Human Resources Business Partner

College-of-Lake-Count; Grayslake (IL); On-site; USD 75,000 - 85,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Health insurance

Tuition assistance

Retirement plans

Paid time off

Flexible spending accounts

Paid holidays

Job summary

College of Lake County seeks an HR Business Partner to deliver value through strategic partnership with supervisors and employees. You will drive leadership development, coach managers, and align human capital initiatives with organizational goals.

The role requires staying current with laws and policies while leveraging HR data to inform decisions and improve employee experience. The position emphasizes collaboration across payroll, benefits, HRIS, and recruitment, with a focus on maintaining

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in HR/OD/Management/Business or equivalent.
• 5+ years of progressive HR experience with coaching and performance management.
• 2+ years addressing employee relations and investigations.
• Ability to coach supervisors on policies and practices.
• Strong communication, facilitation, and interpersonal skills.
• Knowledge of HR laws, processes, and HR technology.

Responsibilities

• Provide HR consultation to units to promote an engaged workforce.
• Coach supervisors on team development and performance management.
• Administer HR policies and mitigate organizational risk.
• Collaborate with payroll, benefits, HRIS, and recruitment to support outcomes.
• Lead investigations on employee concerns and interacts with unions/contracts.
• Use data and dashboards to influence decisions and improve culture.

Skills

Communication

Presentation

Facilitation

Interpersonal skills

Analytical thinking

Data-informed decision making

Coaching

Influencing

Education

Bachelor's degree in HR/OD/Management/Business

Master’s degree (preferred)

Tools

HRIS

Payroll systems

Job description

Why choose the College of Lake County for your next opportunity? The College of Lake County (CLC) offers a competitive salary, excellent benefits that includes Blue Cross Blue Shield of Illinois health, Delta Dental and Superior Vision insurance plans, tuition support for employees and qualified family members, three retirement plans, disability, group and supplemental life insurance, health and dependent care flexible spending account plans, a compressed work week in the summer (Closed Fridays!), generous vacation, sick and personal time off and 14 paid holidays each year. Some benefits will not be available for Part-Time or Part Time Staff Under 20 Hours (ex: health insurance).

Position Title: Human Resources Business Partner Job Summary: The Human Resources Business Partner is an employee-facing position that delivers value to the organization and drives decision‑making through partnership with supervisors. This role will be key to strengthening our culture and employee experience by putting business acumen to work, using data to influence decisions, empowering supervisors to lead their teams more effectively and holistically, and serving as a coach and consultant to supervisors at all levels and employees. Remain informed of state and federal laws, regulations, and competitive practices, ensuring the company's policies and programs conform to laws and regulations and are designed to attract and retain employees. Supports business objectives and serves as an employee advocate on business issues.

Job Description:

Strategic Leadership 50% Provides comprehensive human resources consultation and services to the units and divisions assigned, for the purpose of promoting and supporting a highly engaged workforce, committed to the values and driven by the College’s Human Capital Strategy. Drives key people strategies to support supervisors and employees to meet organizational outcomes. Provides timely and effective coaching and development, focusing on supervisors. Effectively administers all human resource policies and procedures. Ensures organizational risks are mitigated. Collaborates with functional HR areas (payroll, benefits, HRIS, recruitment, etc) to support division/unit outcomes and strategies. Advises supervisors on how to effectively use data and other assessment methodologies to identify behaviors, gaps or emerging trends. Utilizes team effectiveness methodology and interventions to support teams in forming, developing, and operating at optimal levels of performance. Models and applies a data-informed approach and systems-based thinking grounded in the College’s culture of inquiry and evidence, and may include reporting and analysis of key performance indicators detailed in the Employee Retention and Success Dashboard. Contributes to improving the inclusion and equitable best practices.

Coaches’ supervisors on positive employee relations strategies to maintain engagement and preserve open and direct communication with employees. Works to proactively identify people issues and creative solutions to support the business needs. This may include; conducting stay/exit interviews, facilitate team sessions, and/or analyzing termination trends. Coaches supervisors, and employees, as appropriate. Develops, proposes, and implements plans to address issues.

Project Management 20%

Monitors employee engagement survey results, coaching and consulting on matters of team culture and development, including performance management, individual and team development. Acts as administrator of at least one system or program (i.e., employee engagement, compliance, New Leader Orientation, Performance Management). Acts as a project coordinator as assigned and detailed in college, inter-unit, and unit goals each year. This may include, but is not limited to, identifying key success metrics, meeting project milestones, leading task forces, writing executive summary reports, designing and presenting project outcomes/results and recommendations to College governance groups, senior and executive leaders.

