Labor & Employee Relations Senior Advisor (5020)

Southern Illinois University School of Medicine•Springfield, IL

8d•Onsite

About The Position

Under administrative direction, the Labor and Employee Relations Senior Advisor serves as a strategic partner to leadership, providing expert guidance on complex employee and labor relations matters. This role ensures compliance with employment laws, collective bargaining agreements, and organizational policies while promoting a respectful, accountable, and high-performing workplace culture. The Senior Advisor independently manages sensitive investigations, advises executive leadership on risk mitigation strategies, and contributes to labor strategy development and workforce engagement initiatives. This role may require occasional travel for hearings, negotiations, or training delivery. This position is onsite only.

Requirements

Bachelor’s degree in Human Resources, Labor Relations, Business Administration, Public Administration, or related field.
5+ years of progressively responsible experience in employee and/or labor relations in a public sector unionized environment.
Demonstrated experience managing complex workplace investigations.
Knowledge above the rudimentary understanding of principles and procedures used in human resources (i.e. personnel recruitment, selection, training, compensation, benefits, labor relations and negotiation and personnel information systems).
Strong knowledge of employment laws and regulatory compliance requirements.
Strong/excellent communication (verbal and written) and interpersonal skills to effectively present information including writing and editing reports and other materials and to respond to requests for guidance and/or clarification.
Knowledge of business and management principles involved in strategic planning, resource allocation, human resources modeling, leadership technique, production methods, and coordination of people and resources.
Ability to maintain professional relationships and to work effectively as a member of a team and/or as a project leader with the public, faculty, staff and administration as well as a variety of external union representatives and organizations.
Skill in reviewing and formulating/revising human resources policies and procedures and in exercising control over the implementation of policies and procedures.
Ability to organize, analyze and interpret data and have strong attention to detail and a high level of accuracy.

Nice To Haves

Master’s degree in Human Resources, Labor Relations, or related field.
Professional certification (e.g., SHRM-SCP, SPHR, or labor relations certification).
Experience representing management in arbitration or formal hearings.
Experience in a unionized or public-sector environment.

Responsibilities

Serves as a senior consultant to executives, managers, and HR leadership on complex employee and labor relations matters; advises on progressive discipline, performance management, conflict resolution, and organizational risk mitigation; interprets and applies federal, state, and local employment laws, collective bargaining agreements, and internal policies; identifies systemic workplace issues and opportunities for improvement, and recommends proactive strategies to enhance engagement, retention, and compliance.
Conducts or oversees complex, high-risk investigations or issues involving discrimination, harassment, retaliation, misconduct, and policy violations; prepares detailed investigative reports, findings, and recommendations for corrective or preventive actions; ensures investigations are conducted in a timely, impartial, and legally compliant manner; maintains confidential case documentation and tracks trends to inform leadership decision-making.
Analyzes qualitative and quantitative workforce data to identify trends, risks, and opportunities for intervention; prepares executive-level reports and dashboards on employee relations metrics, grievance activity, disciplinary trends, and culture indicators; supports internal audits, compliance reviews, and accreditation processes.
Serves as supervisor of direct reports; assigns and reviews work; provides guidance and training; approves time off and reassigns staff to meet operating needs; counsels staff regarding work performance; recommends and imposes discipline; establishes objectives and prepares performance evaluations; determines staffing requirements; manages staff to ensure that employees are complying with policies and industry and best practice labor and employee relations management standards when providing services on behalf of the Office of Human Resources; guides larger, cross-divisional teams outside of direct span of control; mentors and develops a team of managers and/or directors, managing work allocation, systems training, performance evaluations, and the building of an effective and efficient team dynamic; works with senior leadership to develop and implement corrective action plans resulting in required process changes and outcomes when aberrant trends are identified.
Serves as a key advisor during collective bargaining negotiations; prepares data analyses, costing models, and management proposals; interprets collective bargaining agreements and advises leadership on contract administration and grievance management; represents management in grievance hearings, mediations, and arbitration proceedings as assigned; builds and maintains productive working relationships with union representatives.
Designs and delivers training programs on workplace conduct, respectful workplace practices, performance management, and labor relations compliance; coaches managers and department leaders on effective communication, documentation, and conflict management strategies; contributes to leadership development initiatives focused on accountability and inclusive workplace practices.
Performs other duties as required or assigned which are reasonably within the scope of the duties described above.