HR Generalist

Ajinomoto Foods North America, Inc.; Joplin (MO); On-site; USD 55,000 - 75,000; Full time

Job summary

Ajinomoto Foods North America, Inc. seeks an HR Generalist to manage day-to-day HR policies, benefits, training, employee relations, talent acquisition for hourly production roles, and basic payroll tasks. This role may be split between two individuals to cover core responsibilities at the Joplin plant.

Required: a Bachelor's in HR or related field and 3+ years of HR experience; PHR/SHRM-CP preferred. Manufacturing/CPG experience is a plus and strong communication skills are essential.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in HR, labor relations, business, or related field.
• Minimum 3 years Human Resource experience required.
• PHR or SHRM-CP preferred.
• General knowledge of employment laws and practices.
• Ability to work off hours as necessary.
• Manufacturing/CPG experience preferred.
• Exceptional written, verbal, and visual communication skills.
• Capacity to understand people issues impacting the business along with a passion for relationship building.
• Proven ability to lead groups, drive results, and influence consensus.

Responsibilities

• Manage full-cycle recruitment processes for hourly roles.
• Partner with leadership to ensure timely staffing aligned to business needs.
• Ownership of new hire orientation scheduling and logistics.
• Organize site participation in university recruitment, job fairs, career fairs.
• Ensure compliance with federal, state and local laws and regulations.
• Support administration of company policies, employee handbook updates and workplace procedures.
• Assist with Leave Administration, Accommodations and Return to Work processes.
• Participate in audits and compliant documentation.
• Oversee Attendance Policy adherence and assist leaders with disciplinary action.
• Represent the organization at unemployment hearings and investigations.
• Assist with health benefits and protected leave of absence tasks.
• Overseeing off-boarding, exit interviews, COBRA notices, final paycheck, and HRIS updates.

Skills

Communication skills

Relationship building

Decision making

Project management

Leadership

Influencing

Education

Bachelor's degree in HR/related field

Job description

HR Generalist

US-MO-Joplin

Job ID: 2026-10411

Type: Regular Full-Time

# of Openings: 1

Joplin Plant

Overview

The HR Generalist is responsible for day-to-day administration of human resource policies and programs including but not limited to benefits, training, employee engagement, employee relations, talent acquisition, and basic payroll functions. This role leads recruitment and hiring efforts for hourly production roles, supports leave of absence (LOA) processes, and assists with attendance management. This role may be structured as a shared position between two individuals. As such, it is critical that each candidate brings strong subject matter knowledge and hands-on experience in their primary areas of responsibility.

Responsibilities

Talent Acquisition

• Manage full-cycle recruitment processes for hourly roles, including sourcing, interviewing, and hiring for open positions
• Partner with leadership to ensure timely and effective staffing aligned to business needs
• Ownership of new hire orientation including but not limited to scheduling and logistics
• Organize site participation in university recruitment, job fairs, career fairs

Compliance

• Ensure compliance with federal, state and local laws and regulations
• Support administration of company policies, employee handbook updates and workplace procedures
• Assist with Leave Administration, Accommodations and Return to Work processes
• Participate in all audits and compliant documentation
• Extreme ownership over adherence of the Attendance Policy including weekly tracking, reporting, and supporting leaders in addressing attendance concerns and assisting leaders in disciplinary action
• Representing the organization at unemployment hearings and investigations
• Assist with day-to-day activities involving health benefits and protected leave of absence, including but not limited to, assisting with employee third-party claims, assist with open enrollment activities, and any other duties
• Overseeing the off-boarding process, including preparation of termination paperwork, scheduling and conduction the exit interview, notifying employee of COBRA rights, if applicable, preparation of final paycheck, audit and close employee file, and make necessary changes in HRIS

Employee Relations

• Conduct employee relations investigations involving workplace concerns, policy violations, attendance violations and disciplinary matters
• Timely reporting and documentation uploaded into the ER Case Management System
• Ensure consistent application of company policies and procedures
• Maintain accurate employee records in compliance with employment laws and regulations

Training & Engagement

• Develop and promote two-way communication (feedback loop) mechanisms for the workforce to influence and promote exceptional employee engagement
• Facilitate and foster continuous improvement and change management activitie
• Manage projects as necessary and participate in functional and cross- functional initiatives
• Assist the HRBP as needed and perform all other duties as assigned
• Partner with HRBP on scheduling and facilitating frontline leadership training
• Other duties as assigned

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in HR, labor relations, business, or related field
• Minimum 3 years Human Resource experience required. A combination of education and experience may be considered.
• PHR or SHRM-CP preferred
• General knowledge of employment laws and practices
• Ability to work 'off hours' as necessary
• Manufacturing/ CPG experience preferred
• Exceptional written, verbal, and visual communication skills
• Capacity to understand people issues impacting the business along with a passion for relationship building
• Proven ability to make decisive and sound judgements consistent with company culture and applicable laws
• Experience in project management, resource management, and strategic planning
• A desire to lead groups, drive results, and challenge the status quo
• Proven ability to influence others and reach agreements and consensus despite differing goals and priorities

Equal employment opportunity, including veterans and individuals with disabilities.