HR Director

Sagard•Denver, CO

9d•$120,000 - $175,000•Hybrid

About The Position

The HR Director is an integral member of the Sagard Real Estate (SRE) team. The incumbent serves as a trusted strategic advisor to senior leaders and the primary People & Culture resource for the business and its team members. They provide balanced, pragmatic advice that considers both business priorities and the team member experience, while guiding leaders through complex and sensitive People & Culture matters with sound judgment, discretion, and a solutions-oriented approach. Based in Denver, Colorado, this role supports team members and leaders across multiple U.S. locations, including California, New York, New Jersey, Texas, and North Carolina, and requires a strong working knowledge of the employment law landscape across these jurisdictions. The HR Director also serves as the key liaison with Sagard’s centralized People & Culture team, including payroll, benefits, talent, compensation, and HR technology functions. Sagard offers a very dynamic, fast-growing, global, and high-velocity environment. The role combines strategic partnership with hands-on execution, supporting day-to-day people needs while ensuring the consistent application of enterprise-wide People & Culture programs, policies, and processes. The incumbent leverages Workday, AI, and other technology and data sources to identify trends, generate meaningful insights, improve decision-making, and help leaders anticipate and address workforce needs. The ideal candidate is a resourceful and credible People & Culture professional who thrives in a matrixed, fast-paced environment, builds trust at all levels, and navigates complex business and regulatory situations with confidence. They bring a balanced perspective, advocating for fair and thoughtful outcomes for team members while remaining closely aligned with the business’s strategy, performance expectations, and growth objectives.

Requirements

Bachelor's degree in Human Resources, Business Administration, or a related field.
7–10 years of progressive HR experience, ideally within a matrixed or multi-entity organization.
Demonstrated experience supporting managers and employees across core HR functions including employee relations, onboarding, and performance management.
Proven ability to navigate multi-state employment law compliance, with hands-on experience in California and/or New York strongly preferred.
Experience working within a centralized HR shared-services model is strongly preferred.
Familiarity with HRIS platforms and comfort navigating shared-services environments.
Strong interpersonal and communication skills, with the ability to build trust with employees and managers across multiple locations and time zones.
Working knowledge of multi-state employment law, with the ability to identify when to escalate to legal counsel or central HR.
Practical problem-solver who can balance empathy with sound judgment and policy adherence.
Comfortable managing competing priorities in a fast-paced, growing, and geographically distributed environment.
High degree of discretion when handling sensitive and confidential information.
Proficient in Microsoft Office (Outlook, Word, Excel, PowerPoint).
Collaborative by nature, with a bias toward action and follow-through.

Nice To Haves

SHRM-CP or equivalent certification is an asset.

Responsibilities

Champion a positive, inclusive, and high-performing workplace culture aligned with Sagard's values across all supported locations.
Support the deployment of employee engagement surveys and help translate results into meaningful local and regional action plans.
Coordinate recognition initiatives, team events, and communications that strengthen employee connection and belonging across a geographically distributed workforce.
Provide expertise on Performance across all SRE locations through the annual performance review cycle, guiding leaders on goal-setting, ongoing feedback delivery, performance assessment, and documentation.
Act as a local resource during the Annual Leadership Review process, partnering with central HR on calibration and follow-up.
Act as a trusted advisor to leaders in assessing the strength, potential, and development needs of their talent. Facilitate thoughtful talent discussions, support succession planning, and help leaders identify critical roles, high-potential team members, and emerging talent or retention risks.
Partner with leaders and team members to translate talent assessments into meaningful development plans. Recommend the most appropriate development tools and opportunities, including coaching, mentoring, targeted training, stretch assignments, and increased exposure, while monitoring progress and adjusting support as needed.
Identify and flag performance concerns early, coaching managers on appropriate steps and escalation paths that are compliant with applicable state laws.
Serve as the SRE lead for compensation, partnering closely with Sagard's centralized Compensation & Benefits Center of Expertise (COE) to ensure competitive, equitable, and compliant pay practices across all supported locations.
Partner with the Compensation COE on market benchmarking, translating benchmarking data into clear recommendations for the SRE leadership team on new hire offers, merit increases, promotions, retention adjustments, and off-cycle pay changes.
Advise and educate leaders on annual compensation cycles, including merit, bonus, and equity processes, ensuring consistent application and documentation.
Facilitate engaging site-level orientation that embeds new employees into the Sagard Real Estate culture from day one, regardless of location.
Lead the full onboarding experience for new hires across all locations, partnering with the centralized HR and payroll teams to ensure smooth system setup, benefits enrollment, and day-one readiness.
Manage offboarding logistics including exit interviews, knowledge transfer coordination, and system transitions in collaboration with the parent company HR team, ensuring compliance with state-specific termination requirements (e.g., California final pay rules).
Serve as the first point of contact for employee relations matters, providing guidance to managers and employees on HR policies, workplace issues, and conflict resolution across all supported locations.
Ensure compliance with applicable local, state, and federal employment laws across all jurisdictions, with particular attention to the regulatory requirements of California, New York, and New Jersey — including wage and hour rules, leave laws, pay transparency requirements, and worker classification standards.
Monitor legislative and regulatory developments across supported states and proactively communicate changes to management and the central HR team.
Maintain accurate employee records and support any HR audits or reporting requirements.
Serve as the primary point of contact between Sagard Real Estate and Sagard's centralized HR, HRIS, payroll, and benefits functions.
Communicate and implement enterprise HR programs, policy updates, and system changes across all supported locations, adapting delivery where state-specific requirements apply.
Submit and track HR requests, ensuring timely resolution and clear communication back to employees and managers.
Provide feedback to central HR on site-specific and state-specific needs, gaps, or challenges to support continuous program improvement.