Senior Vice President Human Resources

Confidential; United States; On-site; USD 300,000 - 600,000; Full time

Job summary

Confidential, a global transportation company, is seeking a seasoned SVP, Human Resources to lead enterprise people strategy, workforce planning and HR operations across a dispersed frontline workforce.

This role partners with executive leadership to translate business goals into programs for Talent Acquisition, Total Rewards, HRIS, Employee Relations, and unionized environments, requiring deep experience with CBAs and multi-state operations. Travel is required.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in Human Resources, Business Administration, Organizational Development or related field.
• 15+ years of progressive human resources leadership experience, including significant leadership at the Vice President or enterprise HR executive level.
• Experience leading multiple HR disciplines, including several of the following: Total Rewards, Benefits, HRIS, Field HR, Employee Relations, Talent Acquisition, Talent Development and HR Operations.
• Significant experience supporting a unionized, frontline workforce across multiple locations.
• Demonstrated understanding of collective bargaining environments and the implications of CBAs on HR policies, programs and employee-relations practices.
• Experience leading HR in a complex, decentralized and multi-state organization.

Responsibilities

• Develop and execute an enterprise people strategy aligned with the organization’s business, operational, financial and growth objectives.
• Serve as a strategic advisor to the CEO, executive leadership and business leaders on organizational capability, workforce strategy, talent, leadership, culture and employee matters.
• Lead Field HR organization supporting geographically dispersed operating locations and frontline employees.
• Oversee enterprise compensation, benefits, health and welfare, retirement and recognition strategies.
• Own the enterprise HR technology strategy and HRIS ecosystem.
• Lead enterprise talent acquisition strategy and workforce planning.

Skills

Enterprise HR strategy

Executive advisory

HR leadership

People analytics

HRIS & tech

Union workforce

Change management

Strategic partnership

Labor relations

Education

Bachelor's degree in HR/related field

Advanced degree preferred

Tools

HRIS

Job description

This is a confidential search on behalf of a global transportation company.

SVP, Human Resources is a senior executive responsible for leading the organization’s enterprise human resources strategy and delivering an integrated experience across a geographically dispersed, frontline workforce.

SVP, Human Resources provides enterprise leadership for Health & Welfare, Total Rewards, Corporate HR, Field HR, HRIS, Employee Relations & Investigations, Talent Acquisition, Talent Development, Performance Management, Workforce Planning, and HR Operations.

This leader is accountable for translating business strategies into practical people strategies that strengthen organizational capability, improve employee attraction and retention, develop leaders, increase HR effectiveness, and enable strong operational performance.

Operating in a complex, multi-state and highly unionized environment, the SVP must understand how collective bargaining agreements, represented workforces, operational requirements and employment practices intersect with the broader people strategy.

The role partners closely with the SVP Employment Risk & Labor Relations on matters involving collective bargaining, complex CBA interpretation, labor disputes, significant employment risk, EEO/DOL matters and other issues requiring specialized labor or legal expertise.

The SVP, Human Resources serves as a strategic advisor to executive leadership and leads a distributed HR organization supporting corporate functions and field operations.

Key Responsibilities:

Enterprise HR Strategy & Leadership

• Develop and execute an enterprise people strategy aligned with the organization’s business, operational, financial and growth objectives.
• Serve as a strategic advisor to the CEO, executive leadership and business leaders on organizational capability, workforce strategy, talent, leadership, culture and employee matters.
• Translate enterprise strategy into clear HR priorities, operating plans, metrics and accountabilities.
• Lead and develop the HR organization, establishing clear roles, service standards and accountability across Corporate HR, Field HR and Centers of Expertise.
• Build an HR operating model that balances enterprise consistency with the realities and needs of local operations.
• Establish meaningful people metrics and dashboards that enable leaders to make fact-based workforce decisions.
• Ensure HR resources and programs are focused on the areas creating the greatest business and workforce impact.

Field HR & Employee Relations

• Lead the Field HR organization supporting geographically dispersed operating locations and frontline employees.
• Ensure consistent execution of HR policies, practices and employee-relations processes across locations while appropriately accounting for applicable CBAs and state/local requirements.
• Strengthen HR’s ability to identify workforce risks and trends proactively rather than responding only after issues escalated.
• Partner with operations leadership on retention, attendance, staffing, employee engagement, performance management and workforce stability.
• Establish consistent employee-relations practices and case-management standards across the enterprise.
• Develop the capability of HR leaders to operate effectively in both union and non-union environments.

Employee Investigations

• Own the enterprise employee-investigations framework, including intake, triage, investigation standards, documentation, case management and resolution protocols.
• Ensure workplace investigations are conducted objectively, consistently, promptly and with appropriate confidentiality.
• Monitor investigation trends to identify systemic leadership, culture, policy or workplace issues.
• Ensure investigation findings translate into appropriate corrective action, leadership coaching, policy changes or organizational interventions.
• Partner with the SVP Employment Risk & Labor Relations on investigations involving significant EEO/DOL exposure, complex labor matters, potential litigation or other material employment risk.
• Maintain appropriate separation between routine employee-relations investigations and matters requiring legal or specialized employment-risk oversight.

Health, Welfare & Total Rewards

• Lead enterprise compensation, benefits, health and welfare, retirement and recognition strategies.
• Develop competitive and financially sustainable total rewards programs aligned with the organization’s talent and business strategies.
• Oversee annual compensation planning, incentive programs, salary structures, job architecture and market benchmarking.
• Lead benefit strategy, vendor management, annual enrollment, plan design and employee benefits communication.
• Partner with Finance on compensation and benefits forecasting, cost management and financial analysis.
• Evaluate total rewards programs using market competitiveness, employee value, affordability, utilization and business impact.
• Partner with the SVP Employment Risk and Labor Relations on unionized workforce benchmarking needs and involve when compensation or benefit changes affect represented employees or create bargaining obligations.

