campus.

The University follows both the federal and state Constitutions as well as all applicable federal and state laws on nondiscrimination. The University provides equal opportunities for qualified persons in all aspects of institutional operations and does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, national origin, ethnic origin, religion, creed, age, physical or mental disability, veteran status, uniformed service, political belief, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, pregnancy, marital status, genetic information or social or economic status or whether the person complies with University regulation concerning smoking.

Any candidate offered a position may be required to pass pre-employment screenings as mandated by University of Kentucky Human Resources. These screenings may include a national background check and/or drug screen.

Applicant Documents

Required Documents

1. Resume
2. Cover Letter

Optional Documents