Director, HR Business Partner

Suffolk Construction•Herndon, VA

4d•Hybrid

About The Position

The Director, People & Culture serves as a regional HR Business Partner, providing strategic support to Mission Critical project teams across Virginia, Maryland, and Pennsylvania in areas of performance management, employee engagement, and talent development. This position reports to the Senior Director of People & Culture for our Mission Critical Center of Excellence. As data center construction represents the fastest-growing sector at both Suffolk and within the industry, this role is essential for sustaining Suffolk’s culture on our largest project. This role supports strategic HR planning and operations, providing a broad range of HR consultation, advice, solutions, and services. Additionally, the role ensures a strong focus and commitment on employee experience & engagement, project standards, retention, and a high-performance culture that embodies Suffolk’s core values. This role requires an on‑site presence four days a week in our Herndon office, along with regular travel to project sites, including a monthly overnight trip to Pennsylvania. Work hours are aligned with the operating rhythm of the team and generally include earlier start times, around 7:00–8:00 a.m.

Requirements

Bachelor's Degree preferred
7-10 years of successful business partnership, with proven success in linking HR strategies to the business.
Strong employee relations experience supporting a diverse workforce
Ability to manage enterprise-wide projects/initiatives independently.
Experience working effectively across all levels of an organization.
Hands-on approach willing to roll up sleeves to deliver results.
Successful implementation of operational and strategic programs and processes across a geographically dispersed region with multiple jobsites.
Ability to assess an organization, identify gaps, and develop solutions.
Possess strong influencing and interpersonal skills, particularly in a high performing work environment.
Availability for field travel, ranging from 25% to 50% of the time, to nearby project sites, as well as monthly overnight trips to sites in PA.

Nice To Haves

Relationship Building / Influencing: Demonstrate effective and appropriate influencing skills with senior management/partners, combining strategic HR knowledge with deep organizational understanding. Build strong relationships with solid trust and mutual respect as the foundation. Leverage strong judgment skills to make decisions. Instinctively know when and how to introduce change so that it is broadly accepted and institutionalized.
Strong Intellect: Ability to combine analytical reasoning, creativity, and judgment. Quick study, handle complex matters and have multiple initiatives going on simultaneously. Able to deal effectively with strategic issues and tactical operational details.
Highly Ethical: Can be trusted to do only the “right thing” for our associates and key stakeholders. Follows a balanced approach without compromising integrity.
Values and Leadership: Demonstrates alignment to our Values.
Results Oriented: Energetic, resourceful, strong service orientation, and a positive can-do attitude. Fully committed to the job and delivering outstanding work. Never satisfied with the status-quo, continually striving for excellence. Enjoys working hands-on.
Change Agent: Comfortable designing for the future while managing day-to-day HR matters. Able to anticipate risks and propose practical plans to mitigate them. Appreciates HR’s impact and how HR is an integral part of the company’s business strategy.
Low Ego: Puts needs of the business ahead of themself. Operates in a transparent fashion without a personal agenda.
Self-starter: Able to challenge the status quo sensitively and constructively. Intellectually agile, self-confident, and highly articulate.

Responsibilities

Serve as a strategic partner and build strong relationships with the project team, effectively using influence and negotiation strategies to secure support from stakeholders of key initiatives.
Maintain excellent customer service standards for the P&C department by responding to employee inquiries and requests for client group, escalating to Business Partner, P&C Ops Manager or other appropriate P&C team members as needed.
Be an integral part of the employee experience by owning onboarding and offboarding tasks for the project site. Ensure new hires are equipped with Company technology and understand training tools. Support the relocation process with the Mobility team as required, ensuring new hires and transfers have the resources needed to ensure a smooth transition.
Be a trusted advisor, coaching project leadership on leadership effectiveness and performance.
Drive and execute the annual Performance Management and Talent Review process on-site.
Support the Regional HRBP with the annual and quarterly compensation planning process.
Effectively use influence and negotiation strategies to secure support from stakeholders for support of key initiatives.
In line with Suffolk’s vision and strategic priorities, drive employee engagement through the entire employment life cycle. This includes supporting the engagement survey process, conducting new hire check-ins and stay interviews, and exit interviews. Use insights to support managers in enhancing and improving the employee experience.
Lead on-site employee relations resolutions, minimizing risk to the organization by actively responding to and addressing employee concerns in a timely, cost-efficient manner, escalating to Regional HRBP and legal as necessary. Conduct complete investigations and make recommendations based on findings/facts, partnering with Regional HRBP and legal counsel.
Lead and manage change across client group to influence project site culture. Implement change programs as business needs dictate.
Support the broader HRBP team as a trusted colleague and sounding board for new and improved company-wide programs and initiatives.
All other duties as assigned.