Director of HR Operations and Engagement

The Office of Human Resources seeks a Director of HR Operations and Engagement to lead the design, implementation, and administration of operational processes used to deliver HR programs as well as employee engagement programs geared to retain employees. This experienced HR leader will take a hands-on approach to managing operations and engagement initiatives, and will also be a seasoned HR professional skilled at working with senior leaders as a strategic business partner. This role reports to the Chief Human Resources Officer.

Essential Duties and Responsibilities:

Operations (40%)
• Oversight of the annual performance management and annual increase process, ensuring messaging is prepared and scheduled, forms are delivered and completed in a timely manner, records are up-to-date, and trends can be reviewed and considered to support process improvement.
• Develops scalable methodologies and tools to optimize HR operations and streamline core processes.
• Transaction management, including designs for process improvement, and reviewing and approving HR Transaction forms to be sure they are correct and consistent with business practices to support Payroll processing.
• HR operations budget management, including tracking spend, and signing expenses/invoices where applicable.
• Vendor management, including renewals, developing and negotiating vendor contracts with an operational impact as assigned.
• Develop new policies to close gaps in process and policy needs, and recommending exceptions to policies as needed or appropriate.
• In conjunction with HR Coordinator and other HR staff, facilitate/develop agendas for team meetings, ensure action items are kept and addressed.
• Collaborate with HR staff on managing the HR operational calendar, planning ahead for various tasks (e.g., annual performance reviews) with HR staff, and executing on them, including messaging to University about operational events.
• Monitoring operational processes to be sure they are being followed by HR staff and stakeholders, and ensuring manual and electronic operations systems and procedures are used to the fullest and kept up-to-date.
• Records management (e.g., personnel files, job descriptions are up-to-date and accessible), and oversees employee data management processes to ensure that data is secure and maintained consistent with policies and privacy regulations and that required reporting and filings are delivered.
• Employee handbook updates, ensuring document is current, well organized and kept up-to-date.
• Ensuring we have proper infrastructure (e.g., policies, procedures) in place to ease the work.
• Operations outreach (e.g., messaging about consortium programs).

Operational Efficiency (20%)
• Evaluate existing HR processes, policies, and procedures to identify areas for enhancement and efficiency gains.
• Develop and execute strategies to standardize HR operations, streamline workflows, and eliminate bottlenecks.
• Collaborate with HR leaders and stakeholders to proactively address operational challenges and enhance overall effectiveness.
• Foster a culture of continuous improvement and best practice adoption across HR functions and at a University level.
• In collaboration with HR staff in charge of different functional areas (e.g., HRIS, Project Management, Employee Relations) evaluate and implement process improvement to improve overall operations.
• Change management within HR and across the organization, facilitating the adoption of new processes along with HR staff and key stakeholders.
• Collaborate with HR staff and stakeholders to ensure successful change adoption while minimizing resistance.
• Analyzes and assesses program utilization, employee feedback, competitiveness, and workforce productivity to ensure that cost-effective mix of programs is offered.

Employee Engagement (20%)
• Programming to promote employee engagement (e.g., social events).
• Programming to promote employee feedback (e.g., focus groups).
• Build community, recommend, develop, implement, and administer co-sponsored activities such as wellness and recreational programs aimed to highlight the college’s employee value proposition.
• Collaborate with DEI office for programming, inclusive practices (hiring, trainings, belonging, engagement) etc.
• Assesses the current state of engagement across the University and works with faculty and staff to identify opportunities for enhancements and improvements.
• Develops and executes employee engagement activities.
• Develops recognition programs to highlight employee achievements.
• Employee retention strategies.

Employee Relations (20%)
• Backup support for HR Business Partners
• Provides employee relations services and support, including investigations into potential policy violations, providing dispute resolution support, and supporting employees with managing difficult conversations and dealing with conflict.
• Collaborates with leaders in a coaching capacity and to engage in development/delivery of programs to support culture needs.

Other
• Contributes to sustaining and enhancing an inclusive working and learning environment.
• Provides support to other areas of HR and with other assignments as needed.

Required:
• Bachelor’s degree
• 10-plus years in progressively responsible roles in Human Resources
• Minimum of 5-7 years HR Operations experience
• Minimum of 5-7 years Employee Relations experience, including experience with investigations
• Excellent verbal and written communication skills, including ability to effectively communicate with internal and external customers.
• Demonstrated commitment to valuing diversity and contributing to an inclusive working and learning environment

Preferred:
• Master’s and/or HR certification (e.g., SHRM, HRCI)
• Higher Education Experience
• Prior experience at the director level managing an HR office.
• A coaching mindset

Physical Requirements:
• Work is mostly sedentary and majority of time is spent sitting.

Apply
Please attach a cover letter and a curriculum vitae/resume. Finalist candidate(s) for this position will be subject to reference checks and a pre-employment background check as a condition of employment.

Applicants must be authorized to work for any employer in the U.S. MCPHS is unable to sponsor, or take over sponsorship of an employment Visa. MCPHS is also not an E-Verify institution.

About Us
Established in 1823, Massachusetts College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences (MCPHS) is the oldest institution of higher education in Boston, a city that is home to many of the world’s top universities and healthcare institutions. We are one of the largest and most highly-ranked schools for health- and life-sciences, and our alumni and faculty continually distinguish themselves in healthcare settings around the globe. MCPHS has more than 7000 students across campuses in Boston’s Longwood Medical and Academic Area (LMA), downtown Worcester, MA and downtown Manchester, NH. Our vision is to empower our Community to create a healthier, more equitable world, which we strive to achieve through our strategic priorities of collaboration, inclusion, success, sustainability, planning, and support.

We offer competitive salaries and excellent benefits that include a substantial contribution toward the cost of medical, vision, and dental insurance, generous time off, retirement and pension plans, and flexible work arrangements to support work/life balance for our employees while supporting the MCPHS strategic plan.

MCPHS is an Equal Opportunity Employer that celebrates a diverse community. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to any characteristic protected by law.