What You’ll Be Doing:
As Grow’s first dedicated Employee Relations (ER) hire, you’ll build and lead the function from the ground up—including strategy, processes, policies, training, and tools—in close partnership with the Senior Director of Talent Activation, VP of People, and Co-founders.
We take a progressive, data-driven, results-oriented, and values-driven approach to ER—one that moves beyond traditional frameworks. We're looking for a leader who shares this mindset and is eager to build and scale an excellent ER practice that is both strategically proactive and thoughtfully reactive, preventing and resolving ER issues with efficiency and deep care for people and the business. Our vision for this department is to raise the bar for performance while protecting and stewarding our culture that is grounded in trust, empathy, and values-driven leadership. You’ll help shape a workplace where expectations are clear, feedback is actionable, and people are supported and empowered to grow.
ER Philosophy / Strategy
- Build and lead a function that balances foundational ER practices, Grow’s high bar for performance, and our deep passion for our mission and embedded values
- Define ER reporting and analytics strategy to drive thoughtful, values-aligned, and proactive feedback loops to Recruiting, People Business Partners, and managers / leaders across the company
- Act as a subject matter expert on employment law, compliance, and ER best practices, partnering with Grow’s in-house legal team and outside counsel whenever necessary
- Lead and continuously improve employee relations processes, documentation, and policies
Processes
- Lead and resolve complex and high-risk issues such as performance concerns, behavioral challenges, complaints, and policy violations
- Conduct sensitive investigations from start to resolution—including strategy, interviews, documentation, findings, and action
- Partner with People Business Partners, Legal, and People Ops on nuanced cases, providing coaching and recommendations
- Ensure proper documentation and compliance with legal and internal standards
- Serve as an escalation point and advisor for People Business Partners on performance and conflict resolution
Policy
- Review, create, and update People policies through the lens of performance management and investigations. Ensure consistent policy application
- Stay current on legal developments and compliance needs.
- Provide input and consultative support, based on workforce trends, on the Employee Handbook and processes for accommodations, leave, and assist with immigration in partnership with Legal and People Strategy & Operations
Tools and data
- Obsess over ER metrics and trends to identify systemic issues and get out in front of those issues by recommending fixes via coaching, trainings, or programs
- Glean regular insights and report out on ER activity, outcomes, and opportunities for process improvements to inform Recruiting, People Business Partner, and People Strategy & Operations functions
Training
- Design and deliver ER-related training programs and ongoing support and education for our managers (e.g., investigations, documentation, managing performance, accommodations)
- Reinforce a culture of accountability, psychological safety, and values-based leadership
The salary range for this position is $172,000 - $192,000 USD.
You’ll Be a Good Fit If:
- You have 7+ years of progressive employee relations experience
- You have a track record of driving thoughtful, innovative strategies and ideas that make ER work ever more impactful for the business, people, and culture
- You have experience with many different kinds of workforces (e.g., tech, hourly, hybrid, remote) and multi-state operations, ideally including building and leading ER at scale in a fast-paced, high growth, and progressive environment
- You believe the strong core ER skills are the expectation, not the differentiator – sound judgment, discretion, investigation expertise, deep understanding of employment laws, and the ability to influence across all levels come naturally to you
- You drive differentiation through your unique ability to think creatively, differently, and progressively about ER and the role it plays in driving performance and culture
- You are a framework thinker and deeply data-driven, building systems that proactively look for leading indicators and that allow us to prevent and de-escalate situations well before they become ER issues
- You’re highly independent with the ability to scale yourself as Grow scales
- You can work in a hybrid model (3 days/week) from Grow HQ in NYC
If you don’t meet every single requirement, but are still interested in the job, please apply. Nobody checks every box, and Grow believes the perfect candidate is more than just a resume.
Note: Please upload your resume in PDF format
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