Market HR Manager

AutoNation • Cockeysville, MD

7d • $107,250 - $178,750

About The Position

The Market HR Manager is AutoNation’s foundational field HR role, embedded in a lower-to-moderate-complexity market and serving as the daily HR presence for General Managers, Market Team members, and store associates across an assigned portfolio. The role executes the four HR business partner pillars with accuracy and consistency, builds trust through visibility and presence, and partners appropriately with Centers of Excellence (COEs) and the Employee Relations (ER) Team. Success is measured by reliable follow-through, coaching leaders rather than solving their problems for them, and the quality of outcomes for associates and the business.

The position supports talent selection and development, interprets employee listening data, and builds an understanding of store business performance. It partners with hiring leaders on structured selection, helps leaders develop and retain talent, routes listening and employee-relations matters to the appropriate resources, and connects people trends to business outcomes. The HR Manager handles Green-tier ER cases independently and may handle lower-acuity Yellow-tier cases with appropriate judgment. Higher-acuity Yellow, Orange, and Red-tier matters are managed by the centralized ER Team, with the HR Manager providing market context, maintaining associate relationships, and supporting continuity. The HR Manager does not conduct formal investigations on elevated-tier matters.

Requirements

• Bachelor’s degree in Human Resources, Business Administration, or a related field.
• 2–4 years of progressive HR experience in a generalist, coordinator, or HR assistant capacity.
• Proficiency with Workday or a comparable HRIS.
• Working knowledge of federal and state employment law and the ability to identify when legal escalation is warranted.
• Ability to coach managers and GMs, manage follow-through reliably, interpret data, and connect people decisions to business outcomes.

Nice To Haves

• aPHR or PHR certification preferred; SHRM-CP is a plus.
• Experience with HR reporting tools or dashboards.
• Retail, automotive, or high-volume multi-site experience.

Responsibilities

• Partner with General Managers and hiring managers to ensure a consistent, evidence-based interview process for open roles.
• Promote structured behavioral interviews and challenge gut-feel hiring decisions with data and process discipline.
• Participate in interviews for GM-level candidates within the assigned market.
• Conduct monthly staffing reviews with GMs at highest-need stores and track open requisitions and time-to-fill.
• Monitor 0–90-day turnover and address breakdowns in hiring quality or onboarding execution.
• Serve as the field-level contact for Talent Acquisition and route requisition and sourcing needs through the Talent Acquisition COE.
• Build working knowledge of each GM and Department Manager’s strengths, development gaps, and succession readiness.
• Coach managers and GMs to handle their own people issues and build their capability.
• Advocate for internal promotion and encourage GMs to consider internal talent before posting roles externally.
• Follow up on 360 feedback and development conversations and connect leaders with appropriate development COE resources.
• Partner with and leverage the Talent Development COE rather than independently designing or delivering solutions when a COE partner exists.
• Prepare and present basic quarterly talent reviews to the Market President and VP, Human Resources.
• Review market listening dashboards and pulse survey results, adding context and interpretation before sharing findings with store or market leadership.
• Route listening signals to the appropriate response, such as development, staffing, operations, or ER.
• Conduct individual post-survey debrief conversations with each GM and coach them on appropriate responses.
• Identify cross-store patterns and escalate market-wide themes to the Market President and VP, Human Resources.
• Coordinate with the ER Team on employee-relations case trends in the assigned market.
• Develop an understanding of how assigned stores generate revenue and participate in store-level P&L reviews as a learning and relationship-building practice.
• Connect people issues—including turnover, absenteeism, and ER trends—to business outcomes and store-level financial impact.
• Use available data to quantify the cost of losing key associates and provide financial context in retention and hiring discussions.
• Maintain a credible HR presence with the Market President and bring a prepared point of view to interactions.
• Handle Green-tier ER cases independently and lower-acuity Yellow-tier cases when appropriate; partner with the centralized ER Team on elevated-tier matters by providing market context, maintaining associate relationships, and ensuring continuity.
• Maintain confidentiality and discretion when handling sensitive associate information.

Benefits

• Competitive compensation.
• 401(k) matching.
• Health, dental, and vision insurance plans.
• Maternity benefits.
• Associate purchase and discount programs for new and pre-owned vehicles, services, parts, collision, accessories, and AutoGear.
• Access to discounts and deals through YouDecide.
• Opportunity to participate in the DRVPNK mission supporting cancer research and treatment.

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Mid Level