Sr Director, Labor & Employee Relations

TreeHouse Foods • Oak Brook, IL

11d • Onsite

About The Position

The Senior Director, Labor & Employee Relations (LR/ER), based out of our corporate office in Oak Brook, IL, provides enterprise-wide leadership for the development and execution of a forward-looking labor and employee relations strategy that advances business objectives across TreeHouse Foods’ U.S. and Canada manufacturing network. This role serves as a trusted strategic advisor to the CHRO, HR Leadership Team, Operations, Legal, Finance, Plant Leadership, and site HR leaders on complex workforce, labor, and organizational matters. This position establishes the enterprise vision and governance for labor and employee relations, driving a consistent, proactive approach to collective bargaining, contract administration, grievance and arbitration strategy, union engagement, and positive employee relations across both represented and non-represented workforces. The role is accountable for shaping labor strategy, mitigating organizational risk, strengthening leadership capability, and fostering a high-performing workplace culture that supports operational excellence, workforce stability, and long-term business success.

TreeHouse Foods operates 24 manufacturing sites across the United States and Canada, including 13 sites with collective bargaining agreements and 11 non-union sites. Employees are represented by multiple unions across the network, including BCTGM, Teamsters/IBT, UFCW, and Unifor. Approximately 44% of the hourly workforce is covered by a CBA. Collective bargaining agreements generally range from 3 to 5 years, creating a recurring need for disciplined negotiation planning, cost/benefit analysis, stakeholder alignment, and implementation follow-through. Non-union sites require a consistent, proactive employee relations operating model focused on trust, communication, fair practices, leader capability, and early risk identification.

Requirements

• 15 years of progressive experience in human resources, labor relations, employee relations, or labor/employment law; manufacturing, food, CPG, distribution, or multi-site operations experience strongly preferred.
• Demonstrated first-chair experience leading multiple collective bargaining negotiations, including preparation, bargaining, communications, ratification, implementation, and post-negotiation administration.
• Strong working knowledge of U.S. labor and employment law, including the NLRA, NLRB processes, WARN, FLSA, FMLA, employment discrimination/retaliation principles, investigations, discipline, and terminations; Canadian labor relations knowledge preferred.
• Experience managing grievances, arbitrations, union information requests, ULP charges, organizing activity, and outside counsel relationships.
• Bachelor’s degree in Human Resources, Industrial/Labor Relations, Business, Law, or a related field required; Master’s in Industrial/Labor Relations, MBA, or JD preferred.
• Strategic business partner who understands manufacturing operations, cost drivers, workforce dynamics, and the relationship between people practices and operational performance.
• Credible negotiator and relationship builder who can be firm, practical, respectful, and disciplined at the table and with internal stakeholders.
• Excellent communicator with the ability to translate complex labor and employee relations issues into clear guidance for executives, plant leaders, HR partners, and employees.
• High judgment, discretion, and composure in sensitive, high-stakes, and time-sensitive situations.
• Bias for action, accountability, and practical execution; able to move from strategy to tools, training, routines, and measurable outcomes.
• Strong collaborator across HR, Operations, Legal, Finance, EHS, Total Rewards, and external counsel.

Nice To Haves

• Canadian labor relations knowledge preferred.
• Master’s in Industrial/Labor Relations, MBA, or JD preferred.

Responsibilities

• Serve as first-chair spokesperson in contract negotiations and other dealings with local unions; prepare negotiation strategies, proposals, cost models, communication plans, and implementation plans.
• Develop multi-year CBA strategies that support cost containment, operational flexibility, workforce stability, and constructive labor-management relationships.
• Establish an enterprise CBA calendar and readiness process that tracks expirations, negotiation plans, economics, operational priorities, and stakeholder accountabilities.
• Build and sustain relationships with local union leadership while protecting the company’s right to manage and operate the business effectively.
• Lead contingency planning for potential labor disruptions, including strike readiness, operational continuity, communications, security, staffing, customer/service impact, and site-specific response plans.
• Advise and counsel site HR managers, plant leaders, and field HR leadership on consistent administration of CBAs, work rules, past practice, discipline, attendance, scheduling, overtime, and other labor practices.
• Lead or oversee grievance management, arbitration preparation, settlement strategy, information requests, ULP/NLRB matters, and labor-related litigation support in partnership with Legal and external counsel.
• Create standard templates and processes for grievance tracking, documentation, investigation quality, case assessment, and escalation.
• Develop and implement a proactive positive employee relations strategy to support union-free status at non-represented locations.
• Design and deliver leader training on respectful supervision, communication, early issue resolution, policy consistency, employee feedback channels, and legal guardrails for organizing activity.
• Conduct periodic vulnerability assessments at non-union sites, partnering with HR and Operations to identify risk drivers, action plans, and follow-up mechanisms.
• Strengthen site-level practices that build trust, including roundtables, plant communication plans, engagement action-planning, recognition, onboarding, and visible follow-through on employee feedback.
• Provide senior-level guidance on complex employee relations issues, investigations, corrective action, policy interpretation, terminations, reductions in force, and workplace conflict in partnership with Legal.
• Partner with Legal and HR leadership to monitor changes in U.S. and Canadian labor and employment law and translate them into practical leader guidance, training, and policy/process updates.
• Ensure labor and employee relations practices are fair, consistent, well-documented, and aligned with TreeHouse values and business objectives.
• Build LR/ER capability across plant HR and Operations through playbooks, toolkits, coaching, case reviews, and practical training.
• Establish a regular LR/ER governance cadence with HRLT, Legal, Operations, and site leaders to review bargaining status, open risks, grievances/arbitrations, employee relations trends, and site-level action plans.
• Use data to identify employee relations risk patterns and opportunities, including grievance trends, arbitration outcomes, engagement feedback, turnover, attendance, absenteeism, overtime, and leader capability needs.
• Proactively integrate Total Rewards into the bargaining process to influence contract design, ensure cost and compliance alignment, and enable accurate, efficient administration of all negotiated provisions.

Benefits

• Competitive compensation and benefits program with no waiting period
• 401(k) program with 5% employer match and 100% vesting as soon as you enroll
• Comprehensive paid time off opportunities, including immediate access to four weeks of vacation, five sick days, parental leave and 11 company holidays (including two floating holidays)
• Paid training, tuition reimbursement and a robust educational platform – DevelopU – with more than 10,000 free courses
• Wellness and employee assistance programs

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Director