Senior HR Business Partner

Federal Home Loan Bank of Chicago • Chicago, IL

5d • Onsite

About The Position

The Sr. HR Business Partner serves as a strategic advisor and trusted consultant to senior leaders, aligning people strategy with business objectives to drive organizational performance, engagement, and growth. This role operates with a high degree of autonomy and influence, providing expert guidance across workforce planning, talent management, organizational design, employee relations, and change initiatives. The Sr. HR Business Partner translates business strategy into actionable people priorities, proactively identifies risks and opportunities through data and insight, and partners with leaders to strengthen leadership capability, culture, and workforce effectiveness. In addition, this role owns and advances enterprise workforce planning practices, supports complex employee relations matters, and ensures HR programs, policies, and practices are applied consistently, equitably, and in compliance with applicable laws. The Sr. HR Business Partner plays a critical role in shaping the employee experience and enabling leaders to build high‑performing, inclusive teams.

Requirements

• Bachelor Degree or equivalent experience is required
• 7+ years experience as an HR business partner, Banking or Financial Services a plus
• Excellent communication (oral, written, and listening) skills required.
• Excellent interpersonal skills with ability to develop relationship across all levels of organization.
• Customer service skills must be exceptional.
• Ability to maintain highly confidential and sensitive information
• High degree of diplomacy and professionalism
• Solid business acumen
• Agent of change
• Ability to be agile and resourceful
• Workday HRIS
• Sponsorhip procedures and legal framework
• Employee lifecycle and relations
• Workforce planning
• Conflict management
• Employee sponsorship
• Communications coaching
• Customer service
• Team member retention strategies
• Basic data and analytics reporting required; intermediate reporting preferred

Nice To Haves

• Advanced degree or PHR/SPHR certification a plus.

Responsibilities

• Strategic Business Partnership Serve as a strategic advisor and trusted partner to senior leaders, aligning workforce strategy with business priorities to drive performance, engagement, and organizational effectiveness.
• Translate business strategies into integrated people plans across workforce planning, talent, leadership capability, and culture.
• Proactively assess organizational health using qualitative and quantitative insights to identify risks, opportunities, and future capability needs.
• Coach senior leaders and managers on leadership effectiveness, change management, and building high‑performing teams.
• Lead and influence organizational design, role clarity, and change initiatives to support evolving business needs.
• Partner with other HR areas such as Total Rewards and Learning & Development to ensure workforce solutions are aligned, scalable, and enterprise‑consistent.
• Foster a culture of trust and inclusion within lines of business; coach senior leaders, managers, and individual contributors as appropriate to sustain trust within and across teams Act as a communication agent for employee feedback while encouraging participation in feedback survey opportunities
• Talent Management and Development Facilitate talent review and succession planning processes and support actions that follow talent conversations
• Hold business leaders accountable for talent outcomes, including early talent success, leadership readiness, and development of high‑potential employees.
• Drive accountability for new hire success, ensuring 30-, 60-, and 90-day milestones are met, development plans are established quickly, and new hires are supported through ramp-up.
• Collaborate with other HR team members to develop and assess effective career pathing, talent mapping, and job descriptions ensuring consistency within the business area.
• Work with the Learning & Development team to identify training needs and monitor learning progress within business areas to ensure success.
• Workforce Planning Own and advance the Bank’s enterprise workforce planning strategy, establishing best practices and aligning HR partners and leaders to a consistent, forward‑looking approach.
• Partner with executive leaders and Talent Acquisition to forecast workforce needs, prioritize hiring strategies, and align headcount planning to business direction.
• Use workforce and talent data to inform decisions related to growth, retention, and organizational capability.
• Employee Relations Serve as the senior advisor and escalation point for complex, high‑risk, or sensitive employee relations matters.
• Provide strategic counsel to leaders on managing performance, conduct, and workplace concerns in a fair, consistent, and legally compliant manner.
• Lead complex employee investigations and partner with Legal as appropriate.
• Identify and mitigate people‑related risk through proactive coaching, policy interpretation, and leader education.
• Guide leaders in applying policies and practices thoughtfully, balancing business needs, employee experience, and risk management.
• Manage sponsorship programs, policies, procedures, and relationships with legal counsel Coach leaders on effective people management, communication, and conflict resolution
• Counsel managers in the interpretation of general or routine workforce policies and procedures
• Data, Reporting, and Technology Leverage people data, analytics, and trends to provide actionable insights related to engagement, retention, performance, and workforce planning.
• Own and execute reporting for assigned HR focus areas, translating data into meaningful stories for leaders.
• Utilize HR systems, including Workday, in addition to emerging technologies like AI to improve efficiency and generation of data-driven insights
• Continuously seek opportunities to modernize HR processes and enhance the leader and employee experience.
• Other duties as assigned

Benefits

• highly competitive compensation and bonus package
• access to a comprehensive benefits program designed to meet the needs of our employees
• Collaborative, in-office operating model
• Retirement program (401k and Pension)
• Medical, dental and vision insurance
• Lifestyle Spending Account
• Competitive PTO plan
• 11 paid holidays per year

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Mid Level
• Number of Employees: 101-250 employees