Senior Manager, Human Resources

Lead U.S. People & Culture from Arcata, CA as a senior HR leader reporting directly to the CFO. This onsite role partners closely with site leadership and the corporate People & Culture team to align HR priorities to business needs across workforce planning, talent acquisition, employee relations, performance and leadership development, total rewards, compliance, and HR operations.

What you’ll do

• Translate business strategy into HR priorities, including workforce planning, talent pipeline, and organization design, and drive execution across the site.
• Coach and develop HR team members by setting objectives, monitoring performance, and ensuring consistent, high-quality HR service delivery.
• Own full-cycle recruiting for key professional and leadership roles, including role design, sourcing strategy, selection, offer negotiation, and closing.
• Track and manage recruiting performance with KPIs such as time-to-fill, quality of hire, and cost per hire.
• Strengthen onboarding to improve productivity and retention, partnering with hiring managers on role readiness and new-hire integration.
• Provide practical, legally grounded guidance to managers and employees on performance issues, discipline, investigations, conflict resolution, and terminations.
• Act as the primary escalation point for complex employee relations matters and oversee workplace investigations consistent with FEHA and California Civil Rights Department guidance.
• Coach leaders on performance management, objectives, development plans, promotions, and succession planning.
• Interpret, administer, and recommend changes to compensation and incentive programs using market benchmarks and job evaluations, ensuring compliance with the California Equal Pay Act and pay transparency requirements, including maintenance of job title and wage rate history records.
• Partner with Finance on budgeting and salary planning, including annual review of exempt classifications against California salary thresholds and duties tests.
• Collaborate with benefits vendors and Payroll to support accurate benefits enrollment and reporting.
• Ensure HR policies and practices comply with federal and California employment law, including FEHA and California wage and hour rules (daily overtime, meal and rest periods, accurate itemized wage statements, final pay timing, and expense reimbursement), plus record retention and posting requirements.
• Advise leadership on regulatory change and mitigate exposure, including PAGA risk.
• Administer leave programs under federal and California law (including FMLA, CFRA, Pregnancy Disability Leave, California paid sick leave), including coordination with State Disability Insurance and Paid Family Leave; maintain compliant documentation and manager guidance.
• Manage the interactive process and reasonable accommodations under FEHA and the ADA, including lactation accommodation.
• Ensure required sexual harassment prevention training is delivered on the mandated schedule.
• Prepare and submit the annual California Pay Data Report to the Civil Rights Department, if applicable.
• Maintain employment notices, posters, and personnel records; respond to personnel file and payroll record requests within statutory timelines.
• Support compliance with the CCPA/CPRA as it applies to applicant and employee personal information.
• Partner with the HSE team for workers’ compensation claims, return-to-work plans, and Cal/OSHA recordkeeping and incident reporting, including maintenance of the Injury and Illness Prevention Program and Workplace Violence Prevention Plan.
• Support EDD unemployment claim responses and appeal preparation as needed.
• Ensure HRIS and people data integrity, produce standard and ad-hoc people analytics, and automate HR processes where practical (ATS, performance tools, HRIS, LMS), driving data-led decisions across turnover, engagement, and workforce demographics.
• Lead employee engagement initiatives and facilitate employee forums, and design development programs aligned with company values and retention goals.
• Prepare workforce, compensation, and HR operations reports for leadership and manage HR program spend against budget.

What you bring

• Bachelor’s degree in Human Resources, Business Administration, Organizational Development, or a related field, or an equivalent combination of education and experience.
• 7+ years of progressive HR experience, including 3+ years in an HR leadership or senior business-partnering role in an operational or manufacturing environment.
• Practical, applied expertise in California employment law, including FEHA, CFRA, the Labor Code and IWC Wage Orders, wage and hour rules (meal and rest, final pay), paid sick leave, pay equity and transparency, and personnel records, plus working knowledge of FMLA, ADA, FLSA, Title VII, and ADEA.
• Proven experience managing complex employee relations matters, including investigations, discipline, accommodations and the interactive process, leaves, and terminations.
• Working knowledge of workers’ compensation, return-to-work, and Cal/OSHA recordkeeping, including experience partnering with safety teams.
• Experience across workforce planning, compensation benchmarking, talent acquisition, performance management, and succession planning, including coaching and developing HR staff.
• HRIS and ATS experience (Paycom experience is a plus), advanced Excel skills, and the ability to turn people data into actionable business insight.
• Credibility with senior leaders, including partnering with Finance on budgeting and salary planning.
• Excellent communication skills, sound judgment, and discretion with confidential and legally privileged matters.
• Ability to manage competing priorities and work independently in a fast-paced environment.
• Ability to travel occasionally to other company locations.

Bonus considerations

• Master’s degree or SHRM-SCP/SPHR certification (or equivalent).
• Experience supporting a California workforce.
• Bilingual English/Spanish.

Compensation and location

Arcata, CA (onsite). Salary range: USD 110,000 - 150,000 per year.

Benefits

• Comprehensive benefits, including medical, dental, vision, 401(k) with company match, paid time off and paid holidays, and California paid sick leave
• Profit sharing
• Relocation assistance available

Role structure

• Reports to the Chief Financial Officer.
• May have direct reports (for example, HR Generalist(s) and HR Coordinator(s)).
• Partners with the corporate People & Culture team, Payroll/Finance, and site leadership.

Technologies

• HRIS, ATS, LMS, Paycom, Excel

Export control requirement

This position requires access to export-controlled information and CMMC-controlled environments. Candidates must be a “U.S. person” as defined in 22 C.F.R. § 120.62 (U.S. citizens and nationals, lawful permanent residents, refugees, and asylees) or be eligible for the required export authorization. Any required security screening will take place after a conditional offer of employment, consistent with applicable law, including California’s Fair Chance Act.