HR Director

SkyWater Search; Burnsville (MN); On-site; USD 130,000 - 160,000; Full time

Job summary

SkyWater Search Partners is hiring an HR Director to build the function from the ground up in Burnsville, MN. You will own employee and union relations, create scalable HR processes, and lead integration of acquisitions with a focus on benefits alignment and culture integration.

You will partner with leadership to design modern performance management and onboarding/offboarding processes, ensuring compliance under MN and federal law while supporting both union and non-union employees.

Qualifications

• Experience negotiating CBAs in a unionized environment.
• HR acquisitions due diligence and integration experience.
• Strong working knowledge of Minnesota employment law.
• Hands-on HR leader who builds processes and systems.
• Ability to engage with executives and hourly employees.

Responsibilities

• Oversee union and labor relations, contract administration, and grievances.
• Provide coaching to plant and operations leaders.
• Lead HR integration for acquisitions and align benefits.
• Define and measure culture, and extend it to new hires.
• Build a repeatable talent acquisition process.
• Own onboarding and offboarding with compliant documentation.
• Ensure compliance with federal and Minnesota employment law.
• Design a modern performance management program.
• Identify gaps and drive the HR roadmap.

Job description

HR Director
Location: Burnsville, MN (on-site) Employment type: Full-time, exempt Compensation: $130,000 to $160,000 base, plus 15% annual bonus target and benefits

Our client is a privately held, growth-oriented company in Burnsville, MN.Led by a team with extensive public, private, and private equity roll-up experience, the company has professionalized its operations over the past three years and is now preparing for an acquisition that will take it from roughly 50 employees to well over 100, and from one union to potentially several.

The culture is transparent. Leaders roll up their sleeves, no one is above any task, and titles matter less than results.

The Opportunity

This is the company’s first dedicated HR hire. Today, HR is shared among the leadership team and supported by an outside consultant. You will build the HR function from the ground up as a team of one: owning employee relations and union relations, creating the systems and processes that don’t yet exist, and leading the HR side of integrating newly acquired employees. Strong union experience is a must have!

Key Responsibilities

• Union and labor relations: Interpret, administer, and enforce collective bargaining agreements; participate in contract negotiations; advise plant and operations managers on grievances, discipline, and contract compliance.
• Employee relations and coaching: Serve as a trusted thought partner to plant and operations leaders, coaching and mentoring supervisors and the hourly workforce beyond discipline and contract language.
• M&A and integration: Lead HR integration for a pending acquisition and future ones, including aligning benefits and healthcare programs, communicating with newly acquired employees, and helping them feel part of the team.
• Culture: Identify, document, and systematize what makes the existing culture work, and develop ways to measure it and extend it to new team members.
• Talent acquisition systems: Build a repeatable hiring process, replacing ad hoc hiring with a clear approach to sourcing, interviewing, and offers.
• Onboarding and offboarding: Own the end-to-end process, including compliant documentation and record retention, so every new hire and departure is handled consistently.
• Compliance: Ensure compliance with Minnesota and federal employment law.
• Performance management: Design and own a modern program to replace a legacy system that hasn’t been used in years: fair, simple, and consistently applied, and workable for salaried and hourly, union and non-union employees.
• Build the function: Identify gaps and blind spots and set priorities for the HR roadmap as the company grows.

Required Qualifications

• Significant HR experience in a unionized environment, including deciphering, administering, and negotiating CBAs
• Experience with HR acquisition due diligence and integration
• Strong working knowledge of Minnesota employment law
• Proven ability to operate as a hands-on HR leader without a team: willing to build processes and systems and handle day-to-day work personally
• Credibility and the ability to connect with everyone from executives to blue-collar and field employees
• Strategic HR aptitude, with the confidence to coach leaders and make tough calls when needed

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience in manufacturing, construction, aggregates, or another industrial setting
• Experience in a private equity-backed or high-growth organization
• Experience with UKG or similar HRIS and payroll platforms
• Prior experience as the first or only HR professional at a company

Who Will Thrive Here

• A builder who sees an empty function as an opportunity, not a burden
• Direct, down-to-earth, and comfortable in a blunt, transparent culture; not stuffy or corporate
• Emotionally intelligent, able to understand the culture before recommending changes
• Self-sufficient and able to hit the ground running
• Willing to earn influence through results rather than title

Onsite in Burnsville