Senior Employee Relations Partner

Job Overview The Employee Relations Specialist serves as a trusted advisor and practitioner responsible for navigating complex workplace matters with sound judgment, legal fluency, and a commitment to both people and organizational health. The Senior Employee Relations Specialist (Level 6) is a senior IC expert responsible for leading complex employee relations and performance management cases end-to-end, ensuring consistent, defensible, and equitable outcomes across the organization.

This role operates as a strategic partner to Sr. HRBPs, absorbing high-risk and high-complexity ER work while enabling HRBPs to focus on business strategy, talent decisions, and organizational effectiveness.

• This role partners closely with HRBPs, Legal, and senior leadership to resolve issues swiftly and fairly while strengthening the company's culture as we scale.
• Job Description and Requirements
• Employee Relations & Investigations
• Lead end-to-end investigations into complex employee relations matters (e.g., misconduct, discrimination, retaliation, policy violations)
• Conduct structured interviews, assess credibility, synthesize evidence, and produce clear, legally defensible findings and recommendations
• Partner closely with Legal to manage risk, escalation thresholds, and compliance requirements
• Ensure consistent application of policies globally, accounting for regional legal and cultural differences

• Performance & Disciplinary Processes
• Advise on high-risk performance cases, including PIPs, coaching plans, and involuntary separations
• Ensure performance processes follow structured, documented frameworks with clear expectations, timelines, and success metrics
• Support differentiation between performance vs. capability vs. organizational/system issues in partnership with HRBPs
• Drive consistency in disciplinary actions and ensure fairness across managers and teams

• Risk Mitigation, Compliance & Governance
• Act as a subject matter expert in employment law (multi-state and global) and internal policy frameworks
• Ensure rigorous documentation standards and audit readiness across all ER and performance cases
• Identify and mitigate legal, reputational, and employee experience risks before escalation
• Own ER case governance, including escalation pathways and decision frameworks

• Manager & HRBP Advisory
• Coach managers on:
• Feedback delivery and documentation
• Navigating difficult conversations
• When and how to escalate ER matters
• Partner with Sr. HRBPs to align ER decisions with broader talent, calibration, and organizational outcomes
• Provide real-time case consultation for ambiguous or sensitive situations

• Insights, Trends & Systemic Improvement
• Analyze ER case data to identify patterns by manager, function, or region
• Repeat manager risk patterns
• Policy gaps
• Organizational friction points
• Drive improvements to ER playbooks, templates, and workflows

• Capability Building & Enablement
• Design and deliver manager education on:
• Performance management rigor
• Documentation standards
• Bias mitigation and fair process
• Build scalable tools (templates, guides, intake frameworks) that improve quality and consistency of ER handling
• Partner with HRBPs to elevate overall organizational capability in managing performance and ER proactively

• Decision Rights
• Recommends outcomes, risk mitigation strategies, and disciplinary actions
• Owns ER process integrity, case quality, and documentation standards
• Escalates high-risk decisions to HRBPs, Legal, or leadership as appropriate
• Qualifications
• Required
• 5+ years of progressive HR experience with at least 3 years in a dedicated Employee Relations or HR compliance role
• Demonstrated experience leading workplace investigations independently from intake through resolution
• Working knowledge of multi-state employment law and regulatory compliance requirements
• Proven ability to manage sensitive, high-risk cases with discretion and sound judgment
• Strong written communication skills — able to produce clear, legally-defensible documentation
• Preferred
• Experience in a global SaaS/technology, or pre-IPO company environment
• Experience partnering with HRBPs in a global, matrixed org
• PHR, SPHR, SHRM-CP, or SHRM-SCP certification
• Experience using HRIS platforms (Workday, Rippling, or similar) and case management tools