Director People Compliance

Western Veterinary Partners • Denver, CO

7d • $150,000 - $170,000

About The Position

The Director, People Compliance ensures that people policies comply with applicable requirements and that systems for documenting and auditing those policies are in place. This role writes and maintains policies and runs the audits, controls, and documentation needed to verify that policies are followed across every hospital. It translates federal, state, and local employment law into practical policies, advises teams responsible for day-to-day processes, maintains audit-ready evidence, and drives identified gaps to resolution.

The Director owns the people policy library and employee handbooks, establishes enterprise-wide standards across hospitals, monitors legal changes in every state where the company operates, and advises HR, Operations, and hospital leaders on implementation. The position defines policy controls and evidence, runs an annual audit plan, coordinates corrective actions and retesting, manages the people compliance calendar, and serves as the main contact for external audits, agency inspections, and inquiries in partnership with Legal. It also reports on compliance status and risks, develops metrics and dashboards, supports people due diligence and post-acquisition audits, and partners with cross-functional teams that operate the underlying processes.

Requirements

• Bachelor’s degree in Human Resources, Business, Legal Studies, or a related field, or equivalent experience.
• 10+ years of progressive experience in HR compliance, employment law compliance, employee relations, or HR operations, including 5+ years leading programs or teams.
• Deep working knowledge of U.S. multi-state employment law, including FLSA and state wage and hour rules, FMLA and state leave, ADA, EEO, Form I-9, and pay transparency.
• Track record of building a multi-state HR compliance program that pairs policy ownership with audits, controls testing, and documented remediation.
• Experience drafting and maintaining employee handbooks and policies across multiple states.
• Strong judgment and discretion with confidential information, and ability to explain regulations in plain language to hospital managers and executives.
• Ability to influence senior leaders and cross-functional partners without direct authority.

Nice To Haves

• Experience in a multi-site, hourly-heavy environment, such as healthcare, veterinary, retail, or hospitality.
• California wage and hour experience, including meal and rest periods, alternative workweek schedules, and PAGA.
• Experience building workplace safety (OSHA) compliance programs across multiple sites.
• Experience with acquisition-driven organizations, including people due diligence and integration.
• Experience with professional license and credential tracking programs.
• Familiarity with governance, risk, and compliance (GRC) or audit management tools.
• Hands-on use of AI and automation to support compliance tracking, research, or documentation.

Responsibilities

• Write, own, and maintain the people policy library and employee handbooks, including policies covering leave, accommodations, return-to-work, wage and hour, time off, conduct, and hiring standards.
• Replace hospital-by-hospital practices with enterprise standards, templates, and processes used across all hospitals.
• Monitor federal, state, and local employment law in operating states and update policies before new requirements take effect; communicate changes through appropriate internal channels.
• Assign each policy an owner, current version, review date, and documented approval.
• Advise HR, Operations, and hospital leaders on policy implementation, including process steps, system settings, forms, and required records.
• Answer policy interpretation questions and consult Legal when appropriate.
• Define controls and evidence for each policy to demonstrate compliance.
• Build and run an annual audit plan covering topics such as pay practices and classification, meal and rest breaks, leave and accommodations, Form I-9, workplace safety, licenses and credentials, required training, and notices and postings.
• Run audits under Legal’s direction when findings should be privileged.
• Maintain audit-ready documentation showing that policies are in place and working.
• Document audit findings, assign corrective-action owners and due dates, and retest to confirm issues are fixed.
• Work with Learning to select purchased compliance training content, deliver it through the LMS, and use completion records as audit evidence.
• Own the people compliance calendar, assign owners for filings, postings, training, and review deadlines, and verify timely completion.
• Serve as the main contact for external audits, agency inspections, and inquiries in partnership with Legal.
• Report quarterly to HR leadership on policy status, audit results, open findings, repeat issues, and emerging risks.
• Build compliance metrics, dashboards, and automation to gather audit evidence and track remediation.
• Review people policies and practices during acquisition due diligence and flag compliance gaps early.
• Audit newly acquired hospitals against company policies on a defined timeline after close in partnership with Operations.
• Partner with Legal, Payroll, Benefits, Talent Acquisition, Learning, Employee Relations, Operations, and Internal Audit; set standards and check results for processes those teams run.

Benefits

• Medical, dental, and vision benefits may be available depending on role and location.
• Vacation and sick leave may be available depending on role and location.
• 401(k) may be available depending on role and location.
• Other benefits may be available depending on role and location.
• The position is eligible for bonus and incentive compensation.
• Where required by law, eligible employees receive paid sick leave, health emergency leave, and other legally mandated benefits.

What This Job Offers

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