[Hiring] HR Manager @California Institute of Applied Technology

Role Description

The Human Resources (HR) Manager plays a key leadership role within the Human Resources team, overseeing day-to-day HR operations while also driving effective, compliant, and employee-centered HR practices across the organization. This position leads and develops the HR team, partners closely with leadership, and serves as a key resource for managers on employee relations, performance management, and organizational needs.

The HR Manager ensures smooth HR processes, data accuracy, and a positive employee experience, while also contributing to broader HR initiatives and continuous improvement efforts.

Responsibilities

• Team Leadership
  • Supervise and mentor team members, fostering a culture of accountability, service, and growth.
  • Partner with the VP of People & Culture to ensure cohesive communication and alignment across all HR functions.
  • Build and maintain healthy and professional relationships with all employees.
  • Lead the day-to-day processes, policies, and systems.
  • Help develop best practices and training materials for HR team.
• Operations Oversight
  • Manage accurate and timely execution of onboarding, offboarding, employee changes, and HRIS data management.
  • Oversee documentation and compliance in personnel files, benefits administration, and timekeeping processes.
  • Oversee payroll-related processes, ensuring accuracy and timely coordination with accounting.
  • Manage annual open enrollment and benefits renewals, working closely with brokers and carriers to ensure high-quality employee experiences.
• Employee Relations & Policy Enforcement
  • Provide guidance and coaching to managers on day-to-day employee relations matters.
  • Conduct or support investigations and documentation of employee concerns in collaboration with the VP and Generalist.
  • Support consistent policy interpretation and application across all departments.
  • Serve as a trusted advisor to managers by providing guidance on performance management, employee development, and workplace concerns.
• Compliance & Risk Management
  • Ensure adherence to all state and federal labor laws, including wage and hour, benefits, and leave compliance across multiple states.
  • Lead and partner with others on internal audits, reporting, and compliance initiatives.
  • Support data integrity within the HRIS and manage periodic audits for accuracy.
  • Oversee the completion of audits including but not limited to: worker’s compensation, 401(k) plan audit and NDT testing and others.
• Onboarding & Recruiting Support
  • Partner with team members and management to ensure smooth onboarding for new hires, including orientation, system access, and compliance documentation.
  • Collaborate with hiring managers to streamline onboarding.
  • Support creation and execution of training plans for new hires to ensure successful integration into CIAT’s culture and operations.
  • Provide oversight and partnership to recruiting efforts by collaborating with the Talent Acquisition team and hiring managers to ensure alignment in hiring practices and onboarding experience.
• Exit & Offboarding
  • Oversee employee separations, ensuring compliance with state and federal laws.
  • Track exit feedback, and provide data and recommendations to the VP and Generalist for process improvement.
  • Ensure proper completion of final pay, benefits continuation, and retrieval of company assets, in partnership with IT.
  • Document offboarding activities in personnel files for compliance purposes.
• HR Process Improvement
  • Ensure operational efficiency and consistency.
  • Maintain HR metrics, dashboards, and process documentation.
  • Identify trends and provide recommendations to leadership to improve retention, engagement, and operational effectiveness.
• Culture & Communication
  • Promote CIAT’s culture of fairness, consistency, and respect in all HR interactions.
  • Partner with team members to support employee learning and engagement initiatives.
  • Follow communication guidelines to ensure high levels of customer satisfaction and professionalism.
  • Adhere to CIAT’s compliance requirements to ensure all Federal, State, accreditation, and institutional policies and procedures are being met.
  • Embody CIAT’s mission, vision, purpose and values.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in Human Resources, Business Administration, Organizational Psychology or related field (or equivalent experience), and PHR or SHRM-CP certification are preferred.
• At least 6 years of progressive HR experience, with strong generalist experience.
• Minimum of 2 years in a management role, demonstrating the ability to manage and develop HR teams.
• Experience advising managers and leaders on employee relations, performance management, and organizational effectiveness.
• Expert knowledge of California and Federal labor laws and comfort with HR systems/technology are all a must.
• Experience in managing HR functions across multiple states and a remote workforce is preferred.
• Experience overseeing payroll, benefits administration, onboarding, and offboarding processes.
• Experience in higher education.
• Strong consultation skills and proven track record in HR roles.
• Strong knowledge of employment laws and HR best practices.
• Excellent interpersonal and communication skills.
• Strong organizational skills with the ability to manage multiple priorities.
• Ability to influence leaders to align people processes and practices with business objectives.
• Proficiency with HRIS systems, preferred with Paylocity, Microsoft Office Suite (Excel, Word, Outlook).
• Ability to be flexible and willing to take on a variety of assignments, depending on the specific HR needs.
• Strong communication skills, both verbal and written, with the ability to effectively convey information and interact with students, colleagues, and others.
• Self-motivated with a strong work ethic; dedicated to quality, quantity, results and timeliness.
• Demonstrated ability to anticipate needs and exercise independent judgment.
• Excellent analytical skills, problem resolution skills and general business acumen.
• Proficient skills in MS Office software products, including Outlook, Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and MS Project and ability to learn additional software products.
• Exhibits a high degree of flexibility in adapting to a rapidly changing environment.
• Ability to work collaboratively with colleagues, academic departments, and administration to support student success, achieve institutional goals and contribute to a positive and inclusive culture.
• Position may require work responsibilities outside of normal business hours to accommodate business needs and deadlines.
• Flexible working longer hours to meet deadlines, if needed.
• Able to handle sensitive information with a high degree of confidentiality.
• Possess high ethical standards, being an example of professionalism to others.
• Must be able to embody CIAT’s mission, vision, purpose and values.

