Portfolio HR Leader

ZT Auto•Houston, TX

About The Position

Position Summary The Portfolio HR Leader is the senior people leader for ZT Automotive’s multi-brand, multi-state portfolio of franchised and luxury automotive dealerships. This role translates dealership business strategy into a practical people agenda that strengthens store leadership, attracts and retains dealership talent across the Sales, Fixed Operations (Service and Parts), and Finance & Insurance departments, improves the employee experience, and supports disciplined growth through acquisition. The leader serves as a trusted advisor to portfolio executives, market directors, general managers, controllers, and fixed-ops leadership while building consistent HR standards that remain responsive to each store’s brand, OEM requirements, and operating environment. The successful candidate is a seasoned automotive HR leader who combines strategic judgment with hands-on execution in a dealership environment. They will establish scalable HR infrastructure, use dealership workforce data to guide decisions, lead employee relations and multi-state compliance, govern dealership pay plans and payroll, and support acquisition integration—all while maintaining visible, credible relationships in the stores.

Requirements

Bachelor’s degree in Human Resources, Business, or a related discipline; equivalent relevant experience may be considered.
10+ years of progressive HR experience, including at least 3 years leading an HR function, major business unit, or complex multi-site organization.
Demonstrated experience advising senior executives and operational leaders in a fast-paced, decentralized environment.
Strong command of employee relations, employment law, talent management, compensation, benefits, payroll governance, and HR operations.
Automotive dealership or dealer-group HR experience is required, including direct exposure to franchised store operations (Sales, Fixed Operations, and F&I) and OEM/manufacturer workforce requirements.
Hands-on experience administering and governing dealership pay plans—hourly, salaried, commission, draw, and flat-rate technician compensation—and multi-store payroll controls.
Familiarity with dealership management systems (e.g., CDK) and dealership-grade payroll/HRIS platforms (e.g., Paylocity), including multi-store, multi-entity payroll processing.
Experience building scalable processes, leading change, and using workforce analytics to influence business decisions.

Nice To Haves

Multi-rooftop, multi-state dealer-group experience spanning import, domestic, and luxury OEM franchises.
Experience supporting acquisitions, integrations, rapid growth, or private-equity-backed portfolio operations.
HR certification such as SPHR, SHRM-SCP, or GPHR.
Experience with dealership management systems (CDK), HRIS/payroll platforms (Paylocity), applicant tracking systems, and dashboard reporting.

Responsibilities

Partner with portfolio leadership and dealership operators to translate growth plans, operating priorities, and financial objectives into an integrated people strategy.
Advise leaders on organization design, workforce planning, leadership effectiveness, succession, retention, compensation, and complex employee matters.
Build strong relationships with general managers and market leaders through structured operating reviews, and timely follow-through.
Balance portfolio-wide consistency with appropriate local flexibility across brands, markets, and dealership functions.
Develop a proactive talent strategy for high-volume and hard-to-fill dealership roles across Sales, Service (including flat-rate and skilled technicians), Parts, Finance & Insurance, Accounting, and support functions, accounting for the industry’s high turnover and technician shortage.
Strengthen recruiting discipline, candidate experience, selection quality, onboarding, and early-tenure follow-up in partnership with dealership leaders.
Use headcount, productivity, vacancy, turnover, and labor-cost data to identify workforce risks and recommend action.
Build manager capability through clear expectations, coaching, performance management, progressive discipline, and leadership development.
Create succession and talent-review practices for critical dealership and portfolio roles, with clear development actions and accountability.
Promote a high-performance culture grounded in integrity, accountability, customer service, safety, inclusion, and respect.
Strengthen employee communications, recognition, engagement, and listening mechanisms across geographically dispersed locations.
Provide sound, timely guidance on investigations, corrective action, workplace conduct, attendance, leave, accommodations, wage-and-hour matters, and separations.
Ensure HR practices comply with applicable federal, state, and local employment requirements across the portfolio’s operating markets.
Maintain consistent policies, documentation standards, recordkeeping, and audit readiness while partnering with Legal and other advisors as appropriate.
Provide strategic oversight of dealership pay-plan governance, benefits, retirement programs, paid time off, and related employee communications.
Partner with Finance, Payroll, and dealership leadership to strengthen pay accuracy, controls, approval practices, issue resolution, and compliance for hourly, salaried, commission, draw, and flat-rate populations.
Standardize core employee lifecycle processes—including hiring, onboarding, transfers, status changes, leaves, and terminations—through clear ownership, service levels, and controls.
Advance effective use of HR technology (Paylocity), reporting, self-service, workflow automation, and data quality to improve service and reduce administrative friction.
Lead HR due diligence and post-close integration planning for dealership acquisitions, including workforce data, compliance, compensation and benefits, payroll, systems, communications, and retention risk.
Deliver a structured employee transition experience that preserves business continuity, establishes trust, and drives adoption of ZT Automotive practices.
Create repeatable integration playbooks, milestones, risk tracking, and leadership reporting to support continued portfolio expansion.
Lead, coach, and develop the HR team; establish clear roles, priorities, service standards, escalation paths, and performance expectations.
Build an operating model that positions HR close to the business while maintaining appropriate governance, subject-matter expertise, and process discipline.
Manage external partners and vendors with clear expectations for service, compliance, cost, and outcomes.