Employee Relations Business Partner

Nuro•Santa Clara, CA

12h•Onsite

About The Position

We're hiring an Employee Relations Business Partner as we scale our Operations organization. This role is the primary owner of employee-specific issues requiring investigation, documentation, policy interpretation, and disciplinary guidance across our frontline workforce and, ultimately, across Nuro. This role complements, but does not replace, our Operations HRBP and People & Compliance Site Lead roles. The Operations HRBP is the strategic partner to Operations leaders, focused on org design, manager development, workforce planning, and team effectiveness. The People & Compliance Site Lead focuses on site execution, readiness, audits, and surfacing operational risks. This role owns the employee-specific casework those functions surface and escalate. This is an individual contributor role reporting into the People team, with close partnership to Employment Legal and HRBPs.

Requirements

5+ years of experience in employee relations, investigations, HRBP, HR generalist, or employment law roles, including direct ownership of complex ER matters; in-house or employment counsel backgrounds welcome
Strong investigation skills: interviewing, fact assessment, documentation review, and written recommendation development; AWI-CH certification or equivalent investigation-focused training strongly preferred
Experience supporting hourly, non-exempt, contingent, or shift-based workforces in operations, logistics, transportation, manufacturing, warehouse, retail, hospitality, or similarly fast-paced environments
Ability to manage a high volume of cases with strong judgment, responsiveness, and close attention to detail
Strong manager coaching skills and the ability to guide frontline leaders through difficult employee issues with clarity and consistency
Excellent written communication and documentation skills
Strong knowledge of California employment law and ER practices for high-volume environments; Texas experience is a plus
Calm, practical, and solutions-oriented in ambiguous or high-pressure situations
Highly organized and process-minded, with the ability to build lightweight systems that improve consistency without slowing down operations
Comfortable building trust across employees, managers, and cross-functional partners while handling sensitive matters with discretion
Comfortable working in site-based, shift-driven environments, with occasional off-hours support as needed

Nice To Haves

Experience supporting multi-site or 24/7 operations
Experience in safety-sensitive, industrial, transportation, or other high-accountability environments
Experience handling cases involving harassment, discrimination, retaliation, racially charged incidents, or suspected impairment
Experience supporting temporary workforce models and partnering directly with vendors
Experience building ER playbooks, manager toolkits, investigation frameworks, or disciplinary processes in high-growth environments
J.D. or employment law background
PHR, SPHR, SHRM-CP, SHRM-SCP, or AWI-CH certifications

Responsibilities

Own employee relations intake, triage, and investigations for the Operations workforce and broader Nuro population, ensuring timely, fair, and well-documented case handling
Lead investigations end-to-end: conduct witness interviews, prepare question outlines, organize interview notes, gather and review documentation, make objective fact findings, summarize key issues, and communicate findings to relevant stakeholders
Draft investigation reports and written summaries; close out appropriately with both complainant and subject
Partner with frontline supervisors and managers on corrective action, disciplinary consistency, documentation quality, and separation readiness
Support high-volume ER matters including attendance, job abandonment, professionalism, policy violations, interpersonal conflict, reporting failures, and other conduct-related concerns
Partner on urgent safety and conduct escalations, including suspected impairment, training-related concerns, and incidents requiring immediate HR support
Coach managers through difficult employee conversations, written warnings, administrative leave, and separation planning
Track data on concerns raised; identify trends across cases and manager requests, and translate them into recommendations for training, policy clarity, and process improvement
Build and improve scalable ER tools and processes, including investigation templates, intake workflows, manager guidance, and offboarding standards
Partner closely with Employment Legal, HRBPs, Safety, People Ops, Workplace, and staffing vendors to ensure aligned case handling and a consistent employee experience