Requirements

• Days and hours of work are Monday through Friday. Occasional weekend and evening hours may be required.
• This position oversees at least two (2) HR employees.

Values

• We are passionate about education and student success.
• We value integrity and excellence in our employees and students.
• We treat ourselves and our students with dignity and respect.
• We believe in and encourage innovation at our school to better help our students succeed.
• We have a customer-centric focus and we want people highly committed to achieving goals, where our success equals student’s success.
• We are accountable for our actions, and if errors occur, we focus on preventing future errors and moving forward.
• We have a growth mindset, always looking for ways to improve, with a sincere belief that every student can do better and achieve their goals.
• We expect every employee to be an example of conduct and professionalism, being a role model to students and colleagues.
• We commit to fostering an inclusive and supportive learning environment that respects the diversity of students’ backgrounds, experiences, and perspectives.
• We foster lifelong learning and professional development.

Physical Demands

• Essential functions of this role require sitting for extended periods of time.
• Ability to type, use a computer to search for information and input information while speaking on the phone is required.
• The employee will frequently be required to use the computer, mouse and telephone to conduct the regular tasks of this role.
• The employee will be required to compute simple to simple mathematical calculations as a normal part of this role.
• Requires daily use of a company computer and related software applications at a workstation.

Work Environment

• This remote position involves working in a home office environment.
• Employees are expected to ensure that their home office is a safe and ergonomic working environment.
• Employees must maintain data security and confidentiality in accordance with company policies and use secure connections for all work-related activities.
• When in the office, employees are expected to follow all workplace safety rules, security protocols, and professional conduct guidelines.

AAP/EEO Statement

California Institute of Applied Technology provides equal employment opportunities (EEO) to all employees and applicants for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, national origin, age, disability or genetics. This policy applies to all terms and conditions of employment, including recruiting, hiring, placement, promotion, termination, layoff, recall, transfer, leaves of absence, compensation and training.

Other Duties

Please note this job description is not designed to cover or contain a comprehensive listing of activities, duties or responsibilities that are required of the employee for this job. Duties, responsibilities and activities may change at any time, with or without notice.

Salary Range

The starting salary range for the HR Manager is $90,000-$105,000 yearly/DOE. We base salary offers on a variety of considerations, such as education, experience, equity and other business and organizational needs.