HR Business Partner

Urban Outfitters•Philadelphia, PA

10d•Onsite

About The Position

The HR Business Partner, Urban Outfitters is a key part of the team that ensures that engine runs well: that UO's talent is developed, its leaders are equipped, its employee experience is intentional, and its people strategy is connected to where the brand is going commercially and culturally. This is a trusted people advisor and proactive thought partner to UO managers and directors, connecting the brand to URBN's HR Centers of Excellence and translating business priorities into talent action. This role operates at the intersection of UO's creative brand identity and the people practices that make that identity sustainable at scale. If you are drawn to UO because you believe HR can be as creative, intentional, and culture-forward as the brand itself — this role is for you.

Requirements

6–9 years of progressive HR experience, with at least 3 years in an HR Business Partner role and demonstrated comfort carrying both strategic and operational HR responsibilities — this role requires fluency at both levels during a defined transition period
Experience in retail, fashion, lifestyle brand, or consumer-facing creative industry strongly preferred — demonstrated understanding of how brand culture, seasonal rhythms, and consumer identity shape people strategy
Track record of building credible, trusted relationships with senior leaders and influencing outcomes without direct authority
Demonstrated experience using people data and HRIS analytics to support business conversations — comfortable building reports, spotting trends, and presenting workforce insights to non-HR audiences
Experience independently managing ER case intake and documentation, onboarding program stewardship, and HR program coordination — not just supporting these areas, but owning them end-to-end alongside strategic partnership responsibilities
Experience supporting talent calibration, succession planning, performance management delivery, and competency or career framework design in a complex, multi-stakeholder environment
Solid working knowledge of talent management: performance management, talent calibration, development planning, succession, and competency framework design
Working knowledge of compensation principles sufficient to partner effectively with the URBN Compensation COE on merit, bonus, and equity decisions
Working knowledge of federal, state, and local employment law (ADA, FMLA, Title VII, ADEA, FLSA, EEO) — applied both to strategic ER advising and to operational compliance documentation
Proficiency with HRIS platforms (UKG or equivalent): comfortable with standard transaction processing (job changes, status updates, reporting) and analytics reporting (dashboards, workforce trends, program completion tracking)
Strong written and verbal communication: able to communicate clearly to non-HR audiences, write legally defensible ER documentation, present workforce insights to brand leadership, and design employee-facing program materials
Change management skills: ability to develop communications, manage stakeholder alignment, and support employee adoption through structured transitions
Coaching skills: demonstrated ability to coach managers and directors on leadership effectiveness, team performance, and people decisions with specificity and appropriate challenge
Operational discipline: demonstrated ability to manage a high volume of concurrent HR tasks — onboarding, ER cases, program logistics, data reporting — without letting operational volume crowd out strategic partnership capacity

Responsibilities

Serve as the primary HR advisor to director-level and above leaders across the UO brand — participating in leadership team conversations, bringing a talent lens to business decisions before they are made, and advising on people matters with confidence and appropriate urgency
Connect UO leadership to URBN COE expertise across Compensation, Benefits, L&D, HR Ops, and ER — serving as an informed connector and quality monitor, ensuring COE programs land well for UO's specific population
Lead annual talent calibration and talent mapping sessions with UO leadership, identifying high-potential talent, at-risk talent, succession depth, and critical role gaps
Drive adoption and quality of URBN Connects (UO's performance management program with four annual touchpoints: goal-setting, mid-year, year-end, and development planning) — coaching managers on effective performance conversations and holding the program to a high standard of execution
Coach managers and directors on leadership effectiveness, team performance, and individual development with specificity and care — not generic HR guidance, but insight grounded in knowledge of the person, the team, and the business context
Partner with the TD and L&D COEs to connect high-potential UO employees to development programs; follow through on nominations, program participation, and post-program development actions
Analyze workforce data for the UO population — turnover trends, engagement results, talent health indicators, performance distribution — and translate that data into clear, actionable recommendations for UO leadership
Drive UO's participation in the Employee Engagement Survey and Employee Lifecycle Survey; facilitate leadership communication of results and accountability for follow-through on action plans
Identify patterns in people data — recurring ER themes, turnover triggers, engagement gaps by team or function — and surface them to the HR Leadership with supporting analysis
Champion the UO employee experience across the full lifecycle — from the moment a candidate engages with the brand through onboarding, development, recognition, and transition — ensuring the experience reflects UO's creative, individual, and community-oriented culture
Partner with UO leadership on culture-building programming and engagement initiatives that reinforce UO's brand identity and values
Coordinate with the onboarding logistics and program execution — ensuring that the operational experience (Day 1, I-9, orientation, New to URBN program completion) is seamlessly integrated with the strategic experience (manager introductions, 90-day check-ins, culture immersion)
Advise managers on employee relations matters — performance management processes, disciplinary actions, and separations — ensuring consistency, fairness, and legal compliance across the UO population
Partner with the HR Leadership and Legal on investigations, accommodation requests, and high-risk ER matters; escalate appropriately and follow through to resolution
Maintain working knowledge of federal, state, and local employment law (ADA, FMLA, Title VII, ADEA, FLSA, EEO) as applied to the UO brand population
Support UO leadership on organizational changes — restructures, role redesigns, team transitions — in partnership with the HR Leadership and URBN Shared Services; develop communications, manage stakeholder alignment, and support adoption
Partner with the HR and Talent Leadership on larger brand transformation efforts; own discrete change management workstreams within broader initiatives
Create and review job descriptions when UO is establishing new roles or updating existing ones; ensure alignment with compensation structures and organizational architecture
Serving as the first point of contact for all ER matters within the UO brand — routine policy questions, attendance and conduct issues, minor disciplinary situations, and accommodation intake — in addition to the advisory and escalation responsibilities described above
Maintaining detailed, confidential ER case records; tracking case volume and category trends to surface systemic patterns to the Director, HRBP
Managing the operational logistics of recurring HR programs for the UO population — URBN Connects cycle reminders and completion tracking, engagement survey response rate monitoring, merit communication follow-through.