Senior Director, Employee Relations - North America

cargill • Shorewood, MN

122d • $175,000 - $240,000

About The Position

Cargill’s size and scale allows us to make a positive impact in the world. Our purpose is to nourish the world in a safe, responsible and sustainable way. We are a family company providing food, ingredients, agricultural solutions and industrial products that are vital for living. We connect farmers with markets so they can prosper. We connect customers with ingredients so they can make meals people love. And we connect families with daily essentials — from eggs to edible oils, salt to skincare, feed to alternative fuel. Our 160,000 colleagues, operating in 70 countries, make essential products that touch billions of lives each day. Join us and reach your higher purpose at Cargill. This role is based in Wayzata, Minnesota. The North America Regional Lead of Employee Relations (ER) is responsible for driving a forward-looking regional Employee Relations strategy, ensuring alignment to Cargill’s global Employee Relations strategy. This leader will establish, guide, and consult on the development and implementation of the appropriate regional policies, practices, and norms that align with employment laws and regulations, and develop the processes and tactics for responding to employee matters. The Regional Leader will partner with direct reports including subject matter experts and multiple teams led by supervisors to oversee regional workforce trends, ongoing regulatory and potential compliance issues, complex investigations and provide employee relations advice/support to key partners.

Requirements

• Minimum of eight years of relevant work experience in Human Resources (ER, HRBP, Ethics & Compliance, etc.), of which five years of supervisory experience.
• Proven ability to balance a pragmatic drive for solutions whilst upholding the highest ethical and compliance standards.
• Analytical mindset and the ability to apply data-driven insights to inform decision-making and develop proactive strategies.
• Ability to anticipate and balance the needs of multiple stakeholders.
• Excellent verbal and written communication and strong presentation skills.
• Strong conflict resolution skills, with a track record of successfully resolving employee disputes.
• Knowledge of best practices in employee relations, including disciplinary procedures and separations, grievance handling, and workplace investigations.
• Ability to maintain confidentiality, handle sensitive information with discretion, and ensure compliance with data privacy regulations.
• Experience gained in a large, complex multi-location organization with both white and blue collar employees.

Nice To Haves

• Experience in the field of Labor Relations.
• Experience in process optimization and simplification, driven by the client experience.
• Used to work in environment with central HR capability center/service center (back-office).
• An interest in and initial experience with applying AI at the workplace.

Responsibilities

• Build ER delivery capabilities and expertise within teams you lead.
• Manage team members to achieve the organization’s goals, by ensuring productivity, communicating performance expectations, creating goal alignment, giving and seeking feedback, providing coaching, measuring progress and holding people accountable, supporting employee development, recognizing achievement and lessons learned, and developing enabling conditions for talent to thrive in an inclusive team culture.
• Develop relevant know-how and capabilities of HR Business Partners, people managers and transformation project teams as applicable.
• Oversee region-specific workforce issues and investigations, including providing services to assist in prevention and resolution of workforce issues, investigate allegations of misconduct, and identify appropriate measures.
• Define forward-looking Employee Relations strategies, regulatory compliance and reporting, policies and procedures, ensuring alignment to Cargill’s global Employee Relations strategy and vision.
• Oversee the establishment and implementation of policies for the organization, including providing consultation to human resources and management partners.
• Track, identify, and report on trends in employee relations and compliance topics and propose solutions for complex and/or contentious employee relations matters.
• Direct and ensure the team maintains and applies knowledge of separation legislation and processes in the assigned markets.
• Ensure seamless execution and deployment of complex initiatives, such as transformation projects.
• Act as subject matter expert on employee relations and compliance, identify trends and risks landscape for the assigned region and suggest mitigating actions.
• Direct and guide the team on all employee relations issues and solutions, including performance management, organization policies and procedures, harassment, discrimination, retaliation, disability and background checks.

Benefits

• Paid time off
• Paid holidays
• Medical, vision, and dental coverage
• Flexible spending accounts
• Life insurance
• Disability insurance
• Retirement savings
• Employee and family assistance program (EAP)

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Senior
• Number of Employees: 5,001-10,000 employees