Sr. HR Manager

Guitar Center Stores, Inc.; Frederick (MD); On-site; USD 115,000 - 140,000; Full time

Job summary

Guitar Center Stores, Inc. seeks a Sr. HR Manager to act as the on-site HR leader at Music and Arts Corporate Office, partnering with operations leadership to align people strategies with business objectives.

The role translates business needs into practical workforce solutions, ensures policy consistency, and drives organizational effectiveness and leadership development. On-site presence is required at the HQ.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree preferred in Human Resources, Business, or related field.
• 6+ years of progressive HR experience in high-volume operations.
• Experience serving as HR business partner to frontline/site leadership.
• Strong employee relations, investigations, corrective action, and performance management.
• Ability to coach and influence leaders while balancing associate advocacy with business needs.
• Strong business acumen and ability to connect people strategies to operational performance.

Responsibilities

• Partner with leadership to align people strategies with operational goals and site priorities.
• Advise leaders on organizational effectiveness, workforce planning, and change management.
• Lead employee relations, investigations, corrective action, and risk assessment.
• Coach leaders on performance management, accountability, and development.
• Use data to identify trends in turnover, attendance, and engagement.
• Support staffing, onboarding, and talent development for key roles.
• Collaborate with shared services to ensure HR programs are delivered.
• Ensure HR processes comply with policies, labor laws, and documentation.
• Foster a positive associate experience with respect, safety, and engagement.

Skills

HR business partner

Employee relations

Coaching & leadership

Business acumen

Communication skills

Education

Bachelor's degree (HR/Business)

Job description

Job Title: Sr. HR Manager

The Sr. HR Manager serves as the on-site HR leader for Music and Arts Corporate Office, acting as a strategic and hands-on business partner to operations leadership. This role is responsible for aligning people strategies with operational priorities to support a safe, productive, engaged, and high-performing workforce. The Sr. HR Manager partners closely with site leadership to drive organizational effectiveness, strengthen leadership capability, manage employee relations, and ensure HR practices support both day-to-day execution and long-term business objectives.

This role plays a critical part in translating business needs into practical workforce solutions, while ensuring consistent application of company policies, employment practices, and leadership expectations.

Key Responsibilities:

• Partner with leadership to align people strategies with operational goals, workforce needs, and site priorities, ensuring HR is fully integrated into business decisions and daily execution.
• Serve as a trusted advisor to leaders on organizational effectiveness, workforce planning, team structure, leadership capability, and change management in a fast-paced environment.
• Lead employee relations matters for the site, including investigations, corrective action, conflict resolution, and risk assessment, ensuring fair and consistent outcomes
• Coach leaders on performance management, accountability, communication, and associate development to strengthen leadership effectiveness and drive a high-performance culture.
• Use workforce and operational data to identify trends in turnover, attendance, staffing, engagement, and employee relations, and recommend actions that improve retention, productivity, and organizational health.
• Partner with site leadership on staffing strategies, hiring plans, and onboarding processes to ensure the distribution center is equipped with the talent needed to meet operational demand.
• Support talent development and succession planning efforts for key hourly and salaried roles, helping build bench strength and internal growth opportunities across the site.
• Partner with shared services teams to ensure seamless delivery of HR programs, associate support, and people processes.
• Monitor and improve key HR processes, ensuring alignment with company policies, labor laws, wage and hour requirements, and documentation standards.
• Support a positive associate experience by helping leaders foster an environment of respect, accountability, safety, and engagement across the distribution center.

To join our band, you will need the following experience:

• Bachelor's degree preferred in Human Resources, Business, or related field.
• 6+ years of progressive HR experience, ideally supporting distribution, warehouse, manufacturing, supply chain, or other high-volume operational environments.
• Experience serving as an HR business partner to frontline and site leadership in a fast-paced setting.
• Strong employee relations experience, including investigations, corrective action, and performance management.
• Demonstrated ability to coach and influence leaders while balancing associate advocacy with business needs.
• Strong business acumen and ability to connect people strategies to operational performance.
• Strong communication, judgment, and problem-solving skills.
• Ability to work on-site at the Music and Arts HQ.

Why Guitar Center? Here's just some of the rewards:

For our employees who are musicians we offer the unique opportunity of gig leave--take time off to share your music with the world and return to your job after your tour! Guitar Center offers robust benefits and perks, including Medical, Dental, Vision, 401K plus company match, mental health support, paid sick/holiday/vacation time, employee discount program, and tuition reimbursement options.

Pay Rate:

$115,000 - $140,000/yr depending on background and experience.

This position is eligible to participate in the Guitar Center Company bonus program based on Company performance.

The job posting is not necessarily reflective of actual compensation that may be earned, nor a promise of any specific pay for any specific employee, which is always dependent on actual experience, education, and other factors. The pay range(s) listed are provided in compliance with state specific laws. Pay ranges may be different in other locations.

About Guitar Center

Guitar Center embodies the world of creativity and music by encouraging our teammates to find their own individual sound. We strive to craft lifelong musicians and make a difference in the world by enabling musicians and non-musicians alike to experience the almost indescribable happiness that comes from playing an instrument. We believe in putting our customers first, engaging with respect and integrity and fulfilling our mission with passion.

Why join us?

With a career at Guitar Center, you become part of the world's largest multichannel musical instrument retailer. Whether at our Stores, Contact Centers, Distribution Centers, or Support Center, Guitar Center employees have a common goal: to help people find their sound and fill the world with more music.

Guitar Center is an Equal Opportunity Employer and provides fair and equal employment opportunity to all employees and applicants regardless of race, color, religion, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, age, disability, veteran status or any other protected status prohibited under Federal, State, or local laws. All employment decisions are based on valid job-related requirements.

If you are a qualified individual with a disability or a disabled veteran and are unable or limited in your ability to use or access our website, you may request a reasonable accommodation to express interest in a specific opening. You can request reasonable accommodation by sending an email .