Senior HR Business Partner

Skills this role screens for

About the role

This role serves as the senior on-site HR partner for an approximately 200-person warehouse operation. This role is accountable for translating business priorities into practical people strategies that strengthen leadership capability, workforce stability, associate engagement, organizational effectiveness, and operational performance.

The role combines strategic partnership with hands-on execution in a fast-paced distribution environment. The incumbent advises the site leadership team, independently manages complex employee relations matters, leads workforce and talent planning, ensures consistent application of policy and employment requirements, and drives the disciplined execution of core HR processes. Success requires sound judgment, visible floor presence- working onsite each day, strong business acumen, and the ability to influence leaders at all levels.

The work

Key Responsibilities

• Act as the primary HR advisor to the site leadership team, providing independent counsel on organizational, workforce, leadership, and employee matters that affect safety, service, cost, quality, productivity, and retention.
• Develop and execute an annual site people plan aligned with operational priorities, including workforce capacity, critical-skill needs, leadership capability, succession, engagement, retention, attendance, and culture.
• Assess organizational effectiveness and recommend changes to structure, roles, spans of support, work practices, and leadership routines to improve accountability and execution.
• Lead workforce planning for an approximately 200-person operation, using staffing, overtime, turnover, absenteeism, vacancy, labor-market, and productivity trends to identify risks and recommend actions.
• Partner with operations and talent acquisition to establish recruiting priorities, selection standards, onboarding practices, and staffing strategies for hourly, technical, professional, and leadership roles, including the effective use of temporary labor.
• Own complex and sensitive employee relations matters from intake through resolution, including investigations, corrective action, performance concerns, workplace complaints, conflict resolution, and termination decisions; ensure conclusions are timely, well documented, consistent, and defensible.
• Coach leaders to improve decision quality, communication, performance management, associate engagement, and consistent application of company policy. Challenge ineffective or inconsistent leadership practices and follow through on corrective actions.
• Lead talent management processes for the site, including goal and performance discussions, talent review, succession planning, development planning, salary review, and leadership development. Ensure actions are integrated and completed with quality.
• Identify capability gaps and implement targeted development solutions for supervisors, managers, and high-potential associates, with particular focus on frontline leadership, accountability, change leadership, and associate relations.
• Lead the people and change-management workstream for significant operational changes, including shift changes, staffing model changes, process redesign, technology implementation, and organizational transitions.
• Monitor associate experience and organizational health through floor presence, leader feedback, listening channels, engagement results, exit feedback, and workforce data; translate findings into measurable improvement plans.
• Ensure site HR practices comply with applicable employment laws, company policies, collective requirements where applicable, recordkeeping standards, and internal controls. Escalate material risk and coordinate with Legal, Compliance, Health Services, Security, and HR Centers of Expertise as appropriate.
• Provide oversight and governance for leave, accommodation, attendance, wage and hour, compensation, benefits, performance, and personnel-action processes, coordinating with specialized teams while maintaining site-level accountability.
• Establish and maintain clear HR metrics, dashboards, and operating reviews. Present trends, root causes, risks, and recommended actions to site and divisional leadership; verify that agreed actions produce sustained improvement.
• Lead or coordinate HR projects and continuous-improvement initiatives across the site. Standardize processes, clarify ownership, remove administrative waste, and improve the timeliness and quality of HR service delivery.
• Provide functional direction, prioritization, and quality oversight to HR support resources and cross-functional partners supporting the site. Build effective relationships with divisional HR and North American Centers of Expertise.
• Maintain appropriate confidentiality, professional judgment, and composure when handling sensitive business and associate information.
• Perform other duties and lead special assignments consistent with the scope and level of the role.

Also

Decision Scope and Expected Impact

• Operates with substantial independence within established policy and governance frameworks and is expected to resolve most site HR matters without routine escalation.
• Makes recommendations and influences decisions that affect site staffing, leadership capability, labor cost, associate relations, retention, organizational risk, and continuity of operations.
• Balances immediate operational needs with long-term workforce health and organizational capability, clearly identifying trade-offs and risks.
• Escalates high-risk legal, ethics, compliance, safety, or reputational matters promptly while retaining ownership for local coordination and follow-through.
• Bachelor's degree in Human Resources, Business Administration, Industrial Relations, Organizational Development, or a related field.
• At least 8 years of progressive Human Resources experience, including significant responsibility as an HR business partner or HR manager supporting operational leaders.
• Experience supporting a warehouse, distribution, manufacturing, logistics, or similarly complex hourly workforce environment.
• Demonstrated experience independently handling complex employee relations investigations, performance matters, corrective action, and sensitive workplace issues.
• Demonstrated experience leading workforce planning, talent management, organizational change, and leadership development activities.
• Must be able to successfully complete applicable pre-employment screening requirements.

Nice to have

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience supporting a multi-shift operation and a workforce of comparable size and complexity.
• Professional HR certification such as SHRM-SCP, SHRM-CP, SPHR, or PHR.
• Experience with SAP or a comparable enterprise HR information system and reporting tools.

Also

Key Competencies and Capabilities

• Strategic HR partnership: Connects business priorities to workforce, organization, talent, and culture actions.
• Business and operational acumen: Understands how staffing, labor practices, leadership behavior, and workforce capability affect warehouse performance.
• Judgment and risk management: Reaches balanced, fact-based conclusions and recognizes when legal, compliance, or reputational risk requires escalation.
• Influence and courage: Builds credibility with leaders while constructively challenging decisions or behavior that create people or business risk.
• Employee relations expertise: Applies policy and employment requirements consistently while addressing issues with fairness, urgency, and sound documentation.
• Data-driven problem solving: Uses workforce measures and root-cause analysis to move beyond symptoms and recommend practical, measurable solutions.
• Change leadership: Anticipates people impacts, develops stakeholder and communication plans, and reinforces adoption through leader accountability.
• Execution discipline: Establishes priorities, assigns ownership, tracks commitments, and ensures completion of critical HR processes and improvement actions.…