Specialist, Employee Relations & Talent Strategy

Uncommon Schools•New York, NY

8d•Hybrid

About The Position

At Uncommon Schools, we believe that a strong employee experience helps create the conditions for students to thrive. As the Specialist, Employee Relations & Talent Strategy, you will play an important role in supporting employees and managers by responding to employee relations questions, managing key employment processes, and helping ensure our policies and practices are applied consistently. Working closely with colleagues across Talent Strategy, Human Resources, school teams, and Home Office departments, you'll help maintain critical systems, improve operational processes, and support learning and development initiatives. This role is ideal for someone who enjoys solving problems, providing excellent customer service, and managing multiple operational workstreams with accuracy and care.

Requirements

3–4 years of relevant experience in human resources, employee relations, talent operations, people operations, or a related field.
Bachelor's degree.
Experience communicating professionally with a variety of stakeholders through email, ticketing systems, or similar customer support channels.
Experience managing multiple workstreams while maintaining accuracy and attention to detail.
Strong organizational skills with the ability to handle confidential information appropriately.
Ability to collaborate effectively across teams and build positive working relationships.

Nice To Haves

Experience using Zendesk or a similar ticket management platform.
Experience working with HR systems, case management systems, or employee data (such as HR Acuity and Workday).
Experience supporting employee relations, HR operations, or compliance-related processes.

Responsibilities

Serve as the first point of contact for employee relations inquiries and cases, responding to questions and determining appropriate next steps.
Manage Tier 1 employee relations cases from initial intake through resolution, ensuring timely follow-up and documentation.
Review and respond to internal transfer requests and background screening escalations.
Manage employment authorization escalations and support visa sponsorship processes from initial request through legal filing while helping ensure compliance with employment requirements.
Conduct exit interviews with departing employees, summarize findings, and share insights with internal stakeholders.
Manage unemployment claims administration, monitor trends, identify potential financial risks, and recommend process improvements.
Maintain accurate employee relations data across employee relations and talent systems, including data entry, audits, reporting, and analytics.
Help ensure employee relations processes are completed accurately and consistently while maintaining confidential records.
Support reporting that enables the Talent Strategy team to monitor employee relations trends and outcomes.
Manage Talent Strategy and Employee Relations Zendesk queues by responding to staff and manager inquiries within established service expectations and routing requests as appropriate.
Maintain and update internal knowledge bases to ensure employees and managers have access to current policies, resources, and learning materials.
Support departmental administrative operations, including invoice processing, credit card reconciliation, and reimbursement requests.
Prepare and summarize employee relations data to support ongoing reporting and decision-making.
Provide operational support for learning and development initiatives.
Coordinate communications, organize training materials, prepare printed resources, and assist with room reservations and logistics for learning events.