Director, People Relations

Core Spaces•Chicago, IL

1d•Hybrid

About The Position

The Director, People Relations serves as the strategic and operational leader of the Company's People Relations function, overseeing all people relations activities across both Corporate and Community populations. Responsible for developing and scaling a proactive people relations strategy, this role ensures consistent, compliant, and people-centered practices that support a rapidly growing organization. As the senior leader of the function, the Director will oversee people relations operations, investigations, compliance, workforce risk management, organizational change initiatives, and leadership coaching across the enterprise. The Director will provide leadership and direction to the Associate Director, People Relations and broader People Relations team, serving as the primary escalation point for complex, sensitive, and high-risk matters. Initially, the Director will operate in a player-coach capacity, maintaining direct ownership of Corporate People Relations matters while overseeing Community People Relations through the Associate Director and team. As the organization continues to scale, the Director will help design and build the future-state People Relations structure, including the addition of dedicated People Relations resources focused on Corporate people relations support. This role partners closely with executive leadership, Legal, Payroll & Benefits, Talent Management, Talent Acquisition, Operations leaders, and other business stakeholders to proactively identify risk, improve employee effectiveness, and create sustainable people practices that support the organization's continued growth.

Requirements

8+ years of progressive HR/People Relations experience, including at least 3 years leading people relations teams or functions within multi-state organizations (including California).
Expert-level employee relations expertise, including complex investigations, performance management, workplace conflict resolution, accommodations, leave administration, wage and hour compliance, employment law, and workforce risk management.
Demonstrated ability to advise, influence, and partner effectively with senior leaders and executives on complex, sensitive, and high-risk people matters, exercising exceptional judgment in ambiguous situations.
Strong analytical capabilities, including workforce metrics, trend analysis, executive reporting, and translating data into actionable business recommendations.
Experience supporting both corporate and operational workforces, with the ability to balance employee advocacy, legal compliance, and business objectives.
Exceptional judgment, decision-making skills, and executive presence when navigating complex, sensitive, or high-risk situations

Nice To Haves

Experience supporting high-growth organizations within the student housing, build-to-rent, single-family rental, multifamily, hospitality, or other multi-site operational industries.
Proven success leading and developing People Relations professionals while building, scaling, and evolving employee relations functions to support organizational growth, change, and increasing workforce complexity.
Executive presence and the ability to confidently influence, challenge, and partner with senior leaders on complex employee relations, organizational effectiveness, and workforce risk matters.
Experience presenting workforce trends, employee relations metrics, organizational risks, and strategic recommendations to executive leadership, translating data into actionable business decisions.
Advanced expertise in ADA accommodations, leave administration, wage and hour compliance, multi-state employment law, and employment risk management, ideally including experience navigating California, Washington, and/or Oregon employment regulations.
Demonstrated ability to balance strategic leadership with hands-on execution, effectively operating as both a player and coach in a fast-paced, evolving environment.
Experience supporting a geographically dispersed workforce consisting of onsite, hybrid, and remote team members across multiple states and time zones.
Strong systems and analytics acumen, including experience leveraging HRIS platforms (Paycom preferred), reporting tools, and workforce data to identify trends, mitigate risk, and drive proactive People Relations strategies.
Experience implementing or utilizing People Relations case management systems to support investigation tracking, documentation standards, workflow management, and reporting.

Responsibilities

Lead the Company's People Relations function across Corporate and Community employee populations, establishing and executing the long-term vision, strategy, and operating model that supports organizational growth and business objectives.
Transform the function from primarily reactive case management to a proactive workforce risk management and employee experience discipline through strategic planning, trend analysis, and targeted interventions.
Establish People Relations goals, key performance indicators, executive dashboards, and reporting mechanisms that provide actionable workforce insights and inform business decision-making.
Serve as the senior escalation point for complex, sensitive, and high-risk people relations matters, ensuring consistent, compliant, and business-minded solutions.
Lead, develop, and provide strategic oversight to the People Relations team, including establishing investigation standards, case management practices, quality controls, and team capabilities that support scalable growth.
Evaluate organizational needs and design future-state People Relations structures, processes, and resources to effectively support a rapidly expanding workforce.
Direct and oversee all people relations matters, including performance management, corrective action, workplace conflict, policy violations, misconduct allegations, complaints, separations, and organizational transitions.
Personally lead or oversee the most complex investigations involving senior leaders, executive employees, legal risk, ethics concerns, discrimination, harassment, retaliation, or other sensitive matters.
Ensure investigations are conducted consistently, objectively, thoroughly, and in accordance with company policies and applicable laws.
Partner with internal and external legal counsel regarding investigations, claims, litigation, agency charges, and pre-litigation risk management efforts.
Ensure appropriate documentation, recommendations, and action plans are developed to support defensible employment decisions.
Serve as the primary People Relations partner for Corporate leaders, departments, and executives.
Provide coaching and consultation to senior leaders and corporate managers on organizational challenges, performance concerns, restructures, and conflict resolution.
Support executive-level decision making and organizational change initiatives requiring significant business judgment and risk assessment.
Maintain direct ownership of Corporate people relations caseloads until future organizational growth supports the addition of dedicated Corporate People Relations resources.
Provide strategic oversight and leadership for people relations matters impacting the Community organization.
Partner closely with the Associate Director, People Relations and operational leadership to ensure consistent practices, appropriate case management, and effective support of Community leaders.
Act as an escalation point and advisor on complex Community investigations, terminations, accommodations, wage and hour concerns, and other high-risk matters.
Support the development and execution of proactive strategies that improve employee experience, retention, and leadership effectiveness within Community operations.
Provide strategic guidance regarding ADA accommodations, leave-related matters, wage and hour compliance, employee complaints, investigations, and workplace policy administration.
Partner closely with subject matter experts across Leave Administration, Benefits, Payroll, and Legal to ensure compliant and practical solutions.
Monitor emerging employment law developments and organizational risk trends.
Support policy development, handbook maintenance, SOX-related employment policies, and compliance initiatives.
Establish and maintain People Relations dashboards, metrics, and executive reporting to monitor caseload trends, workforce stability indicators, and emerging areas of people relations risk.
Analyze data related to employee complaints, investigations, accommodations, turnover, retention, corrective action, involuntary separations, and other workforce trends to identify patterns and leading indicators of risk.
Translate People Relations data into actionable insights, recommendations, and proactive interventions that support organizational leaders, strengthen workforce effectiveness, and reduce reactive case management.
Present key findings, trends, risks, and recommended strategies to executive leadership to inform business decisions and support a more proactive workforce risk management approach.
Partner with Talent Management, Talent Acquisition, Payroll, Benefits, Operations, and Legal.
Support mergers, acquisitions, integrations, restructures, workforce reductions, and organizational changes.
Drive consistency across corporate and community environments.
Occasional travel may be necessary as needed
Perform all other duties and tasks as assigned by management
Must be able to complete all physical requirements of this role with or without a reasonable accommodation

Benefits

A culture that provides you with a sense of belonging
Competitive pay that values your contributions
Incentives designed to reward your achievements
Paid flexible PTO to disconnect or celebrate life milestones
Paid 14+ holidays, including your birthday, to disconnect and celebrate
Paid Parental Leave that begins after 90 days
Paid volunteer time off to give back to your community
Monthly workshop weeks; fewer meetings & more collaboration
Robust health plan options that begin within at least 30 days of your employment
Monthly phone reimbursement
Wellness allowance and perks, including a yearly subscription to a meditation app
An environment that provides you a voice to share your perspectives
Employee Assistance Program (EAP) for access to confidential support services
Company retirement options including 401(k) + matching & Roth account option