Executive Director, ER​/LR COE Lead

Description

The Executive Director of the Employee Relations Center of Excellence (ER CoE) is an enterprise leader responsible for designing, leading, and continuously evolving the organization's employee & labor relations strategy, capabilities, and practices. This is a key role in enabling positive employee relations and a high-integrity culture. This role partners across the People function, with HR Business Partners and our People Experience Team, and with the Legal & Compliance teams.

Strategic Leadership

• Define and champion the enterprise employee & labor relations strategy, aligning ER philosophy with organizational values, business objectives, and workforce trends.
• Build and lead the ER Center of Excellence as a scalable, data-driven function that delivers consistent, equitable, and legally sound employee relations practices across the organization.
• Serve as a trusted advisor on sensitive employee matters, workforce culture & engagement, policies and labor relations strategy.

Policy & Program Development

• Own the development, governance, and ongoing refinement of enterprise-wide ER policies, practices, frameworks, and standards.
• Establish and maintain global investigation protocols, discipline and performance management guidelines, and conflict resolution frameworks.
• Lead the design and delivery of ER training programs for HR practitioners, managers, and leaders at all levels.

Case Management & Risk Oversight

• Provide oversight and guidance to the People Experience teams on relations matters.
• Responsible for leading select ER matters which are highly complex, confidential or sensitive.
• Ensure consistency, fairness, and legal defensibility in the handling of all ER cases across business units and geographies.
• Partner with Legal (Employment & Compliance) to proactively guide, manage risk and respond to ER matters and policy initiatives.

Insights & Continuous Improvement

• Build and leverage ER metrics and trend analysis to identify systemic issues that inform leadership decision-making and drive proactive intervention. Establish an approach to reviews which utilizes data to shape culture strategy and reduce organizational risk.
• Benchmark practices externally and drive continuous improvement in ER processes, tools, and outcomes.

Team & Stakeholder Leadership

• Recruit, develop, and lead a high-performing team of ER, LR and policy professionals, fostering a culture of expertise, consistency, and empathy.
• Build strong cross-functional partnerships with HR Business Partners, the People Experience Team, Talent, Total Rewards, &E, Legal, Ethics & Compliance, and Business leadership.
• Represent the ER function in organizational transformation initiatives.

• 12-15+ years of progressive HR experience, with proven employee relations leadership. Experience leading in a matrixed and global organization.
• Expertise in employee relations, workplace investigations, labor relations, and HR compliance across geographies
• Demonstrated track record of building or significantly maturing a functional capability area. Experience doing this for ER is a plus.
• Experience advising senior leadership on sensitive workforce matters.
• Strong analytical acumen; ability to translate ER data into strategic insight and action.
• Exceptional judgment, discretion, and the ability to navigate ambiguity with confidence and integrity.
• Bachelor's degree required; advanced degree a plus.

Leadership Competencies

• Enterprise mindset with the ability to balance empathy, fairness, and business pragmatism.
• Highly credible communicator who can influence without authority at all levels.
• Courageous leader willing to surface difficult truths and challenge the status quo.
• Strong influencer who can navigate a variety of organizational dynamics.