Human Resources Director

Town of Hamden; Hamden (CT); On-site; USD 120,000 - 160,000; Full time

Job summary

Town of Hamden is seeking an experienced Human Resources Director to lead the municipal Civil Service system, personnel administration, and labor relations program. The role involves policy recommendations, departmental planning, and administering health and life insurance plans for Town employees.

The Director oversees retirement plans, worker's compensation, and collective bargaining, negotiates labor contracts, guides budget preparation, and collaborates with federal/state agencies.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in Human Resources/Industrial Relations or related field.
• 8+ years of progressively responsible municipal personnel administration and labor relations experience.
• Master's Degree in Labor Relations or Public Administration with 5+ years municipal experience.

Responsibilities

• Drafts and recommends policy and personnel rules to the Mayor and Civil Service Commission, and plans for the implementation and administration of the Human Resources Department.
• Labor negotiations, administers labor contracts, handles formal grievances, costs out contracts.
• Assists the Town Retirement Board in administering the retirement plan.
• Administers the Town’s medical and group life insurance benefits, and workers’ compensation program.
• Prepares the annual department budget and presents and defends budget requests.
• Counsels employees. Confers with Town officials and the public to provide information and resolve problems.
• Testifies in court and at arbitration hearings concerning Town personnel policies and programs.

Skills

Personnel administration

Labor relations

Policy development

Budget management

Negotiations

Education

Bachelor's degree in HR/IR or related field

Master’s degree in Labor Relations or Public Administration

Job description

The HR Director is highly responsible administrative work involving the direction and management of a municipal Civil Service system, personnel administration and labor relations program. Duties include policy recommendation, departmental planning and direction, and administration of the Town's health and life insurance plans. The Human Resources Director is responsible for administering the Town of Hamden Employees Retirement Plan including the processing and calculation of Town employee retirements. The work requires that the employee has thorough knowledge, skill and ability in every phase of the personnel programs including insurances, workers’ compensation, pensions, collective bargaining and other activities provided by the Department.

• Drafts and recommends policy and personnel rules to the Mayor and Civil Service Commission, and plans for the implementation and administration of the Human Resources Department.
• Develops, administers, and evaluates classification and pay programs, recruitment and testing functions including eligibility lists, and training and development programs.
• Labor negotiations, administers labor contracts, handles formal grievances, costs out contracts.
• Assists the Town Retirement Board in administering the retirement plan.
• Administers the Town’s medical and group life insurance benefits, and workers’ compensation program.
• Prepares the annual department budget and presents and defends budget requests before the Mayor and Legislative Council.
• Controls the expenditure of department fund allocations within the constraints of approved budgets.
• Coordinates and confers with Federal, State and other agencies and municipalities in matters affecting town personnel administration.
• Counsels employees. Confers with Town officials and the public to provide information and resolve problems.
• Testifies in court and at arbitration hearings concerning Town personnel policies and programs.

• Thorough knowledge of the principles and practices of municipal personnel administration and labor relations.
• Thorough knowledge of the Municipal Employee Relations Act (MERA) or the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA)
• Thorough knowledge of Federal, State, and local laws, ordinances, regulations and policies relating to programs and operations of the Department.
• Thorough knowledge of labor contract administration, grievance handling and arbitration proceedings.
• Thorough knowledge of Workers’ Compensation, medical, group life insurance, and retirement benefit.
• Thorough knowledge of pre-employment and promotional examination processes, both written and oral.
• Thorough ability to analyze personnel problems and to develop and implement programs and activities to address those problems.
• Thorough ability to establish and maintain effective working relationships with supervisors, associates, subordinates, officials of other agencies and the general public.

A bachelor’s degree from an accredited college or university with a major in Human Resources/Industrial Relations or a closely related field of study, and a minimum of eight (8) years of progressively responsible municipal personnel administration and labor relations experience or a Master’s Degree in Labor Relations or Public Administration, and a minimum of five (5) years municipal experience.