Human Resources Generalist

Mariani Landscape•Lake Bluff, IL

15d•$90,000 - $110,000

About The Position

Mariani Landscape is seeking a Human Resources Generalist to serve as a trusted, hands-on HR partner across the organization. This role owns the full scope of HR generalist functions onboarding, employee relations, performance management, compliance, and HR administration while also taking on greater ownership of process design, complex casework, and mentorship of junior HR staff. The HR Generalist operates with a high degree of independent judgment, partners directly with people managers and leadership on workforce matters, and is often the escalation point for sensitive or complex employee relations issues. This role requires strong organizational skills, sound judgment, discretion, and the ability to lead HR initiatives from concept through execution.

Requirements

Bachelor's degree in Human Resources, Business Administration, or a related field, or equivalent experience.
5-8+ years of progressive experience in a generalist HR role, including experience leading projects or mentoring others.
Advanced proficiency in HRIS systems; Workday experience strongly preferred.
Deep working knowledge of federal, state, and local employment law and HR best practices.
Demonstrated experience independently leading employee relations investigations and sensitive casework.
Excellent judgment and discretion in handling highly confidential and sensitive information.
Strong project management, coaching, and influencing skills, with the ability to advise managers and leadership.
Excellent organizational, communication, and interpersonal skills.

Nice To Haves

Bilingual in English and Spanish strongly preferred.

Responsibilities

Own end-to-end HR operations, including onboarding, offboarding, and employee record maintenance, and provide guidance to HR Coordinators/Generalists supporting these processes.
Serve as an escalation point for employee inquiries and manager questions regarding HR policies, benefits, and procedures, resolving complex or ambiguous situations independently.
Design and lead new hire orientation programs, ensuring consistency, compliance, and a strong first-week experience.
Own data integrity within the HRIS (Workday), including auditing records, troubleshooting issues, and leading system optimization or process-improvement projects.
Independently lead employee relations matters, including sensitive investigations, documentation, and resolution recommendations, escalating only the most significant matters to leadership.
Lead the design and execution of performance review cycles; coach and train managers on goal-setting, calibration, and delivering effective feedback.
Shape training and development strategy — identify skill gaps, design or source programming, and track effectiveness and participation.
Lead employee engagement and culture-building initiatives, including planning, budget input, and measuring impact.
Monitor and ensure organization-wide compliance with federal, state, and local employment law; proactively identify policy gaps and lead updates to company policy.
Own HR reporting and analytics (turnover, headcount, training completion, and related metrics), translating data into actionable recommendations for leadership.
Lead cross-functional HR projects aimed at improving processes and the employee experience, from scoping through implementation.
Mentor and provide day-to-day guidance to HR Coordinators or less experienced Generalists.
Act as a trusted advisor to department managers on workforce planning, organizational structure, and people-related decisions.
Manage multiple concurrent priorities and competing deadlines with minimal oversight.
Work independently and collaboratively across cross-functional and leadership teams.