Employee Relations Director

Blue Cross Blue Shield of Minnesota•Eagan, MN

18h•Hybrid

About The Position

The Director Employee Relations is a hands-on, working leader who personally manages complex employee relations matters and leads Employee Relations and Leave of Absence (LOA) professionals. The role provides enterprise operational, governance, and risk leadership, translating ER strategy into disciplined day-to-day decision-making and applying advanced judgment, critical thinking, and risk assessment to high-stakes cases, investigations, and employment actions. The director independently leads the most complex and sensitive ER and LOA matters, sets standards, guides team capacity, and ensures consistent, defensible outcomes across both functions. Serving as a primary escalation point for HR Business Partners and leaders, the role balances speed, consistency, legal defensibility, and reputational considerations, and provides clear recommendations to employment counsel and senior HR leadership. The director collaborates with Legal, HR Business Partners, Total Rewards, Talent Acquisition, People Analytics, Organizational Development, Compliance, and Enterprise Learning. The role also owns ER and LOA governance and infrastructure, manages compliance hotline issues, identifies patterns and systemic risk, strengthens leader capability, and leads updates to HR-related policies and practices. The position is hybrid, with at least two days onsite each week and the remainder of the week remote. The stated annual pay range is $135,500 to $230,300, with pay based on factors including skills, ability, and knowledge. Benefits may include medical, dental, and vision insurance, life insurance, 401(k), paid time off, and volunteer paid time off.

Requirements

At least 7 years of progressive employee relations experience.
At least 3 years of management experience.
Bachelor’s degree, or, in lieu of a degree, an additional two years of relevant experience beyond the listed qualifications.
Ability to communicate strategic direction across departments, listen actively, and align leaders and stakeholders through clear, actionable guidance.
Ability to analyze cross-functional impacts, set priorities, and guide leaders in resolving high-impact challenges and improving outcomes.
Ability to organize work, balance cross-functional priorities, and manage team capacity across initiatives.
Experience handling employee relations issues and conducting investigations.
Sound decision-making and conflict-resolution abilities.
Ability to build strong working relationships and provide consultative support and guidance to leaders and enterprise stakeholders.
Knowledge of and ability to comply with applicable federal, state, and local employment laws, regulations, and compliance requirements.
Ability to handle sensitive employee and candidate information confidentially and comply with privacy, confidentiality, and data-protection requirements.

Nice To Haves

Master’s degree in a related field.
Workday experience.
Professional in Human Resources (PHR) certification from HRCI.
Senior Professional in Human Resources (SPHR) certification from HRCI.

Responsibilities

Lead the Employee Relations and LOA functions while personally handling complex, high-risk employee relations matters; set priorities, capacity plans, and quality expectations and ensure consistent enterprise practices.
Own and execute enterprise ER work, including sensitive investigations and employment actions, and intake, triage, prioritization, assignment, and execution across misconduct, performance issues, ADA/LOA intersections, and policy violations.
Define and enforce escalation thresholds, decision rights, and role clarity between HR Business Partners and Employee Relations.
Lead and oversee complex, high-risk investigations, including protected-class, retaliation, senior-leader, and systemic matters; assess facts, credibility, impact, and risk and produce legally sound written outcomes.
Own ER governance, including investigation frameworks, the associate handbook, documentation standards, case management processes, government reporting, response timelines, decision consistency, and audit readiness.
Monitor ER performance and enterprise risk indicators, including case volume, cycle time, repeat patterns, and risk hotspots, and use insights to reduce recurrence and strengthen prevention.
Translate ER case data and investigation trends into enterprise insights that inform policy updates, leader capability gaps, training priorities, and emerging people risks; partner with HR, Legal, and Compliance on mitigation.
Advise HR Business Partners and leaders on high-impact employment decisions, including corrective action, performance improvement plans, terminations, and reduction-in-force planning.
Advise on high-visibility or enterprise-impacting ER matters, considering legal, regulatory, cultural, and reputational risk.
Hire, develop, and retain talent; set expectations; coach employees through performance management; provide timely, constructive feedback; and model organizational values and behaviors.
Identify, streamline, and implement more efficient and effective ways of working.
Perform additional responsibilities consistent with the scope and level of the role, as assigned.