HR Manager

American-Bar-Foundation; Chicago (IL); On-site; USD 75,000 - 80,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

35-hour work week

Flexible scheduling

403(b) retirement plan with employer +

Health insurance (medical/dental/vison

Transit and parking benefits

Life insurance

Legal assistance plan

Job summary

The American Bar Foundation in Chicago is seeking an experienced HR Manager to lead people operations for a hybrid workforce of roughly 55 employees across IL, NY, and AZ. You will report to the COO and partner with leaders on the employee lifecycle.

Responsibilities include payroll, benefits, compliance, retirement plan administration, recruitment, onboarding, performance, training, and offboarding for faculty and staff affiliates. A strategic, hands-on approach is required.

Qualifications

• 3+ years HR experience including budget management
• Bachelor’s degree or equivalent experience
• Proficiency in Microsoft 365
• Proven track record of advancing diversity, equity, and inclusion
• Outstanding organizational ability, attention to detail, collaboration, communication, initiative, and problem-solving
• Ability to maintain confidentiality and discretion in ABF business
• Basic quantitative data entry, reporting, analysis, and interpretation skills
• Illinois residency and U.S. work authorization; no visa sponsorship

Responsibilities

• Liaise with ABA to ensure payroll and benefits administration.
• Maintain staff and faculty handbooks and policies with COO/external counsel.
• Oversee 403(b) retirement plan administration and compliance; liaison to board committees.
• Coordinate with departments on staff performance, evaluation, training, compensation.
• Lead staff recruitment, onboarding, retention, and offboarding for faculty and non-employee affiliates.
• Lead bi-monthly administrative staff meetings.
• Staff liaison to ABF Board Executive Compensation Committee.
• Manage HR vendor relationships, invoices, and budget.

Skills

HR experience

Budget management

Diversity & inclusion

Confidentiality

Communication

Data entry & analysis

Problem-solving

Attention to detail

Education

Bachelor’s degree or equivalent experience

Tools

Microsoft 365

Job description

About the ABF

The American Bar Foundation (ABF) is a independent, not-for-profit, 501(c)(3) research institute that expands knowledge and advances justice through rigorous empirical research on law, legal processes, and legal institutions. The ABF's primary sources of funding are an annual grant from the American Bar Endowment (ABE) and contributions by the Fellows of the ABF– a global honorary society of attorneys, judges, faculty, and scholars whose careers have demonstrated outstanding dedication to the highest principles of the legal profession. The ABF offices are located on Northwestern University’s Chicago campus in Streeterville.

Position Overview

The HR Manager will manage the people/ huma n resources functions of the ABF. This position reports to the COO and can expect to take direction from the Executive Director /CEO. Th e HR Manager partners with other leaders on all aspects of the employee lifecycle. The ABF Community consists of approximately 55 hybrid employees (full- and part-time) across three states (IL, NY, AZ) and several affiliated researchers.

Key Responsibilities

People Operations (80%)

• Liaise with the American Bar Association (ABA) to ensure accurate and timely payroll and benefits administration.
• Monitor regulatory changes and maintain staff and faculty handbooks and policies, in partnership wit h the COO an d external counsel.
• Oversee 403(b) retirement plan administration and compliance, including preparing for first audit and implementing Board-approved governance guide. Serve as staff liaison to the ABF Board Retirement Plan Oversight Committee.
• Coordinate with other departments to support staff performance, evaluation, training, compensation, and professional develo p ment opportunities.
• Lead staff recruitment, onboarding, retention, and offboarding efforts. Coordinate onboarding and offboarding for faculty and non-employee affiliates.
• Lead bimonthly administrative staff meetings.
• Serve as staff liaison to the ABF Board Executive Compensation Committee.
• Manage HR vendor relationships, invoices, and budget.

Organizational Culture (20%)

In addition to advancing diversity, equity, and inclusion in all areas above:

• Serve as staff chair of the Holistic Opportunities for Meaningful Engagement (HOME) Committee (3 faculty, 3 staff) to assess climate, improve operational policies, etc.
• Serve as a member of the Social Committee to plan events for the ABF community.
• Serve as staff liaison to the ABF Board Opportunity and Belonging Committee.
• Encourage employees to provide continuous feedback and improve interdepartmental collaboration.
• Stay abreast of trends and best practices in nonprofit people and change management.

Other duties not listed above may be requiredofthis position.

Required Qualifications

• 3+yearsof HR experience, including budget management.
• Bachelor’s degree or equivalent experience.
• ProficiencyinMicrosoft 365 (Word, Excel, Outlook, SharePoint, OneDrive, PowerPoint, Teams).
• Proventrack recordof advancing diversity, equity,and inclusionwithin organizations.
• Outstandingorganizational ability,attention to detail, collaboration,accuratecommunication,initiative, andproblem-solving skills.
• Ability tomaintainconfidentiality and discretion in all areas of ABF business.
• Basic quantitative dataentry,reporting, analysis, andinterpretationskills.
• Illinois residency and U.S. work authorizationrequiredthroughout employment. Please note that the ABF does not have the institutional capacity to sponsor visas, and we are unable to advise on individual visa matters.

Preferred Qualifications

• SHRM, PHR, compensation, and/orbenefitscertification.
• Advanced degree in HR, nonprofit management, legal, or related field.
• Experience with Dayforce, TIAA,and/orBambooHRplatforms.
• Experienceworking at a small- tomid-sized nonprofitand/or academic institutioninIllinois.

Work Structure andEnvironment

This is a full-time (35 hours per week), exempt position. Close mental and visual attention are required, primarily for using a computer and/or extensive reading. ABF employees are expected to work at the ABF offices at least 40% of their workweek and to work within the state of Illinois during the other times. Standard work hours are Monday through Friday, 9:00 am to 5:00 pm CT, with a one-hour lunch period. Occasional work outside of these hours may be expected based on business needs. Out-of-state travel is not required for this position.

Compensation and Benefits

Theanticipatedsalaryrangefor this position is$75,000-80,000.Full-time administrative staff benefits include:

• 35-hour work week, plus early-dismissal Summer Fridays
• Flexible work scheduling and/or compensatory time
• 403(b) retirement plan with automatic employer contribution AND employer match
• 16+ holidays,including a weeklong winter recess; 15 vacation days; 10 sick days; paidleave as needed (e.g., FMLA,short- and long-term disability)
• Medical and dental (BCBS-IL) and vision (UnitedHealthCare) insurance - beginning on the 1st of the month after 30 days of employment
• Flexible spending account (FSA) or health savings account (HSA)
• Transit and parking benefits, including discounted parking
• Life insurance
• Legalassistanceplan
• Otherperksoffered by the ABF and Northwestern University

The American Bar Foundation (ABF)isfirmly committedtoprovidingequal employment opportunities to all qualified persons, including providing reasonable accommodations to qualified job applicants. All decisions regarding employment will be made without unlawful discrimination on the basis of age; ancestry; certain arrest or criminal history records; citizenship; color; disability; gender; gender identity; genetic information; housing status; marital status; military status; national origin; order of protection status; parental status; pregnancy; protected activity (e.g., reporting of prohibited discrimination or harassment); race (including traits associated with race such as hair texture or hair styles); religion; reproductive health decisions; sex; sexual orientation; source of income; status as a victim of domestic violence, sexual violence, gender violence, or any other crime of violence or who have family or household members who are victims of such violence; unfavorable discharge from the military; or any other status or classification protected by applicable federal, state, and/or local laws.The ABF does not use AI in making employment decisions.