Employee Relations Manager

The Position

Join City of Santa Rosa’s Human Resources Department

Become part of a dynamic and collaborative team as the next Employee Relations Manager

The City of Santa Rosa is committed to building a workforce reflective of our community and establishing a lasting culture of equity and belonging within our organization. Our collective talents and expertise contribute to high-quality public services that support a vibrant, resilient, inclusive City for our community and visitors. We celebrate a diverse workforce and welcome all qualified candidates to apply.

The Benefits of City Employment

In addition to offering a rewarding work environment, opportunity for career growth, and an excellent salary, the City of Santa Rosa provides a generous suite of benefits, including retirement through CalPERS, a competitive leave accrual package, your choice of three health plans, a flexible spending program, employer contributions to a Retiree Health Savings plan, and top of the line employer paid vision and dental coverage. Information about available benefits can be foundHERE.

The Position:

The Employee Relations Manager is a vital member of the Human Resources Department’s management team. This position is responsible to the Human Resources Director for organizing and coordinating the City’s employee/labor relations program and serves as the City’s chief negotiator for all employee relations matters. The Employee Relations Manager is responsible for the day-to-day interpretation and implementation of labor agreements, including mediation and resolution of grievances.

The ideal candidate will:

Be a big picture thinker with strong ethics

Be detail oriented, possess excellent project management skills, and the ability to work collaboratively with all levels of City staff, members of the City Council, employee organization representatives, the media, and the public

Have excellent skills in exercising good judgment in the analysis of complex employee relations problems, and in formulating important recommendations with far-reaching consequences

Exercise considerable latitude to plan, schedule and carry out activities

Be highly responsible, exercise independent judgment, and be proactive

The Employee Relations Manager performs the following essential duties:Oversee the City’s employee relations programs and policies to ensurea strong employer-employee relations framework and environment

Serve as the City’s chief negotiator, plan, coordinate and conduct interest-based union/management labor negotiations with the City’s 16 bargaining units

Direct the preparation of memoranda of understanding and side letters with unions, council agenda items, employee relations resolutions and related documents

Formulate and present recommendations to the City Manager and City Council regarding labor relations

To view the complete Employee Relations Manager job description, please clickHERE

The Human Resources DepartmentThe Human Resources Department serves the community by creating a high performing workforce of engaged employees that are trained and motivated to provide the highest level of customer service. The Department accomplishes this by providing services related to Employee Relations, Employment Services, Administrative Support and Organization Development and Training. We provide managers and supervisors with the tools they need to lead our workforce effectively, fairly and efficiently. The City of Santa Rosa Human Resources Department is committed to putting people first in:

Managing employee relations

Responding to organizational development and training needs

Providing fair, valid, competitive and impartial employment services for all City departments and their employees

Examples of Duties and Responsibilities

Oversees the City’s employee relations programs and policies to ensurea strong employer-employee relations framework and environment;

acting as the City’s chief negotiator, plans, coordinates and conducts interest-based union/management labor negotiations with the bargaining units;

provides training to other members of the City’s management bargaining team;

directs the preparation of memoranda of understanding and side letters with unions, council agenda items, employee relations resolutions and related documents;

formulates and presents recommendations to the City Manager and City Council regarding labor relations;

works closely with City management to ascertain union/management issues which require resolution or contract clarifications and develop employee relations strategies;

manage, direct and coordinate the City’s disciplinary process in collaboration with the City Attorney’s office;

conducts disciplinary investigations in conjunction with department Human Resources Liaisons, and EEO investigations as needed;

advises and assists in the resolution of employee grievances and disciplinary actions through the formal arbitration level;

interprets contract language and provides guidance to City management and employees;

monitors developments related to employee/labor relations matters, evaluates their impact upon City operations and recommends and implements policy and procedural improvements;

prepares reports;

seeks legal opinions as appropriate;

analyzes, interprets and applies state and federal laws and regulations relating to employee relations issues, stays knowledgeable of current legislation and or court decisions affecting human resources issues and ensures the City’s compliance with applicable provisions;

responds to inquiries from state and federal regulatory agencies and coordinate the response process with the City Attorney’s Office and the affected department;

may recommend modifications to departmental programs, policies and procedures as appropriate;

develop and present staff development courses in areas of expertise and in conjunction with the Organization Development and Training Manager;

prepare complex, highly sensitive reports, correspondence and closed session presentations and assist with special projects as assigned.

In addition to the duties above, the Employee Relations Manager may represent the department and/or the City at committees and meetings, including hearings, outside meetings and negotiations, and perform other duties as assigned.

Required Qualifications

Experience and Education:Any combination equivalent to experience and education that could likely provide the required knowledge and abilities would be qualifying. A typical way to obtain the knowledge and abilities would be:Experience– Sufficient years of highly professional level experience in personnel and labor-management relations, employee relations, training and other areas of human resources administration, including demonstrated success in collaboratively working with bargaining units and negotiating labor agreements, demonstrated possession of the knowledge and abilities listed above. Experience in a public agency setting is highly desirable.Education– A Bachelor’s Degree with major course work in human resources management/administration, industrial relations, labor relations, public or business administration or a closely related field is required. A Master’s Degree in a related discipline is preferred.

License: This classification requires the ability to make offsite visits and attend meetings at various locations. Individuals must be physically capable of operating a motor vehicle safely and possess a valid, Class C, California Driver’s License, or be able to demonstrate the ability to travel on scheduled or unscheduled visits to various locations within and/or outside of the City which may or may not be reachable by public transportation.

Additional requirements, such as successful completion of a physical exam, drug screen, etc., may apply, depending on the duties and responsibilities of the position. If you receive a conditional job offer for the position, the requirements upon which the offer is contingent will be outlined in the conditional job letter.

Additional InformationSelection Process

The first step in the selection process will start with a review of each applicant’s employment application and supplemental questionnaire for minimum qualifications, then a thorough evaluation of training and experience as presented on the applications and responses to supplemental questions. Applicants scoring highest in this process will be invited to interviews.

Please complete a thoughtful, thorough Supplemental Questionnaire submission. As part of the selection process, your responses to these questions will be scored using criteria specific to this position. Responses such as “See Resume” may be cause for disqualification from the process.

The City of Santa Rosa – A Wonderful Place to Call Home

A charter city incorporated in 1868, Santa Rosa is the county seat of Sonoma County, one of California’s premier wine growing regions, and is the gateway to tourist destinations in the redwoods and on the coast. Santa Rosa is the 26th largest City in the state. It occupies 41 square miles and serves a population of 170,000. The City has a historic preservation program and has environmental diversity.

The City of Santa Rosa provides a full range of services including police and fire protection; construction and maintenance of streets and other infrastructure; water, storm water, and wastewater utilities; housing services through its Housing Authority; economic development; transit; parking; and recreation, parks, and cultural services, including a municipal golf course. The City of Santa Rosa’s residents work in a well-balanced mix of management, professional, manufacturing, sales, tourism, transportation, construction, and service jobs. The City also plays an important role in supporting the agriculture and tourism industries of California’s north coast.

The City of Santa Rosa is proud to be an equal opportunity workplace.

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