Director, Employee Relations

TRCTalent is working alongside a leading manufacturer in the Portland TN area to find a qualified Director of Employee Services. This is a full time, hybrid role. The key responsibilities of this role include leading the design and delivery of employee-facing HR services that create a best-in-class employee experience. This role owns core rewards and HR operations—including compensation, benefits, HRIS, compliance, reporting, and analytics—to support the attraction, retention, and motivation of top talent.

As a player-coach, this leader sets strategy and drives end-to-end delivery of competitive, equitable, and compliant rewards programs spanning base pay, incentives, equity (where applicable), health and welfare, retirement, recognition, and wellbeing. The role partners closely with HR, Finance, Legal, and business leaders to align employee services with the firm's talent strategy and business outcomes.

• Lead health & welfare, retirement, leave, and wellbeing programs; manage brokers, consultants, and vendors to optimize cost, quality, and employee experience.

• Use data and employee feedback to inform plan design and ensure inclusive, accessible offerings.

• Own market benchmarking, salary structures, pay ranges, geographic differentials, and career levels; ensure internal equity and market competitiveness.

• Design and administer short- and long-term incentive programs, including bonus, sales incentives, and equity.

• Establish governance, policies, job architecture alignment, and approval workflows.

• Deliver executive-ready analytics and lead annual reward cycles in partnership with Finance.

• Own the rewards HRIS roadmap, including compensation planning tools, integrations, and self-service; ensure data integrity and scalable processes.

• Implement repeatable, well-documented, SOX-aligned processes and controls.

• Lead and develop a high-performing team across compensation, benefits, and HRIS/analytics.

• Partner with Talent Acquisition, Finance, Legal, and Payroll to ensure aligned and accurate execution

  • Bachelor’s degree in HR, Business, Finance, Economics, or related field (or equivalent experience).

  • 10+ years of progressive rewards experience, including 5+ years leading teams and enterprise programs.

  • Deep expertise in compensation, incentive design, benefits strategy, and rewards analytics.

  • Hands-on experience administering annual cycles in enterprise HRIS/compensation systems.

  • Strong knowledge of U.S. employment and rewards regulations.

  • Excellent stakeholder management, communication, and change leadership skills.

  • Lead and develop a high-performing team across compensation, benefits, and HRIS/analytics.

  • Partner with Talent Acquisition, Finance, Legal, and Payroll to ensure aligned and accurate execution.

• Master’s degree and/or relevant certifications (CCP, GRP, CBP, CEBS).
• Global rewards experience.
• Experience with equity programs and sales compensation.