Head of People Operations

Walker-Miller Energy•Detroit, MI

14h•Onsite

About The Position

The Head of People Operations is Walker-Miller’s senior people operations executive that leads the company’s people delivery engine and serves as the enterprise owner of core people operations, people systems, HRBP deployment, team member relations and investigations, recruiting execution, and talent-process administration. The Head of People Operations translates business priorities into disciplined people execution so the company can scale with strong controls, reliable service, compliant practices, usable data, and a leadership-ready operating model. This executive partners closely with the CEO, COO, and Chief Culture & Capability Officer to strengthen trust in the People function, improve manager and team member experience, and build the operational backbone required for growth. The role is accountable not only for day-to-day accuracy and risk management, but also for designing scalable processes, building a high-performing team, using technology and AI responsibly, and creating the operational conditions that allow culture, capability, and workforce strategy to succeed.

Requirements

Bachelor's degree required; advanced degree or professional certification in Human Resources, Business, Systems, Finance, or a related discipline preferred.
10 or more years of progressive experience in HR operations, payroll, benefits, HRIS, talent acquisition operations, compliance administration, and/or shared services leadership.
Demonstrated success leading payroll, benefits, HRIS, talent acquisition operations, and compliance administration in a growth-oriented environment with strong customer-service expectations.
Deep experience with Workday or a comparable HRIS platform; strong systems thinking and comfort with workflow design, reporting, and vendor management.
Working knowledge of relevant employment and benefits laws and regulations, including wage and hour requirements, leave administration, ERISA, COBRA, HIPAA, I-9 / E-Verify, and recordkeeping obligations.
Strong analytical and project management capabilities, including the ability to prioritize, standardize, and improve complex operational processes.
Judgment: can assess facts, risk, fairness, and business context without becoming overly legalistic or overly informal.
Operational rigor: builds repeatable processes, documentation standards, controls, and service expectations.
Coaching and influence: equips leaders to handle people issues earlier, more consistently, and with stronger accountability.
Credibility and discretion: earns trust across executives, people leaders, and team members in sensitive situations.
Balanced orientation: combines empathy, fairness, and human-centered leadership with clarity, standards, and follow-through.

Nice To Haves

Experience in energy, utilities, clean energy, professional services, or another multi-state, growth-oriented environment.
A disciplined operator who can establish controls without creating unnecessary bureaucracy.
Strong customer-service orientation, sound judgment, and the ability to collaborate effectively with executive leaders, people leaders, and frontline team members.
Comfort leading through change, implementing new technology, and building credibility in an environment that needs both stabilization and scale.

Responsibilities

Lead and manage a team in alignment with Walker-Miller’s BEHIVE core values.
Lead and continuously improve core people operations processes, workflows, internal controls, and service delivery across the employment lifecycle.
Lead and develop the People Operations & Systems team through clear role definitions, service expectations, quality standards, and cross-training.
Own team member relations (team member relations), including intake, triage, case management, investigation standards, documentation quality, and resolution consistency.
Own the HRBP operating model and lead HR Business Partners in partnering with leaders on performance processes, talent decisions, organizational effectiveness, and team effectiveness.
Lead process execution for talent reviews, calibration sessions, succession planning, and team member development.
Build an emotionally intelligent, responsive, data-driven operations function that improves trust in the People & Culture organization.
Own employment-law and policy compliance across relevant federal, state, and local jurisdictions through policy governance, audits, and corrective-action follow-through.
Partner with the Chief Culture & Engagement Officer and leaders to strengthen manager capability in performance management, coaching, corrective action, and fair policy application.
Use data, trend analysis, and case insights to identify systemic issues and recommend practical solutions that improve leadership practices and reduce repeat risk.
Partner with Finance, IT, Operations, Legal or employment counsel, and the Chief Culture & Engagement Officer to ensure policies, systems, and team member-facing processes are coordinated and scalable.
Own vendor governance for payroll, benefits, brokers, HRIS partners, and other operational providers, including SLA management and issue resolution.
Create and maintain standard operating procedures, internal controls, and documentation for payroll support functions, benefits, HRIS, compensation administration, and compliance workflows.
Support end-to-end payroll administration in partnership with finance for a multi-state workforce, including payroll calendars, audits, tax and wage notices, garnishments, off-cycle pay, PTO accrual integrity, and controls.
Lead benefits and leave administration, open enrollment operations, vendor invoice reconciliation, qualifying life event processing, and team member support on administrative benefit matters.
Own compliance administration for I-9, E-Verify, required notices, record retention, audit preparation, and other recurring people compliance processes in partnership with legal and business stakeholders as needed.
Maintain high standards for confidentiality, neutrality, documentation, and execution discipline.
Serve as the business owner for all HRIS and people systems, including ADP, Workday administration, system configuration governance, workflow design, data integrity, reporting, and integrations.
Develop and execute a people operations technology roadmap that improves team member self-service, manager enablement, and operational resilience.
Build and manage a service-delivery model for people operations, including ticketing or case management, knowledge management, talent management, SOPs, SLAs, escalation paths, and service quality metrics.
Use dashboards, controls, and root-cause analysis to identify errors, improve cycle times, and prevent repeat issues across people operations.
Provide accurate and timely workforce data, dashboards, and operational reporting to leadership.
Own talent acquisition operations, including, but not limited to requisition workflow, ATS governance, candidate communications, interview coordination, offer administration, recruiting dashboards, vendor usage and operational reporting.
Own recruiting process design, service levels, and hiring-manager support to deliver efficient, compliant, and high-quality hiring execution across the business.
Own the operational execution of talent-management and talent-development processes, including performance cycles, calibration, talent reviews, succession process administration, promotion workflow, and career-path administration.
Partner with the Chief Culture & Capability Officer to translate culture, learning, and workforce priorities into practical process design and execution discipline.
Establish performance philosophy, talent reviews, succession, career paths, promotion criteria, and governance standards.
Own workforce planning processes to enable business strategy and growth.
Partner with business leaders to translate workforce strategy into practical recruiting execution—especially for critical roles—through workforce demand planning, critical-role prioritization, candidate experience, and inclusive hiring.
Own compensation administration, annual cycle execution, job and salary data maintenance, and operational support for market benchmarking and pay actions in partnership with Finance and the Chief Culture & Engagement Officer.
Lead process redesign, internal controls, and audit readiness across people operations; establish strong change-control discipline for systems and process updates.
Evaluate, implement, and optimize automation and AI-enabled solutions that improve operational accuracy, reporting quality, and team member self-service.