Senior People Operations Business Partner

Senior People Operations Business Partner

Group 1 Automotive, Inc. is seeking a Senior People Operations Business Partner to serve as the strategic HR advisor for one of our largest dealership markets. Embedded within operations, this highly visible role partners with General Managers, Market Directors, Fixed Operations leaders, and corporate leadership to translate business priorities into effective people strategies across Sales, Service, Parts, and Finance & Insurance.

The Business Partner leads complex employee relations matters and workplace investigations, coaches leaders through sensitive situations, ensures compliance with policy and employment law, and helps mitigate organizational risk. This role also drives organizational change, talent management, leadership development, succession planning, and workforce planning, using data and insights to improve performance, engagement, retention, and customer experience.

The ideal candidate is a proactive HR leader with strong business acumen, executive presence, and the ability to influence at all levels. Success requires comfort navigating ambiguity, balancing multiple priorities, and appropriately challenging leaders in a fast-paced, high-volume retail environment.

Regular travel throughout the assigned market is required, along with occasional evening and weekend availability based on business needs.

• Lead complex employee relations matters, including workplace investigations, policy interpretation, conflict resolution, corrective actions, and performance management.
• Ensure consistent application of Company policies while mitigating organizational risk.
• Partner with Legal and other internal stakeholders on sensitive employee matters as needed.
• Serve as the primary People Operations Business Partner for an assigned dealership market, supporting General Managers, Market Directors, and operational leadership.
• Build trusted relationships with business leaders by providing strategic HR guidance aligned with operational and financial objectives.
• Coach, influence, and challenge leaders on organizational effectiveness, workforce planning, employee engagement, and performance management.
• Partner with business leaders to develop talent strategies that support current and future business needs.
• Facilitate talent review and calibration sessions to identify high-potential talent and support succession planning initiatives.
• Identify organizational capability gaps and implement development strategies to strengthen leadership pipelines.
• Support acquisitions, reorganizations, and organizational change initiatives.
• Analyze workforce metrics and People Operations data to identify trends, risks, and opportunities for continuous improvement.
• Translate workforce analytics into actionable recommendations that support business objectives.
• Partner with leaders to develop data-driven action plans related to turnover, engagement, staffing, and organizational performance.
• Lead organizational change initiatives by developing communication, implementation, and adoption strategies.
• Guide leaders through periods of organizational change while maintaining employee engagement and operational continuity.
• Promote consistent People Operations practices and operational excellence across multiple dealership locations.
• Partner with Talent Acquisition, People Operations, Compensation, Benefits, Payroll, Learning & Development, and other Centers of Excellence to deliver integrated HR solutions.
• Share best practices across markets and contribute to the continuous improvement and growth of People Operations processes and programs.
• Independently manage workload, calendar, travel schedule, and business priorities in a dynamic environment.

• 7+ years of HR experience serving as a strategic partner to operational leaders across a multi-site organization
• Experience supporting high-volume, customer-facing industries such as retail, automotive, hospitality, healthcare, or manufacturing
• Proven success advising General Managers, Regional or Market Directors, and operational leaders
• Extensive experience leading workplace investigations, resolving complex employee relations matters, and navigating employment law and HR compliance
• Experience driving organizational change and influencing leaders at all levels
• Strong knowledge of organizational design, talent management, succession planning, workforce planning, and performance management
• Ability to leverage workforce analytics to guide business decisions
• Exceptional…