Lead Labor Relations

FirstEnergy•Akron, OH

About The Position

The Lead, Labor Relations provides strategic leadership and enterprise coordination for complex labor relations programs, initiatives, and bargaining activities across FirstEnergy’s represented workforce. The role serves as a senior labor relations subject matter expert and strategic advisor to business, HR, Operations, Legal, and Labor Relations leadership. It leads complex cross-functional initiatives, develops and implements enterprise labor strategies, strengthens consistency in collective bargaining and contract administration, and provides analytical and strategic support on matters with significant operational, financial, workforce, or employee-relations impact. The role provides substantive leadership primarily through program ownership, subject-matter expertise, influence, and cross-functional leadership rather than direct people management. The Lead develops labor relations programs and strategies, supports complex bargaining and disputes, provides senior-level contract administration expertise, and uses workforce analytics to advise leaders. The role partners across business functions and with union representatives, supports policy and compliance efforts, and builds labor relations capability through tools, training, knowledge sharing, and technical guidance. The reporting location is to be determined. Regular engagement with operating locations and represented workgroups is expected, with travel as required for bargaining sessions, union meetings, arbitrations, business locations, and corporate meetings.

Requirements

Bachelor’s degree in Human Resources, Business Administration, Industrial Relations, Labor Relations, or a related discipline.
8–10 years of progressive labor relations experience in a unionized environment.
Demonstrated experience supporting or leading collective bargaining, contract administration, grievance resolution, arbitration, and complex labor relations matters.
Demonstrated experience leading complex programs or cross-functional initiatives.
Strong understanding of labor law, collective bargaining agreements, grievance and arbitration processes, and union-management relations.
Demonstrated ability to analyze complex workforce and labor issues and translate findings into business recommendations.
Strong executive communication, negotiation, influencing, and conflict-resolution capabilities.

Nice To Haves

Master’s degree, JD, or advanced Labor/Industrial Relations degree.
Experience in electric utility, energy, industrial, manufacturing, or another highly unionized operating environment.
Experience leading multi-location or multi-bargaining-unit labor initiatives.
Experience supporting significant organizational transformation involving represented workforces.

Responsibilities

Lead enterprise labor relations programs and initiatives aligned with business strategy, workforce objectives, operational performance, and constructive union-management relationships.
Translate labor strategy into actionable programs, workplans, governance processes, and measurable outcomes.
Lead complex cross-functional labor initiatives involving multiple business units, bargaining units, or operating locations.
Identify enterprise labor risks, emerging trends, and opportunities and develop recommendations for senior leadership.
Establish program standards, processes, and governance to improve consistency across represented operations.
Lead planning and strategic preparation for significant or complex collective bargaining activities.
Develop bargaining strategies, proposals, research, costing scenarios, data analyses, and supporting materials.
Partner with Lead Negotiators and Labor Relations leadership to promote consistency in bargaining strategy and outcomes.
Evaluate proposed settlements against enterprise labor strategy, business objectives, financial considerations, and operational requirements.
Provide strategic support during high-risk or complex negotiations and labor disputes.
Provide senior-level expertise on collective bargaining agreement interpretation, past practices, work rules, and labor-management issues.
Develop enterprise approaches to recurring or complex contract interpretation issues and recommend approaches to inconsistencies in contract administration.
Support implementation and communication of negotiated contract provisions.
Develop tools, standards, and governance practices to strengthen contract administration and labor relations execution.
Provide strategic leadership for significant grievances, arbitrations, mediations, and other complex labor disputes.
Assess business, operational, financial, and labor-relations implications of significant cases.
Partner with Legal and business leaders to develop case strategy, evidence, testimony, and resolution approaches.
Identify trends across grievances and disputes and recommend systemic solutions to recurring issues.
Develop and use labor relations analytics to identify workforce trends and business risks.
Analyze grievances, arbitration activity, absenteeism, discipline, labor costs, contract provisions, and other workforce indicators.
Translate labor and workforce data into actionable insights and recommendations for senior leadership.
Develop executive-level analyses and presentations supporting labor strategy and business decisions.
Evaluate labor implications of workforce planning, restructuring, productivity initiatives, and organizational change.
Advise HR, Operations, Legal, and business leaders on complex labor matters, workforce strategies, productivity opportunities, organizational changes, and labor risk.
Lead cross-functional labor relations projects requiring coordination across business and functional organizations.
Support significant organizational transformation or operational initiatives affecting represented employees.
Build effective relationships with internal stakeholders and union representatives to facilitate constructive issue resolution.
Lead development and continuous improvement of labor relations policies, practices, tools, and governance processes.
Monitor developments in labor law, labor market practices, collective bargaining, and employee relations that may affect FirstEnergy.
Partner with Legal to support compliance with applicable federal and state labor laws and collective bargaining agreements.
Promote consistent application of labor policies and practices across represented operations.
Develop tools, resources, playbooks, and training to strengthen labor relations capability across HR and operating leadership.
Facilitate labor relations education for leaders on contract administration, grievance management, bargaining, and other labor topics.
Capture and share lessons learned from negotiations, grievances, arbitrations, and significant labor matters.
Provide technical guidance and mentorship to Labor Relations professionals as a senior subject matter expert.