Uncommon Schools is a nonprofit network of high-performing, public charter schools providing an outstanding K-12 education in historically under-resourced communities. We have proudly built schools that reflect our student population, with more than 60% of our teachers and staff across our network identifying as a person of color. Uncommon currently manages 53 schools serving more than 20,000 students in five cities: Boston, Camden, New York City, Newark, and Rochester. We are proud that Uncommon graduates persist in and graduate from college at five times the rate of their peers nationally. We achieve this by offering strong academic, co-curricular, and social-emotional learning that prepares students for success in college and beyond.

Human Resources Team Overview

The Uncommon Human Resources (HR) team is based in New York City and provides support to 2,500+ staff members across 54 schools and the Home Office (HO). Working in close collaboration with regional and school leaders, as well as HO managers, the HR team provides high-quality HR support as part of Uncommon’s overall investment in our people, commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion, and dedication to our scholars. The team works closely with Uncommon’s other Talent teams, including Recruitment, Talent Development, and Diversity to deliver an outstanding employee experience.

The Lead, Human Resources Employee Relations will support the oversight of policies, procedures, and programs, help promote positive employee experience, maintain compliance with internal and legal policies, further the organization's commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion and mitigate risk. Day-to-day operations include employee relations, policy development, implementation and compliance, workforce data analysis, and other related tasks.

Employee Relations

• Communicates with employees regarding employee relations concerns promptly and effectively, and provides guidance and recommendations for resolution of issues.
• Counsels employees on concerns related to applicable Equal Employment Opportunity laws including Title VII, the Americans with Disabilities Act, the Age Discrimination in Employment Act, and other similar federal and state laws
• Conducts workplace investigations. 
• Assists and trains managers and leaders in understanding and implementing Uncommon policies and practices related to performance, subject area, and related topics.
• Advises and helps train managers on key employee relations topics (e.g. effective mentorship, documentation, and corrective action).
• Maintains employee relations dashboard, engages in data analysis, and reports on data to key partners in order to promote the objectives of the team.
• Coordinates and recommends next steps for other team members - verbal and written - around employee relations
• Raises issues to senior leadership, collects input, and drives next steps
• Provides daily HR support to our employees and managers, using customer service ticketing systems (Zendesk), knowledge library, and other resources.
• Maintains, develops, recommends, and implements program objectives, policies, and procedures.
• Supports the development of new goals and objectives for improvement in areas of employee relations.

HR Policy Implementation

• Supports the organization in following legal mandates and HR policies to ensure the health of the organization
• Communicates and documents policies and practices clearly and consistently to staff and managers.
• Ensures network-wide adoption of policies and practices by responding to feedback and assisting networks in implementation.
• Performs and/or coordinates the research of new policies to be responsive to changing environment
• Finds opportunities to improve HR policies with the use of data and research and proposes solutions to gaps and/or challenges.

Workforce Data and Analysis

• Collects and assesses HR and school-based data to identify trends and opportunities.
• Uses data to ensure employee relations program furthers commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion. 

Requirements

• Experience with Workday preferred
• Bachelor’s degree required, Professional Human Resources (PHR) certification preferred
• 3-5 years of HR Generalist experience

Skills and Experience

• Excellent interpersonal and communications skills, with a demonstrated ability to speak and write clearly and persuasively
• Strong focus on clients and the ability to establish partnerships and work collaboratively with school leaders and other Home Office teams
• Excellent organization, time management, and follow-up skills; ability to prioritize
• Thrives in evolving, fast-paced, high-change, multi-layered organizations; takes a proactive approach to their work
• Outstanding judgment, sensitivity, and high discretion
• Solid attention to detail, ability to project lead, and serve as a strong individual contributor to HR communications planning
• Some knowledge of employment law in NY, NJ, and/or Massachusetts
• Above average knowledge of Microsoft Word, Excel, and PowerPoint
• Background working with entrepreneurial organizations is strongly preferred
• Exhibits a ‘can-do’/flexible approach to work

Travel

• This role may require infrequent travel between Uncommon’s offices and schools.

Uncommon Schools offers salaries commensurate with experience and a very generous benefits and vacation package. All staff members receive extensive professional development, and are equipped with a laptop computer and all necessary supplies.

Uncommon believes in the importance of being a diverse, equitable and inclusive organization that enables our students and staff to thrive. We are committed to building a talented team that reflects the diverse backgrounds and experiences of our students. At the same time, we work to ensure an inclusive community through creating a space for meaningful dialogue about issues of race and identity for our staff and students.  As an equal opportunity employer, we hire without consideration to race, religion, creed, color, national origin, age, gender, sexual orientation, marital status, veteran status or disability.