Regional Director, Human Resources

California Fine Wine & Spirits; United States; On-site; USD 140,000 - 190,000; Full time

Job summary

Total Wine & More in California seeks a Regional HR Director to lead HR strategy and operations for one of our largest markets. You will partner with field leaders to ensure workforce readiness, compliance, and organizational effectiveness across California and select markets.

The role requires expert CA employment law knowledge, strategic HR leadership, and hands-on experience in large multi-unit retail. Significant travel and relocation to California are expected.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in Business Administration, Human Resources, or a related field.
• 10+ years of progressive HR leadership experience in multi-unit retail environments, including California.
• Expert-level knowledge of California employment law and applying CA requirements in a multi-site context.
• Deep expertise in wage-and-hour compliance, meal/rest periods, timekeeping, leave administration, and investigations.

Responsibilities

• Partner with field leadership to translate priorities into people strategies.
• Serve as the primary HR advisor for the California market and leaders at all levels.
• Lead talent strategies including workforce planning, acquisition, succession, and leadership development.
• Oversee performance management, coaching, and development across the market.
• Advise on complex employee relations, investigations, policy interpretation, and separations.
• Collaborate with Legal, Payroll, and Total Rewards to ensure compliant employment practices.
• Maintain strong presence through store visits and partnership with California leaders.
• Travel approximately 65-70% across California and assigned markets.

Skills

HR leadership

California employment law

Retail operations experience

Employee relations

Education

Bachelor’s degree in Business Administration or Human Resources

Job description

About the Role

Total Wine & More is seeking a Regional HR Director to join our Human Resources team supporting our California market. This role serves as the senior Human Resources leader for one of the company's largest and most complex operating markets, partnering closely with the Regional Vice President, District Managers, Store Managers, and HR leadership to support business performance, organizational effectiveness, talent development, employee engagement, and employment compliance.

This position is designed for an experienced Human Resources leader with deep expertise in California employment law and a proven track record supporting large-scale, multi-unit retail operations. The successful candidate will bring both strategic HR leadership and practical operational experience, helping leaders navigate California's complex regulatory environment, build high-performing teams, and reduce organizational risk.

The Regional HR Director serves as a trusted business partner and advisor to field leadership, ensuring Human Resources practices align with business objectives, company culture, and legal requirements. California is the primary focus of this role, although support for a limited number of smaller markets may be assigned as business needs dictate and the company continues to grow. This position reports to the Vice President of Field Human Resources.

This role is based in California, and candidates must reside in California or relocate to California prior to commencing employment.

You will

• Partner with the Regional Vice President and field leadership to translate business priorities into people strategies that support growth, operational excellence, workforce stability, and organizational effectiveness.
• Serve as the primary Human Resources advisor for the California market, providing strategic consultation and practical guidance to leaders at all levels.
• Work with Store Operations and field leadership to support new store openings, workforce readiness, leadership staffing, and organizational scaling initiatives across California and other assigned markets.
• Lead talent strategies across the market, including workforce planning, talent acquisition, succession planning, leadership assessment, internal mobility, talent reviews, and development of strong pipelines for key leadership and specialized store positions.
• Oversee market-wide performance management and development initiatives, including coaching, performance improvement, and leadership development.
• Lead and advise on complex employee relations matters, including workplace investigations, complaints, policy interpretation, performance concerns, corrective action, and separations.
• Serve as the senior Human Resources subject matter expert on California employment law and partner closely with Store Operations, Legal, and Payroll to ensure compliant and sustainable employment practices.
• Lead proactive efforts to identify, assess, and remediate compliance risks involving meal periods, rest breaks, wage-and-hour practices, overtime administration, timekeeping, off-the-clock work, wage statements, final pay, leaves of absence, accommodations, expense reimbursement, and other California employment requirements.
• Partner with field leadership to develop practical operating solutions that strengthen compliance while supporting business objectives and operational effectiveness.
• Analyze workforce data, employee relations trends, compliance metrics, and field observations to identify areas of risk and opportunities for improvement.
• Lead, coach, and develop Human Resources team members supporting the market by setting clear expectations, building capability, and promoting accountability and consistency.
• Collaborate with Talent Acquisition, Compensation, Total Rewards, Payroll, Learning & Development, Legal, and Team Member Relations to deliver effective HR programs and solutions that balance employee experience, operational needs, and risk mitigation.
• Maintain a strong presence in the business through regular store visits, relationship building, and ongoing partnership with leaders throughout California.
• Travel approximately 65-70% throughout California and other assigned markets.

You will come with

• Bachelor's degree in Business Administration, Human Resources, or a related field.
• 10+ years of progressive Human Resources leadership experience supporting multi-unit retail organizations, including significant responsibility for large hourly workforces in California.
• Demonstrated expert-level knowledge of California employment law and extensive experience applying California employment requirements within a multi-location operating environment.
• Deep expertise in California wage-and-hour compliance, meal and rest period requirements, timekeeping practices, leave administration, accommodations, workplace investigations, employee relations, performance management, and other employment practices affecting retail operations.
• Demonstrated experience identifying, corre