Role Summary
The Director Compliance and Employee Relations is a senior HR leader responsible for establishing governing and executing the company’s global employee relations workplace investigations employment compliance and Health & Safety strategy. This role ensures consistent legally compliant and fair people practices across geographies while enabling the business to manage risk uphold company values and maintain a safe respectful and compliant work environment.
This position serves as a strategic partner to HR leadership Legal Facilities Benefits and senior executives balancing strong governance and risk mitigation with pragmatic business‑aligned solutions.
Key Responsibilities
Employee Relations & Investigations
- Lead the global employee relations strategy ensuring fair consistent and legally compliant handling of employee concerns disciplinary matters and performance‑related actions
- Oversee and as needed directly conduct complex and high‑risk investigations (e.g. discrimination harassment retaliation ethics violations executive‑level cases)
- Establish investigation standards protocols documentation requirements and governance in close partnership with Legal
- Provide expert guidance to HR Advisors/HRBPs and leaders on performance management corrective action terminations and conflict resolution
- Identify trends and root causes across ER cases and implement preventative actions to reduce recurring risk
Employment & HR Compliance
- Own the global HR compliance strategy including adherence to employment laws regulations and internal policies across all countries of operation
- Partner with Legal and regional HR teams to interpret employment law requirements and translate them into scalable policies procedures and controls
- Ensure policies are current consistently applied and aligned with legal regulatory and business requirements
- Lead audits compliance reviews and responses to internal or external findings related to HR practices
- Maintain compliance oversight for record retention employee data handling labor relations/works councils (where applicable) and mandated training
Health & Safety Governance
- Own enterprise Health & Safety governance ensuring compliance with applicable occupational health and safety laws and regulations across geographies
- Establish clear ownership policy frameworks and escalation paths for workplace safety incidents and employee health‑related risks
- Partner closely with Facilities Benefits and HR Advisors/HRBPs to ensure Health & Safety practices are embedded into daily operations and employee support models
- Oversee investigation and response to workplace safety incidents coordinating corrective actions and regulatory reporting as required
- Collaborate with Benefits partners on health‑related programs (e.g. medical accommodations disability coordination wellbeing initiatives) to ensure alignment with compliance and safety requirements
- Monitor trends and risks related to employee safety health and workplace conditions to proactively strengthen controls and prevention efforts
Policy & Governance
- Design and maintain a cohesive global HR Employee Relations and Health & Safety policy framework with clear ownership approval processes and exception management
- Ensure alignment between policy practice and system configuration (e.g. HRIS workflows case management tools incident reporting processes)
- Define decision rights and escalation paths for ER compliance and Health & Safety matters
- Contribute to enterprise risk management activities related to people practices workplace safety and organizational culture
Partnership & Advisory
- Act as a trusted advisor to senior HR leaders executives and people leaders on sensitive employee relations compliance and safety‑related matters
- Partner closely with Legal to manage exposure mitigate litigation and regulatory risk and support claims or disputes when they arise
- Collaborate with HR Operations Total Rewards HR Systems Facilities Benefits and Data & Analytics teams to ensure compliance and safety requirements are embedded into processes and systems
- Support reorganizations change initiatives and M&A activity from an employee relations compliance and Health & Safety perspective
Leadership & Capability Building
- Lead mentor and develop a team of employee relations compliance and/or Health & Safety professionals (as applicable)
- Build ER compliance and safety capability across HR Advisors/HRBPs and leaders through training playbooks and decision frameworks
- Promote a culture of fairness accountability safety and respect across the organization
Qualifications
- Bachelor’s degree required; advanced degree or JD strongly preferred
- 10+ years of progressive HR leadership experience with deep expertise in employee relations employment compliance and workplace Health & Safety
- Experience operating in a global or multi‑country environment
- Proven expertise managing complex investigations regulatory requirements and sensitive employee matters
- Strong partnership experience with Legal Facilities Benefits and executive leadership
- Demonstrated ability to balance risk management with practical business‑oriented solutions
Key Competencies
- Employment law and regulatory acumen
- Investigation and fact‑finding expertise
- Health & Safety governance and incident management
- Executive judgment and influence
- Clear credible communication in high‑risk situations
- Integrity discretion and sound decision‑making
- Ability to operate both strategically and hands‑on
