Human Resources Specialist

The Human Resources Specialist supports AIA’s day-to-day human resources and people operations, with a strong emphasis on employee-facing service. Working closely with the Vice President, Human Resources & People Operations, the role helps drive talent acquisition activities, the annual internship program, and core HR administration.

Location and Compensation

• Location: Arlington, VA (onsite)
• Salary: USD 72,000 - 77,000 per year

Role Overview

The Human Resources Specialist manages day-to-day execution of AIA’s HR and people operations programs, processes, and initiatives. This position is responsible for administering talent acquisition activities, coordinating the annual internship program, and completing a range of HR administrative duties.

The role reports to the Vice President, Human Resources & People Operations and maintains a customer service focus to support a positive employee experience. The Specialist also provides backup support for designated payroll and benefits-related administration as needed to ensure continuity.

Key Responsibilities

• Talent Acquisition:
  • Create vacancy announcements, manage job postings, and organize interview schedules.
  • Run AIA’s in-house applicant tracking process, including collecting and reviewing resumes, conducting candidate pre-screens, triaging applicants, maintaining candidate records, and tracking progress across recruitment stages.
• Administrative Functions of the Human Resources Department:
  • Coordinate onboarding and offboarding for voluntary departing employees, including requesting IT and accounting access and providing office tours for new hires.
  • Coordinate the annual internship program, including recruitment, maintaining communication with interns and host organizations, arranging external field trips, and organizing welcome and farewell activities.
  • Maintain accurate and current job descriptions, coordinating updates to support organizational and regulatory requirements.
  • Support ongoing review and maintenance of the Employee Handbook to ensure policies and procedures remain current and aligned with applicable federal, state, and local requirements.
  • Coordinate administration of annual employee engagement and pulse surveys, employee referral and recognition programs, and manage gift card purchasing, tracking, and distribution.
  • Research workplace trends and benchmark data related to workforce practices and summarize findings for HR leadership.
  • Maintain HR dashboards and recurring workforce reports, compile HR metrics, validate data accuracy, and prepare information for HR leadership review.
  • Provide administrative support for AIA’s internal AI-powered HR resource, including maintaining approved HR content and identifying information that requires updates.
  • Support payroll operations by serving as a backup for the bi-weekly payroll process.
  • Maintain the HR training calendar and coordinate training logistics, including agenda preparation, scheduling, and follow-up on HR action items.
  • Prepare and distribute a monthly HR newsletter covering key updates, upcoming events, milestones, achievements, and initiatives.
  • Participate in special projects, focus groups, and other assignments as needed.

Required Qualifications

• Experience: Minimum of 3 years of human resource experience
• Strong understanding of labor legislation, payroll processes, and HRIS systems such as Paylocity
• Ability to identify routine technical or operational issues, resolve within established procedures, and escalate or recommend solutions when appropriate
• Strong organization and attention to detail, with the ability to independently prioritize and complete work on time with minimal supervision
• Strong oral and written communication skills, with concise, timely, and positive communication
• Ability to gather and process information independently and organize self-reviewed documentation
• Native understanding and extensive work in Microsoft Office (Outlook, Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Project, SharePoint)
• Ability to work under time pressure, meet deadlines, adapt to changing priorities, and be flexible when additional hours are needed
• Strong interpersonal skills and the ability to maintain effective relationships with staff and external parties (vendors, consultants, etc.); customer centricity is required
• Creative self-starter with initiative and ownership mindset
• Experience working on cross-functional teams
• Ability to handle confidential information with professionalism, maturity, and trust

Preferred Qualifications

• Associates degree in Human Resources, Business Administration, or a related field
• Proficient writing skills, including the ability to develop background and talking points quickly and concisely
• Experience with modern HR and productivity tech stacks, including tools such as Microsoft Copilot, Smartsheet, and ATS platforms
• Curiosity about emerging HR trends with a growth mindset and willingness to innovate, experiment, and continuously learn

Technologies

• Paylocity
• Microsoft Office (Outlook, Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Project, SharePoint)
• Microsoft Copilot
• Smartsheet
• ATS platforms

How to Apply

Send the following documents to [email protected]:

• Resume
• Cover Letter