Human Resources Manager

Merit HR (Merit Resource Group); San Leandro (CA); Presencial; USD 90.000 - 120.000; Jornada completa

Descripción de la vacante

Merit HR (Merit Resource Group) is seeking its first dedicated Human Resources Manager to lead a 60-person nonprofit in the East Bay. The role blends strategy with hands-on HR operations, reporting to the Executive Director and collaborating with the leadership team.

The ideal candidate will manage employee relations, partner with Insperity for payroll, benefits, and compliance, and advance performance management, onboarding, and compensation structuring.

Formación

• 7+ years of progressive HR experience with broad generalist responsibility.
• Experience as HR Manager or senior HR leader in a nonprofit or similar setting.
• Strong knowledge of California employment practices and labor law.

Responsabilidades

• Advise Executive Director and leadership on employee relations and performance matters.
• Lead investigations and handle sensitive employee issues with empathy and consistency.
• Coordinate with Insperity on payroll, benefits, HR tech, and compliance.
• Strengthen performance management, goal setting, feedback, and development planning.
• Develop manager training and tools for feedback, documentation, and conflict resolution.
• Oversee compensation analysis, job architecture, and internal equity.
• Support recruitment across frontline, professional, admin, and management roles.
• Enhance onboarding and HR policy documentation.
• Monitor HR metrics and workforce trends; address risks and needs.

Conocimientos

HR Generalist

California Employment Law

Strategic Advising

Coaching Managers

Herramientas

Insperity

Descripción del empleo

Our client is a long-established East Bay nonprofit whose work helps older adults maintain their independence, dignity, and connection to their communities. After significant growth in recent years, the organization is making an important investment in its people infrastructure by hiring its first dedicated, full-time Human Resources Manager.

This is a solo HR leadership role with a meaningful combination of strategy and hands‑on execution. Reporting to the Executive Director and working closely with the leadership team, the HR Manager will serve as the organization’s internal people leader and primary resource for approximately 60 employees working across operations, food service, driving, client services, programs, fundraising, and administration.

The organization has an established relationship with Insperity as its PEO, and that partnership will continue. Insperity supports much of the traditional HR infrastructure, including payroll, benefits, HR technology, and compliance resources. The HR Manager will be the primary internal contact with Insperity—making sure those resources are used effectively while retaining ownership of the people matters that require an understanding of the organization, its employees, its culture, and its mission.

This creates an opportunity for an experienced HR generalist to focus substantial attention on the work where an internal HR leader can have the greatest impact.

What You Will Do:

This is a role for someone who is comfortable moving between a leadership conversation and the practical work required to make things happen. Responsibilities will include:

• Serve as a trusted HR adviser to the Executive Director, leadership team, managers, and employees.
• Lead employee relations, including coaching managers through performance, conduct, attendance, communication, and workplace concerns.
• Conduct or coordinate workplace investigations and help leaders navigate sensitive employee matters with consistency, empathy, and sound judgment.
• Serve as the primary liaison with Insperity across payroll, benefits, HR technology, compliance, employee changes, and related HR operations.
• Strengthen performance management, including goal setting, feedback, evaluations, development planning, and manager accountability.
• Develop practical manager training and tools around feedback, documentation, communication, conflict resolution, and employee development.
• Lead compensation analysis and help establish greater structure around salary ranges, internal equity, job levels, promotions, and pay decisions.
• Support recruiting and hiring across frontline, professional, administrative, and management positions.
• Build a more consistent and meaningful onboarding experience.
• Review and improve HR policies, practices, systems, records, and documentation.
• Partner with Insperity and outside resources on leaves, accommodations, workers’ compensation, compliance, and other specialized matters.
• Develop useful HR metrics and identify workforce trends, risks, and organizational needs.
• Help shape a thoughtful approach to cultural literacy, inclusion, and employee experience that reflects the organization’s workforce and the communities it serves.

What We’re Looking For:

We are seeking a broad HR practitioner who enjoys being close to the business and to employees. Someone who can think strategically but does not need a large team beneath them to get the work done.

Ideal experience includes:

• 7+ years of progressive HR experience with broad generalist responsibility.
• Experience as an HR Manager, HR Business Partner, senior generalist, solo HR practitioner, or comparable internal HR leader.
• Strong California employee relations and employment practices knowledge.
• Experience coaching managers and handling workplace investigations and sensitive employee issues.
• Experience supporting hourly, operational, onsite, or distributed employee populations.
• The ability to move comfortably between strategic advising and detailed execution.
• Experience improving HR processes, policies, systems, and management practices.
• Strong judgment and an ability to balance compliance, organizational needs, employee experience, and practical realities.
• A demonstrated commitment to cultural literacy, inclusion, equity, and respectful workplace practices.
• Experience working with a PEO—particularly Insperity—is helpful but not required. Nonprofit, social services, senior services, healthcare, hospitality, food service, logistics, transportation, or other operational environments may also translate particularly well.

How You’ll Work:

The organization is looking for someone who leads with curiosity, listens before reaching conclusions, and understands that credibility is built through judgment, consistency, follow‑through, and relationships.

This is not an environment for an overly corporate or rigid approach to HR. At the same time, the right person will be willing to address difficult issues, provide clear guidance, and hold people accountable when needed.

The organization has a varied workforce whose employees bring different backgrounds, experiences, identities, languages, functions, and perspectives to the workplace. Cultural literacy matters here. The successful HR Manager will bring humility and curiosity to that work and will be interested in understanding the organization before deciding what needs to change.

Why This Role:

Our client is at an interesting stage in its evolution. The HR Manager will inherit the support of an established PEO while having significant opportunity to shape the internal people function.

Early priorities will include strengthening employee relations and manager support, improving the use of Insperity resources, developing performance management practices, enhancing onboarding, bringing greater structure to compensation and job architecture, and helping build a thoughtful approach to management development and inclusion.

For someone who enjoys both building and doing, this is an opportunity to have a visible impact on an organization whose employees are directly connected to an important community mission.