Employee Relations Director

CNA Insurance • Chicago, IL

1d • Hybrid

About The Position

The Employee Relations Director is a high-impact enterprise leader responsible for shaping how Employee Relations drives trust, fairness, and risk mitigation across the organization. This role leads and coaches a high-performing team while setting the standard for thoughtful, data-informed investigations and consistent case management practices. As a strategic advisor to HR and business leaders, this individual brings strong judgment and a forward-looking lens to varied ER matters. Combining hands-on expertise with a continuous improvement mindset, the Employee Relations Director elevates ER practices, enables better decision-making, and delivers clear, people-centered solutions that strengthen culture and support business performance. The successful candidate brings proven ER leadership, strong investigative and analytical acumen, and a track record of influencing stakeholders to deliver consistent, risk-informed outcomes.

Requirements

• Proven people leadership capability, including coaching, delegation, feedback, and talent development, with a demonstrated ability to build and sustain a high-performing, inclusive team culture.
• Strong operational leadership skills, including the ability to establish and maintain an effective operating cadence (intake/triage, case reviews, workload management) and drive consistent, high-quality ER practices across a team.
• Excellent communication and influencing skills, with the ability to build trust and effectively engage with leadership, HR partners, and employees at all levels of the organization.
• Advanced investigative and analytical expertise, including the ability to synthesize complex evidence, assess credibility, identify patterns and themes, and translate findings into clear, practical, and actionable recommendations.
• Sound judgment and decision-making ability, including the capacity to navigate ambiguity, manage high sensitivity matters, and balance business, legal and employee considerations.
• Deep knowledge of federal and state employment laws, HR policies, and employee relations best practices, with the ability to translate requirements into practical guidance for leaders and the ER team.
• Strong time management and organizational skills with the ability to balance team leadership responsibilities and an individual caseload while managing multiple matters with appropriate urgency and follow-through.
• Data-driven mindset, with the ability to leverage case data to identify trends, communicate insights, and drive preventive actions (e.g., training, leader guidance, policy clarification, and process improvements).
• High level of integrity, professionalism and discretion, with the ability to maintain confidentiality, build credibility, and trusted partnerships with customers, peers, direct reports, and company leadership.
• Strong problem-solving skills, including the ability to manage and resolve complex, sensitive situations with balanced, practical solutions.
• Bachelor’s degree required
• A minimum of ten years related work experience in the employee relations field.
• At least five years’ management experience

Responsibilities

• Provides day-to-day leadership for a team of Employee Relations professionals, including hiring, onboarding, coaching, performance management, development planning, and employee engagement.
• Establishes team priorities and manages intake, triage, and assignment of Employee Relations matters; provides escalation support, ensures appropriate resourcing, and drives timely and effective case progression.
• Personally leads complex and sensitive investigations from intake through resolution, including investigation planning, evidence gathering, interviews, documentation, findings, recommendations, alignment on outcomes, and communication of results.
• Provides oversight and quality review of team-managed investigations and casework, coaching on investigative techniques, report writing, policy application, and recommendation development to ensure consistency and defensibility.
• Ensures accurate, timely documentation and reporting of all cases within the case management system; establishes expectations, monitors data quality, and uses case trends and metrics to inform priorities and continuous improvement.
• Serves as a subject matter expert, providing consultation to leaders, HR Business Partners, and HR COEs on employee relations strategy, conflict resolution, performance management, and risk mitigation; aligns approach across their team and supports complex escalations.
• Conducts or oversees additional investigatory and employee relations matters as assigned; ensuring all investigative work is completed professionally, impartially, and in alignment with corporate guidelines and industry standards.
• Leads special projects and initiatives to enhance Employee Relations practices and capabilities (e.g., process design, playbooks, training, and continuous improvement), partnering across HR COEs and the business.
• May perform additional duties as assigned.

Benefits

• Comprehensive and competitive benefits package to help our employees – and their family members – achieve their physical, financial, emotional and social wellbeing goals.

What This Job Offers

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