Director, HR Business Partner

AAA Mountain West Group • Walnut Creek, CA

2d • $158,958 - $198,697 • Hybrid

About The Position

The Director, HR Business Partners serves as a strategic advisor to business leaders, shaping people strategies that directly support business objectives. This position manages complex talent issues, organizational design, and workforce planning. As a pivotal leader and liaison within the organization, the Director provides proactive consultation to empower leaders through transformative change management, handles executive coaching, and oversees cross-functional People & Culture initiatives. This ensures that people's decisions are strategically aligned, fact-based and promote an exceptional Team Member and Member experience. NOTE: This role is hybrid and requires 3 days a week in our Walnut Creek, CA office.

Requirements

• Bachelor’s degree in Human resources or a relevant field (or an equivalent combination of advanced education and relevant experience).
• 8+ years of progressive HR leadership experience serving as a strategic people advisor to executive leaders.
• 5+ years of experience successfully leading, coaching, and developing high-performing HR teams.
• HR Certification required (SHRM-CP or PHR)
• Budget management experience.
• Demonstrated ability to diagnose performance gaps within a business unit and deploy targeted operational actions to resolve them.
• Proven experience anticipating upcoming talent risks and proactively delivering preventive workforce solutions to business leaders.
• Solid understanding of executive coaching and sensitive people matters, with the ability to tailor communication, align stakeholders, and drive program adoption.
• Demonstrated ability to synthesize internal and external data to define operational problems, present recommendations, and measure project ROI.
• Solid understanding of emerging technologies and generative AI; proven ability to optimize HR operations and manage responsible, compliant tool implementation.

Nice To Haves

• Senior-level certification (SHRM-SCP or SPHR)
• MBA or Master's degree in Human Resources, Business Administration or a related field.
• Certifications: Change Management (Prosci), Project Management (PMP, Agile), Organizational Design (CODP).

Responsibilities

• Offers strategic guidance to directors and senior leaders within a specific business function, providing custom workforce strategies and anticipating talent challenges before they escalate.
• Serves as a thought partner and trusted advisor on organizational health, capabilities, and evolving digital and AI-operating model needs, while actively coaching leaders on effectiveness and work redesign, performance, team dynamics, and cultural expectations.
• Translates people analytics and AI-driven workforce insights, guiding leaders on data-informed talent decisions that result in actionable business plans.
• Drives change management planning and execution for major initiatives.
• Supports a high-performance culture by partnering with business line leaders, cultivating a responsive environment that facilitates open communication.
• Provides guidance and coaching on sensitive workplace and people issues; oversees the resolution of highly complex Employee Relations (ER) cases with significant business impact.
• Leads the development and deployment of talent strategies aligned to specific business functions, focusing on talent management and development plans, leadership quality, workforce upskilling, and succession pipeline strength.
• Influences functional Centers of Excellence (COEs) to shape enterprise programs based on business needs and data insights.
• Partners with finance and business leaders to forecast talent investments and productivity needs, managing talent reviews, succession planning, and workforce planning.
• Analyzes engagement survey results to create and lead targeted action plans for specific departments.
• Defines and leads cross-functional talent projects, utilizing project management skills to oversee HR technology implementations and large-scale process or program changes.
• Engages in agile work cycles and proactively identifies best practices to scale across the team translating business goals into people initiatives that advance performance, engagement and workforce solutions.
• Develops a team of professional HR Business Partners ensuring they effectively coach managers on people issues, handles performance management, and maintains consistent policy application across the organization.
• Builds HR team capability through coaching, training, and feedback on consulting skills, people analytics interpretation, and business acumen, enabling HR managers to elevate their strategic contribution beyond transactional work.
• Balances strategic advisory with operational oversight, ensuring day-to-day HR execution (employee relations, performance coaching, policy compliance) runs smoothly while dedicating 60-70% of your time to strategic business partnership and talent planning.

Benefits

• Great Pay - opportunity to participate in AAA discretionary annual incentive plan or other incentive plans depending upon position
• 401k Matching – $1 for $1 company match up to 6% of eligible earnings per pay period
• Benefits – Medical, Dental, Vision, wellness program and more!
• Paid Holidays
• Paid Time Off – Team Members accrue paid time off monthly.
• Depending on position, an additional 24 hours per year are earmarked for volunteer activities.
• Collaborative Environment – AAA will value your contribution to providing exceptional service to our members
• Free AAA Classic Membership
• AAA Product Discounts
• Tuition Reimbursement Program

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Director