Vice President Human Resources

We are not looking for someone to build a list. We're looking for someone to work theirs down.

Lumera Search Partners has been exclusively retained by our client, a PE-backed, energy infrastructure services company that is preparing for a major transformation. A new CEO is in place. And the people function needs a leader who can move fast, fix what's broken, and LEAD.

This role needs to be filled urgently. The organization has several hard, immovable deadlines. The incoming VP must be fully onboarded and working side-by-side with the current Director of Talent Development & Integration before they begin a scheduled leave. The timing of that leave spans the company's entire annual performance, compensation, and bonus cycle. Continuity through that window is non-negotiable, which means the runway to hire, ramp up, and transfer knowledge is short.

We are moving quickly and encourage interested and quickly available candidates to apply immediately.

The Role

This is a full-time, hands-on VP of HR engagement reporting directly to the CEO. It is an execution role,
not an advisory one
. You'll be expected to assess the current state fast and show tangible progress early within your tenure.

What you'll own:

• Coverage through a critical leave of absence: Full ownership of the annual performance management cycle, merit increases, and bonus program while the current Director is out for approximately 12 weeks.
• Systems and infrastructure: stand up real HR data/reporting for board and investor visibility.
• Transaction readiness: Lead HR due diligence prep, build out a clean HR data room, and partner with the CFO and outside counsel on people-related deal items.
• Organizational design support: Partner with the CEO and an external OD consulting team on the new org structure, leadership assessments, and the search for a permanent VP of People Operations.

What We’re Looking For

• 10+ years of progressive HR leadership experience, including at least 3 years at the VP or senior director level
• Direct experience with prevailing wage / Davis-Bacon Act compliance, multi-state employment law, and benefits compliance
• Experience supporting a PE-backed company through an ownership transaction, including HR due diligence prep
• Background in field services, energy, electrical contracting, construction, or infrastructure businesses strongly preferred
• Experience fixing or building HRIS, LMS, and payroll integrations in a company that has outgrown its systems
• A track record of being both the strategist and the one doing the work, this is not a delegation role

The intangibles that matter most: you execute rather than advise, you get comfortable with ambiguity fast, you build trust through action in your first 30 days, and you can be trusted with highly sensitive compensation, transaction, and organizational data.

Logistics

• Engagement type: Full-time, regular
• Location: 3 Days on site in Northern NJ, 2 days remote with periodic on-site presence required at Southwest company offices
• Only candidates local to the New Jersey will be considered
  , given the on-site presence required
• Only candidates who do not require employment-based visa sponsorship, now or in the future, and who are legally authorized to work in the United States without company sponsorship, will be considered