People & Culture Partner

The Banner•Baltimore, MD

About The Position

The Banner is a nonprofit, digital local news organization dedicated to strengthening the Baltimore region through independent, high-quality journalism. We are building a mission-driven team committed to serving our community, telling important stories, and creating a workplace where talented people can thrive. As we continue to grow, we are looking for a thoughtful, experienced, and hands-on People & Culture Partner to help support our employees, strengthen our people practices, and contribute to a healthy, inclusive, and high-performing culture. The People & Culture Partner will serve as a trusted advisor to employees and managers across The Banner. This role supports the full employee lifecycle and works across talent acquisition, onboarding, employee relations, performance management, learning and development, compensation, benefits, compliance, engagement, and organizational effectiveness. This is a great opportunity for an experienced HR generalist or People Partner who enjoys both strategy and execution. The right candidate will be comfortable coaching managers, supporting employees, improving systems and processes, and helping build scalable people practices in a growing, mission-driven organization.

Requirements

5+ years of progressive experience in Human Resources, People Operations, Talent Management, or a related field.
Experience serving as a HR Business Partner, or senior HR generalist supporting managers and employees across functions.
Strong coaching, communication, and relationship-building skills, with the ability to build trust at all levels of an organization.
Demonstrated ability to handle employee relations matters with sound judgment, discretion, empathy, and professionalism.
Working knowledge of employment law, HR compliance, policy interpretation, and people operations best practices.
Ability to balance strategic thinking with hands-on execution, manage competing priorities, and move projects forward in a fast-paced environment.
Comfort using HR systems, people data, and reporting to identify trends and support informed decision-making.
Commitment to inclusive, equitable, and mission-aligned workplace practices.

Nice To Haves

Experience in a nonprofit, media, startup, or growing organization is a plus.
SHRM-CP, SHRM-SCP, PHR, or SPHR certification is a plus, but not required.

Responsibilities

Partner with managers and employees across the organization to provide guidance, coaching, and support on people-related matters.
Advise managers on employee relations, performance concerns, feedback, team dynamics, conflict resolution, and employee development.
Support talent acquisition efforts, including job description development, structured hiring practices, interview processes, and candidate experience.
Help execute onboarding practices so new employees feel welcomed, informed, and set up for success.
Support performance management processes, including goal-setting, feedback cycles, performance reviews, and development planning.
Coach managers on effective leadership practices, communication, accountability, and inclusive team management.
Partner on compensation, promotions, role design, internal equity, and total rewards-related conversations.
Support benefits education, open enrollment, and employee questions in partnership with internal stakeholders and external vendors.
Use people data and employee feedback to identify trends, surface insights, and recommend practical solutions.
Help maintain and improve people policies, workflows, tools, templates, and employee-facing resources.
Support employee engagement, retention, and culture-building initiatives across the organization.
Ensure People & Culture practices are compliant, consistent, equitable, and aligned with The Banner’s mission and values.
Contribute to organizational change efforts with clear communication, strong judgment, and care for the employee experience.