HR Operations Lead

Role Overview

• Serve as the U.S. Leadership Team’s advisor on HR operations, compliance, employee relations, talent acquisition, employee lifecycle processes, and people-risk trends.
• Provide data-driven insights (HR metrics, payroll trends, engagement, and attrition) to inform workforce planning and business decisions.
• Identify emerging people and operational risks (retention, compliance gaps, payroll errors, benefit gaps) and implement mitigation strategies.
• Partner with the Managing Director to shape US business strategy, ensuring that people implications are considered in all major business decisions (e.g., expansion, restructuring, M&A).
• Lead change management efforts for regional initiatives, ensuring smooth adoption of new processes, systems, or organizational structures.
• Partner closely with the Head of Professional Development & Enablement to connect consultant staffing, capability, performance, and career-development insights with HR operations, recruiting, compliance, employee relations, and people-risk actions.
• Provide HR governance, documentation, compliance, and employee-risk support for performance review cycles, promotion processes, and talent review discussions led by the Head of Professional Development & Enablement.
• Translate consultant capability and staffing insights into recruiting execution plans, onboarding needs, retention actions, HR process improvements, and employee lifecycle support.
• Share employee relations, attrition, onboarding, offboarding, engagement, and manager-effectiveness themes that may signal broader consultant experience or capability-development needs.
• Maintain clear decision rights between HR operations and professional development to avoid duplication across manager enablement, performance management, career growth, and workforce planning.
• Own day-to-day employee administration, ensuring accuracy, timeliness, and compliance with US tax and labor regulations (federal, state, local).
• Own the end-to-end employee lifecycle for the region, including onboarding, transfers, leave of absence, offboarding, a warm and structured onboarding, and a thoughtful and compliant offboarding experience.
• Support HRIS data integrity, reporting, and system maintenance. Identify opportunities for processing automation and efficiency gains.
• Ensure employee records, personnel files, and HR documentation are updated in line with legal and audit requirements.
• Support compensation and benefits activities, including salary reviews and bonus cycles, making sure they’re processed accurately and in line with guidelines.
• Identify and implement process improvements and automation opportunities to increase efficiency and scalability.
• Partner with payroll and benefit vendors and Finance to execute payroll, validate outputs, and resolve discrepancies.
• Act as the primary escalation point for all payroll-related inquiries and issues.
• Oversee and administer employee benefits programs, including health, insurance, retirement, and wellness offerings including managing the vendor relationships and performance, conducting audits to resolve discrepancies and ensuring a high-quality service delivery.
• Lead annual benefits cycles, including open enrollment and benefits optimization aligned to employee needs and company strategy.
• Ensure the accurate execution of the salary review processes, bonus cycles, and total rewards program.
• Provide expert guidance to employees and managers on compensation, payroll, and benefits queries.
• Own full-cycle recruitment execution for the US region, including role intake, job postings, sourcing, screening, interviewing, offer negotiation, and pre-employment checks.
• Partner with hiring managers to define role requirements and develop effective recruitment strategies.
• Support employer branding efforts and candidate experience initiatives in partnership with Marketing, hiring managers, and regional leadership.
• Track and report on recruitment metrics including time-to-fill, source effectiveness, candidate pipeline quality, offer acceptance, process bottlenecks, and hiring manager responsiveness.
• Monitor and ensure compliance with US employment laws (e.g., FLSA, FMLA, ADA, Title VII, state-specific regulations, wage and hour requirements, leave obligations, and remote-work considerations).
• Serve as the primary expert for complex employment matters, including terminations, misconduct, performance escalations, leave/accommodation issues, and contract or policy disputes. Support on cases from intake through resolution by preparing documentation, advising leaders, coordinating with external counsel when needed, and mitigating legal and employee-relations risk.
• Maintain compliance with I-9/E-Verify, visa sponsorship, and remote work regulations.
• Own and coordinate internal audits, regulatory reporting, and recordkeeping (including EEO-1, AAP where applicable, and other compliance filings).
• Serve as a primary point of contact for employee inquiries, providing clear, empathetic guidance on HR policies, benefits, and procedures.
• Provide thoughtful, practical guidance to People Leaders on operational, compliance, and employee relations topics – always with an eye on what’s fair, legal, and aligned with our values.
• Introduce and maintain manager enablement tools, including documentation guides, employee relations templates, difficult-conversation guides, leave and accommodation resources, onboarding/offboarding checklists, and policy FAQs.
• Partner with the Head of Professional Development & Enablement on any tools related to consultant coaching, career development, promotion readiness, or capability building.
• Support the Head of Professional Development & Enablement with performance management, especially in sensitive cases.

Requirements

• Approximately 7+ years of progressive experience in human resources, with a focus on generalist duties, HR operations, and talent acquisition in the US.
• Bachelor’s degree in Human Resources, Business Administration, or related field required; Master’s degree or HR certification (SHRM-CP/SCP, PHR/SPHR) preferred.
• Solid knowledge of US employment laws and compliance frameworks (federal and state-level).
• Hands-on experience managing full-cycle recruitment.
• Experience supporting employee relations, performance management, and leave administration.
• Proficiency with HRIS, ATS, and basic reporting tools. Familiarity with process automation is a plus.
• Strong attention to detail, data integrity, and documentation.
• Clear, empathetic communicator with the ability to balance strategic projects with daily operational tasks and sensitive employee matters. A hands-on, roll-up-your-sleeves mentality.