HRIS, People Analytics & HR Operations

• Own the enterprise HR technology strategy and HRIS ecosystem.
• Ensure HR systems provide accurate, timely and actionable workforce data.
• Drive HR process simplification, automation, self-service and continuous improvement.
• Establish data governance and accountability for employee and organizational data.
• Partner with Payroll, Finance, IT and Operations to improve system integration and data integrity.
• Develop executive-level workforce dashboards covering turnover, retention, vacancies, hiring, workforce demographics, labor costs, engagement, talent and other key indicators.
• Use predictive and trend analytics to identify workforce risks and opportunities.
• Ensure HR technology investments improve both employee experience and organizational efficiency.

Talent Acquisition & Workforce Planning

• Lead enterprise talent acquisition strategy for frontline, professional and leadership positions.
• Develop recruiting strategies capable of supporting high-volume and geographically dispersed operations.
• Establish workforce-planning processes that anticipate hiring needs rather than responding only after vacancies occur.
• Partner with operations and business leaders to develop location-specific recruiting and retention strategies.
• Establish and monitor talent acquisition metrics including time-to-fill, quality of hire, source effectiveness, hiring-manager experience, candidate experience and early-tenure retention.
• Strengthen employment branding and candidate experience.
• Develop pipelines for critical and difficult-to-fill roles.
• Ensure recruiting strategies appropriately address the requirements of both represented and non-represented positions.
• Develop and execute the enterprise talent and leadership-development strategy.
• Own performance-management philosophy, processes and tools.
• Lead succession planning and talent-review processes for critical roles.
• Develop strategies for identifying and accelerating high-potential talent.
• Build leadership capability in coaching, accountability, employee engagement, change leadership and people management.
• Establish development pathways for frontline employees and emerging leaders.
• Partner with business leaders to identify organizational capability gaps and develop targeted solutions.
• Measure the effectiveness and business impact of learning and development investments.

Culture, Engagement & Retention

• Lead enterprise strategies to strengthen employee engagement, retention and organizational culture.
• Translate employee feedback and workforce data into actionable organizational priorities.
• Develop strategies addressing critical workforce populations, locations and points in the employee lifecycle where turnover risk is greatest.
• Partner with operating leadership to strengthen frontline leadership effectiveness and employee experience.
• Establish enterprise recognition and employee-listening strategies.
• Ensure company values are reflected in leadership expectations, talent practices, recognition and performance management.
• Identify systemic organizational barriers affecting employee experience and recommend practical solutions.

Union Workforce Partnership

While enterprise labor strategy, the union relationship and collective bargaining are owned by the SVP Employment Risk & Labor Relations, the SVP Human Resources & Talent must bring significant experience operating within a unionized workforce.

Responsibilities include:

• Ensure HR programs, processes and practices are effectively implemented in represented environments.
• Understand the practical implications of collective bargaining agreements on attendance, discipline, compensation, benefits, scheduling, seniority, job classifications, recruiting and other HR practices.
• Ensure Field HR leaders understand when an employee matter requires labor-relations consultation.
• Partner closely with the SVP Employment Risk & Labor Relations on proposed HR programs or changes that may create bargaining, notice or CBA implications.
• Support effective labor-management relationships through consistent HR practices, capable leadership and credible employee-relations processes.

Qualifications:

Required

• Bachelor's degree in Human Resources, Business Administration, Organizational Development or related field; advanced degree preferred.
• 15+ years of progressive human resources leadership experience, including significant leadership at the Vice President or enterprise HR executive level.
• Demonstrated experience leading multiple HR disciplines, including several of the following: Total Rewards, Benefits, HRIS, Field HR, Employee Relations, Talent Acquisition, Talent Development and HR Operations.
• Significant experience supporting a unionized, frontline workforce across multiple locations.
• Demonstrated understanding of collective bargaining environments and the implications of CBAs on HR policies, programs and employee-relations practices.
• Experience leading HR in a complex, decentralized and multi-state organization.
• Demonstrated success developing and executing enterprise workforce, retention and talent strategies.
• Experience leading organizational transformation and significant HR change initiatives.
• Strong HR technology and people-analytics experience.
• Demonstrated experience with complex workplace investigations & employee-relations matters.
• Transportation, logistics, manufacturing, hospitality, healthcare, aviation or another labor-intensive operational industry strongly preferred.

Leadership Capabilities

The successful candidate will demonstrate:

• Enterprise thinking: Connects people strategy directly to business and operational performance.
• Operational orientation: Understands that HR solutions must work in the field, not simply on paper.
• Executive presence: Builds credibility with executives, operations leaders, employees and HR teams.
• Business and financial acumen: Understands cost, productivity, workforce economics and organizational tradeoffs. Uses workforce analytics to identify problems, challenge assumptions and measure results.
• Talent mindset: Builds organizational capability rather than simply filling positions.
• Change leadership: Leads effectively through growth, restructuring and transformation.
• Navigates complex & sensitive employee issues with discretion and appropriate escalation.
• Establishes clear expectations and follows through on commitments.
• Operates effectively across Operations, Finance, Legal, Payroll, IT and the SVP Employment Risk & Labor Relations.

This role requires regular travel to operating locations across the organization's footprint. The position supports a geographically dispersed, frontline workforce and requires flexibility to respond to significant employee, operational, or organizational matters outside normal business hours when necessary.