Senior Director of Employee Relations

Job Summary

The Senior Director of Employee Relations will provide management oversight and supervision to the employee relations partners and provide guidance to all employees on a wide variety of employee relations topics. Drive culture change using Employee Relations group by aligning daily workplace practices with core values, helping managers handle team conflicts early and building trust and shift from just enforcing to partnering.

Employee Relations Strategy & Leadership

• Develop and execute the Employee Relations strategy aligned with business goals and critical stakeholders by leading the Employee Relations team to establish standards, governance, and service delivery models
• Develop and execute sustainable, scalable initiatives, mechanisms, and programs that drive long-lasting change at all levels of the organization
• Swiftly produce high-quality executive level communications that concisely analyze challenges and move solutions from concept to execution, translating complex employee relations issues into actionable solutions.
• Set and maintain consistent investigative standards, documentation protocols, and ER governance frameworks to ensure high-quality, uniform ER practice across the Authority.

Leadership & Influence

• Influence leaders to secure alignment, build support, and cultivate positive change agents across the organization
• Build constructive relationships with critical stakeholders and peers to share information, influence change, and leverage resources to deliver results.
• Lead organizational culture change initiatives that foster employee engagement, accountability, and a respectful workplace. Drive culture change by utilizing employee relations information to educate leaders and managers regarding issues and problems being reported to the employee relations and guide proactive strategies of how they can be addressed.
• Work with other workforce internal groups (such as business partner team and training team) to ensure a cohesive internal strategy of joint culture change throughout the MBTA business groups
• Lead, mentor and provide strategic direction to Employee Relations professionals in advising HR Business Partners (HRBPs), managers, and leadership on workplace conflicts, performance management, workforce assessments, organizational restructures, job descriptions, employee complaints, and mediation efforts.
• Coach management and serve as a trusted advisor on difficult employee situations, conflict resolution, leadership effectiveness, organizational change, and difficult conversations.
• Work with Training Leaders to design manager training on investigations, documentation, performance management, respectful workplace, harassment prevention, conflict management, and employment law compliance.
• Design solutions for a single person, site, station, or situation, and then translate, design, and launch sustainable mechanisms for the entire agency.
• Challenge current practices, industry status quo, and generate creative mechanisms that bring about large-scale solutions to improve organizational effectiveness.
• Work in ambiguous situations and persevere through internal and external barriers to drive resolutions.

Assessment, Data Analytics & Analysis

• Assess workforce trends, organizational dynamics, behaviors, and relationships to proactively identify workplace risks and gaps/opportunities to establish a positive employer-employee relationship and promote a high level of employee morale
• Analyze employee relations metrics including investigations, grievances, turnover, complaints, litigation, engagement, exit interviews, and performance trends to identify root causes and drive solutions
• Develop executive dashboards, reports, and data-driven recommendations that support strategic decision-making and provide guidance to leadership using workforce analytics to strengthen workplace culture, improve employee engagement, and enhance retention.
• Support the annual employee engagement survey by participating in planning, implementation, training, analysis, and action planning.
• Establish success measures and evaluate the effectiveness of Employee Relations programs and initiatives.

Employment Law & Risk Management

• Ensure compliance with federal, state, and local employment laws; partner with Legal on litigation, Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) / Massachusetts Commission Against Discrimination (MCAD) charges, agency responses, subpoenas, to proactively reduce legal risk.
• Partner with Legal, Office of Diversity and Civil Rights (ODCR), and other stakeholders regarding litigation, agency responses, investigations, subpoenas, discrimination complaints, harassment allegations, and employment-related risk.
• Identify compliance risks and recommend changes to HR policies, employee handbooks, codes of conduct, disciplinary guidelines, workplace standards, and complaint procedures.
• Partner with Leave Administration to ensure compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and reasonable…