Director Employee Relations & HR Compliance

Alliant Credit Union•Chicago, IL

3d•$167,700 - $287,500•Hybrid

About The Position

Owner for day-to-day employment law guidance, ER governance, HR compliance oversight, and HR policy strategy/interpretation. Partner with the legal function to ensure Alliant’s employment practices are legally sound, consistent, and defensible, while enabling timely, practical decisions for leaders and HR. Work with outside counsel for executive-level, novel, or high-risk matters, with routine work handled in-house to improve speed, consistency, and cost predictability.

Requirements

Minimum - 4 Year Bachelors Degree in Human Resources, Business Admin, Labor Relations, Employment Relations or related
Minimum - 8 Years of Employment law, employee relations, and/or HR compliance (in-house HR, in-house counsel, or law firm employment practice with client advisory exposure) or related
Minimum - 3 Years of People management
12 Years of Employment law, employee relations, and/or HR compliance (in-house HR, in-house counsel, or law firm employment practice with client advisory exposure) including people management

Nice To Haves

Preferred - Graduate Degree in Human Resources, Business Admin, Labor Relations, Employment Relations or related
Preferred - 10 Years of Employment law, employee relations, and/or HR compliance (in-house HR, in-house counsel, or law firm employment practice with client advisory exposure) or related
Preferred - SHRM-SCP (Society for Human Resource Management)
Preferred - SPHR (Senior Professional in Human Resources)

Responsibilities

Serve as the first-line advisor to HRBPs and leaders on employment law questions across the employee lifecycle (performance management, accommodations, investigations, discipline, separations, restructures)
Assess risk, recommend options, and document rationale to support defensible outcomes
Define and maintain escalation triggers and protocols with legal, engage outside counsel selectively for executive-level, novel, or high-risk matters
Maintain a practical library of templates, playbooks, and decision guides to standardize responses and reduce variability
Provide strategic oversight of ER investigations, findings, and recommended actions, ensure consistent standards and documentation
Coach HRBPs and leaders on difficult conversations, ER strategy, and risk-aware decision-making. Approve or review higher-risk actions such as terminations, final warnings, sensitive leader cases before execution
Partner with HR Shared Services and HR Tech to ensure ER documentation and workflows are controlled and auditable where appropriate
Own HR compliance oversight (federal, state, and local employment requirements) and translate changes into HR practices, training, and policy updates
Develop an annual compliance calendar, policy refreshes, required postings/notifications, training, and periodic reviews
Lead targeted compliance reviews and audits such as personnel file practices, retention, accommodations process, separation documentation and drive remediation
Track and report key compliance risks and themes to the CHRO and partner with legal on enterprise-level risk topics
Own the HR policy lifecycle, intake, drafting, updates, approvals, and rollout guidance. Provide authoritative interpretation of policies and ensure consistent application across HRBPs and leaders
Partner with internal communications to ensure policies are communicated clearly and adoption is reinforced
Reduce policy ambiguity by simplifying language and creating manager toolkits/FAQs for high-friction policies
Build ER and compliance capability across HR, training, office hours, case reviews, templates, and coaching
Plan, oversee and lead the work of the team to meet functional and individual operational objectives and goals. Coach, mentor, and develop staff, including overseeing new employee onboarding and providing career development planning and opportunities.
Adhere to and ensure compliance of all business transactions with policy and process of the Bank Secrecy Act.
Ensures compliance with all applicable state and federal laws, company procedures and policies.
Maintains integrity and ethics in all actions and conversations with or regarding credit union members and their accounts; complies with Privacy Act directives.