HR School Partner, (Manager II, 0992)

San Francisco Unified School District•San Francisco, CA

17d•Onsite

About The Position

The HR School Partner serves as the primary Human Resources partner to an assigned portfolio of San Francisco Unified School District schools. The role supports principals and people managers with employee relations, workplace investigations, performance management, collective bargaining agreement interpretation, and effective people management. It helps school leaders address employee concerns fairly, consistently, and promptly while balancing responsiveness with due process, employee rights, contractual obligations, and equitable workplace practices. The position independently assesses complex employee situations, gathers and analyzes information, makes practical recommendations, and coaches leaders through difficult conversations and decisions. It works closely with Labor Relations, Legal, Leaves and Accommodations, Staffing, and other Human Resources teams to coordinate appropriate support and help resolve issues. The partner works directly at school sites, builds principals’ capacity as people managers, and remains engaged through appropriate resolution. The strongest candidates have five years of progressively responsible related professional experience, including advising and supporting managers on complex employee matters, and prior experience as a site-based school administrator. The listed minimum qualifications are a bachelor’s degree and three years of related professional-level experience; up to four years of the education requirement may be substituted with additional experience on a year-for-year basis. California administrative certification and an HR certification (PHR, SPHR, SHRM, or SHRM-SCP) are listed among candidate qualifications. This is a permanent-exempt, full-time, full-year position. SFUSD offers a salary of $132,527–$180,933 annually, commensurate with experience, and a comprehensive benefits plan. The role is based in schools across the K–12 system and involves working with school leaders and central-office HR teams.

Requirements

Bachelor’s degree (B.A. or B.S.) from an accredited college or university.
Three years of related professional-level experience; up to four years of the education requirement may be substituted with additional experience on a year-for-year basis.
Five years of progressively responsible professional experience in school administration, employee relations, labor relations, human resources, or a closely related field, including experience advising and supporting people managers on complex employee matters.
Previous experience as a site-based school administrator and understanding of the day-to-day realities of managing employees in schools.
Expertise in employee relations, including workplace investigations, performance management, progressive discipline, performance evaluations, grievances, and other complex employee matters.
Knowledge of the FRISK model or comparable approaches to documenting and addressing employee performance and conduct concerns.
Ability to coach managers through performance concerns, conflict, difficult conversations, corrective action, and sensitive personnel matters.
Project-management skills, including planning, organizing, prioritizing, and using resources to achieve goals.
Strong interpersonal skills and ability to build trusting, effective relationships with school leaders, employees, labor partners, senior District leaders, and colleagues.
Ability to work directly in schools across the K–12 system and adapt support to differing school-community needs and contexts.
Flexibility, initiative, and an entrepreneurial mindset to build and continuously improve a new role within a large, complex urban school system.
Strong analytical and systems-thinking skills, including interpreting data, identifying patterns, informing strategy, and building systems and infrastructure.
Excellent leadership and interpersonal skills, responsiveness, customer service, follow-through, and quality of work.
Ability to work across functions and organizational levels and navigate central-office systems on behalf of school leaders.
Ability to manage conflict, facilitate difficult conversations, and remain calm and solutions-oriented when perspectives or interests differ.
California administrative certification.
HR certification such as PHR, SPHR, SHRM, or SHRM-SCP.

Responsibilities

Serve as the primary Human Resources advisor to principals and people managers in an assigned portfolio of schools, working directly on site and building productive relationships with school administrators.
Advise and coach school leaders on employee performance, conduct, attendance, workplace conflict, professional expectations, and other employee concerns.
Conduct fair, thorough, timely, and impartial workplace investigations, including planning investigations, interviewing parties and witnesses, reviewing evidence, assessing credibility, documenting findings, and preparing written reports.
Assess employee concerns and determine the appropriate HR pathway, such as investigation, performance management, corrective action, progressive discipline, informal resolution, or referral to Labor Relations or another specialized HR function.
Support principals in addressing performance concerns through clear expectations, feedback, documentation, coaching, improvement plans, and other appropriate interventions.
Consult on employee performance evaluations, helping leaders establish expectations, provide actionable feedback, document performance, complete evaluations on time, and align outcomes with subsequent performance-management actions.
Review performance documentation and proposed corrective actions for clarity, consistency, sufficient documentation, and alignment with District policies, procedures, and applicable collective bargaining agreements.
Coach managers in preparing for and conducting difficult employee conversations, performance conferences, investigatory meetings, and corrective conversations.
Develop working knowledge of SFUSD collective bargaining agreements and provide practical guidance on contractual provisions affecting day-to-day people management.
Partner with principals on grievances, potential contract violations, disciplinary matters, past-practice questions, bargaining obligations, and other labor relations issues.
Help principals fulfill their obligations under collective bargaining agreements, Board policies, administrative regulations, and District procedures.
Identify potential labor, employee-relations, or legal risks and engage Labor Relations, Legal Counsel, or other specialized partners as appropriate.
Facilitate workplace conflict resolution and employee concerns when informal intervention is appropriate, while recognizing matters requiring formal investigation or other processes.
Support timely, respectful, consistent, and appropriately documented responses to employee complaints and concerns.
Maintain accurate, complete, confidential case documentation and records in accordance with District requirements.
Track employee-relations cases and ensure timely follow-up, communication, and resolution.
Identify patterns across cases, investigations, grievances, evaluations, and performance concerns and recommend systemic interventions, training, or improvements.
Develop and monitor key performance indicators for case management, investigation timeliness, performance evaluations, and service delivery.
Train principals and people managers on employee relations, investigations, documentation, performance management, collective bargaining agreements, and effective management practices.
Build school leaders’ capacity to address routine people-management issues independently and recognize when HR involvement is needed.
Identify system concerns and recommend central-office improvements to help meet principals’ needs.
Build relationships with principals, employees, union representatives, and HR colleagues while maintaining neutrality, confidentiality, and professional judgment.
Exercise sound judgment in sensitive employee matters and communicate recommendations clearly, directly, and respectfully.
Perform other related duties as assigned.