We started Van Leeuwen Ice Cream in a yellow truck on the streets of NYC in 2008 with a mission to make good ice cream that makes you feel good.

Nowadays, people can spend so much time on what’s “healthy” they don’t stop to consider what’s healthy. As far as we’re concerned, happiness is healthiness. We strive to ensure every scoop, store and employee feels and creates one community to contribute to the overall brand.

Van Leeuwen Ice Cream is seeking a strategic, business-minded Senior HR Business Partner to partner closely with our Retail Operations leadership team during our next stage of growth.

This role serves as the primary People partner for a portfolio of retail markets, helping leaders build high-performing teams while balancing employee experience with operational excellence. The ideal candidate combines strong business acumen with deep expertise in employee relations, organizational effectiveness, talent management, and employment law. They are equally comfortable coaching senior leaders through difficult decisions, analyzing workforce trends, leading organizational initiatives, and rolling up their sleeves to solve complex employee issues. Success in this role requires someone who can influence without authority, build credibility quickly, navigate ambiguity, and translate business priorities into practical people strategies.

This role will be based out of our Williamsburg, Brooklyn office and follow Van Leeuwen's Hybrid work model, being in the office three days a week.

Job Responsibilities

Strategic Business Partnership

Serve as the trusted People partner to Regional Directors, GMs, and cross-functional leaders.
Influence business decisions through a people lens, balancing employee experience, operational performance, legal compliance, and financial outcomes.
Coach leaders on organizational design, change management, succession planning, workforce planning, and leadership effectiveness.
Use workforce data and business insights to identify trends, risks, and opportunities, recommending proactive solutions.

Leadership Coaching & Organizational Effectiveness

Coach leaders through performance management, difficult conversations, talent decisions, and organizational challenges.
Develop leadership capability by providing guidance on feedback, accountability, communication, and team effectiveness.
Partner with Learning & Development to identify capability gaps and leadership development opportunities.
Support succession planning and talent reviews across assigned business groups.

Employee Relations & Risk Management

Lead complex employee relations matters, investigations, conflict resolution, and sensitive workplace issues.
Ensure consistent application of company policies while exercising sound business judgment.
Monitor emerging employment law changes and ensure operational compliance across multiple states.
Advise leaders on Workers' Compensation cases, medical accommodations, leaves of absence, disciplinary actions, and separations.

Talent & Performance

Partner with leaders to drive the annual performance management process, calibration discussions, and development planning.
Support talent planning initiatives including promotions, internal mobility, retention strategies, and high-potential development.
Identify turnover trends and partner with operations to improve retention and engagement.

Employee Experience & Culture

Champion Van Leeuwen's culture and values while helping leaders create inclusive, high-performing teams.
Partner with business leaders to improve engagement through thoughtful communication, recognition, and development initiatives.
Act as a visible and trusted resource for employees across assigned markets.

Operational Excellence

Partner with Recruiting, Payroll, Benefits, and HR Operations to ensure an exceptional employee experience.
Support organizational changes including restructures, reductions in force, new market openings, and operational transitions.
Maintain compliance across documentation, investigations, corrective actions, unemployment claims, workers' compensation, and labor audits.
Identify opportunities to simplify, automate, and improve People processes.

Projects & Continuous Improvement

Lead cross-functional People initiatives that improve business performance and employee experience.
Participate in company-wide projects including policy development, compensation initiatives, leadership programs, engagement surveys, and technology implementations.
Drive change management efforts for organizational initiatives.

Job Requirements

Bachelor's degree in Human Resources, Business, or a related field preferred.
7+ years of progressive HR experience, including HR Business Partner experience supporting multi-site operations.
Experience partnering with senior operational leaders in retail, hospitality, restaurant, or other multi-unit environments strongly preferred.
Strong knowledge of federal, state, and local employment laws across multiple states.
Demonstrated experience leading complex employee relations investigations and coaching leaders through sensitive issues.
Strong business acumen with the ability to understand operational drivers and influence business outcomes.
Experience with organizational design, workforce planning, change management, and talent management.
Excellent communication, facilitation, and relationship-building skills.
Ability to analyze workforce metrics and translate insights into actionable recommendations.
Comfortable operating in a fast-paced, high-growth environment with changing priorities.
Willingness to travel to assigned markets (approximately 15–20%).
Must be comfortable working in-store scoop shifts once a quarter, while adhering to DOH guidelines.

Success in This Role

The successful Senior HR Business Partner will:

Build trusted relationships with operational leaders.
Influence decisions through data, judgment, and credibility rather than authority.
Anticipate people risks before they become business problems.
Balance employee advocacy with business needs.
Drive consistency while remaining pragmatic and solutions-oriented.
Help develop stronger leaders and healthier teams.
Contribute meaningfully to the evolution of Van Leeuwen's People function as the company continues to grow.
Ability to balance multiple projects.

Compensation + Benefits

$100,000 - $125,000 annual compensation depending on experience, paid weekly.

Eligible for discretionary annual 10% bonus.

Employee Scoop Card (Enjoy Ice Cream from any of our scoop shops nationwide).
Medical, Dental + Vision Insurance with 70% Employer Contribution.
401k with up to 4% Employer Match.
Cell Phone Reimbursement Plan.
Wellness Reimbursement Plan.
Flexible Time Off - No accrual required.
Paid Sick Time.
Paid one month sabbatical (eligible after 4 years of continued employment).
Yearly Performance Reviews.

Van Leeuwen Ice Cream is committed to pay transparency and equity among all employees and provides employees an environment where pay transparency and dialogue on compensation are allowed. Van Leeuwen Ice Cream complies with Equal Employment Opportunity laws as well as federal, state, and local laws on compensation, pay transparency, and pay equity.

The actual base salary offered will depend on a variety of factors, including without limitation, the qualifications of the individual applicant for the position, years of relevant experience, level of education attained, certifications or other professional licenses held.

Salary Range

$100,000—$125,000 USD

Here at Van Leeuwen, Good Ice Cream Is For Everyone! As an equal opportunity employer, we strive to foster a welcoming, diverse environment for every employee and customer. We pride ourselves on the creativity that goes into our ice cream and is built in our stores (by YOU) that help us meet our missions and values.

HR Business Partner

Key skills

About this role