HR Leadership 25%

Facilitates and presents at meetings, leadership development training, employee experience, and team development. Ensures that human resources policies and practices are applied with fairness and consistency Provides support in areas such as corrective action, employment resignation, retirement, and termination. Plays a significant role in the ongoing performance of interdisciplinary teams (i.e., employee safety, employee experience, employee engagement). Leads in conducting investigations related to employee concerns, coordinating with internal and external resources in formulating responses. Serves as a Title IX investigator. Ensures that the bargaining agreements are applied with consistency. Develops strong relationships with Union Presidents. Advises leaders in contract language and serves on the negotiating team. Provides assistance with grievance responses. Cross-trains in other business partner data and projects for coverage, when necessary.

Other (5%)

Participates on strategic and/or functional cross-departmental teams, committees and councils. Participates in professional associations/organizations and educational activities that enhance Human Resources competencies, knowledge, business, and interpersonal skills. Remain knowledgeable of current state and federal laws, regulations, and trends in the field of Human Resources. Performs any and all other duties assigned that support the mission, vision, value,s and strategic initiatives of College of Lake County and goals of the Human Resources unit.

Required Qualifications

Bachelor's degree from an accredited college or university in Human Resources, Organizational Development, Management or Business, or equivalent experience. A minimum of five (5) years of progressive experience in human resources, organizational development, or employee relations, including successful team interventions, leader coaching, and performance management. Two (2) years' experience in addressing employee relation situations and investigation. Demonstrated ability to prepare and coach supervisors on sound and current policies and practices. Demonstrated working knowledge of multiple human resource disciplines and business practices. Excellent communication, presentation, facilitation, and interpersonal skills, with an ability to build/foster strong trusting relationships, influence supervisors, and develop solutions to achieve results. Analytical ability, business, industry, and financial acumen. Self-directed, self-motivated, agile to change and ability to take initiative to identify and anticipate division needs and effectively manage conflicting priorities and deadlines. Ability to understand and use relevant HR technology systems to support business needs. Local travel required, to campuses throughout Lake County.

Desired Qualifications

Master’s degree from an accredited college or university in Human Resources, Organizational Development, Management, or Business, or SHRM-SCP or SPHR certification. Working knowledge of measurement concepts, data mining, and analysis. Working knowledge of payroll processes. Trainer certification in Crucial Learning (Crucial Conversations for Mastering Dialogue, Crucial Conversations for Accountability, Crucial Influence). Experience with union contracts. Bi-lingual Spanish

Salary: $75,100 - $85,000. The salary offer in this range will be commensurate with the candidate’s background and experience. Benefits and other terms and conditions of employment are highly competitive.

Work Schedule: 40+ Core hours are 8:00 a.m. - 4:30 p.m. Hours may vary depending on the needs of the college.

Application Deadline: September 17, 2026

Full-Time/Part-Time: Full time Total Hours Per Week: 40 Position Type: Staff Job Family: Professional Posting Date: 09/03/2026 Expected Start Date: 10/28/2026 Compensation Grade: C45 Location: Grayslake Campus Department: Talent Management & Development Division

EEO Statement

College of Lake County is an Equal Opportunity Employer with a policy of non-discrimination. Qualified applicants are considered without regard to race, color, age, sex, national origin, disability, religion, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, marital status, military or veteran status, genetic information, ancestry, citizenship, parental status, pregnancy or any other status protected by law.

College of Lake County (CLC) is a comprehensive community college located in northeastern Illinois committed to being an innovative educational institution providing life-changing paths for our students by offering exceptional learning experiences. CLC aspires to be a place where every student succeeds, every employee thrives, so that every business achieves and every community grows. Our mission is to be innovative and value-driven in supporting student success through developing and encouraging employees of all backgrounds on their journey toward achieving personal and professional growth. CLC achieved a milestone in 2025 with its designation as a Leader College of Distinction. CLC is part of the Achieving the Dream (ATD) Network, made up of 300+ colleges committed to supporting student success at their institutions and promoting economic vitality throughout their communities. CLC has been a member of the ATD Network since 2019 and has held Leader College status since 2023.