Director of Human Resources

Director of Human Resources

With headquarters in Mansfield, MA, the Milton’s Distributing family of companies (Milton’s Distributing, Gordon Logistics, and Hope Beverage, LLC) is a fast growing, multi-state, multi-entity distribution and third-party logistics organization.   As Director of Human Resources, you will be a direct report to the CEO, a key member of the Senior Leadership Team, and provide overall strategic direction to and leadership of our most important asset: our employees.   

This position is accountable for developing, implementing, and leading human capital programs including, but not limited to, the following:   organizational alignment and change management initiatives; employee relations; employee communications; talent acquisition and onboarding; performance management; learning and development; compensation and benefits selection and administration; and, compliance and reporting. 

Key Responsibilities:

• Plan, implement, and direct the company’s human resources’ functions.
• Play an active role in the development of the company’s objectives and plans as a strategic partner to the business -with particular emphasis on the impact of people on the company’s culture and growth.
• Translates strategic and tactical business plans into HR strategic priorities and people- related initiatives.
• Designs, executes, and iterates on organization’s structure to facilitate seamless scaling of the business.
• Develop and actively manage the annual HR budget.
• Lead employee benefits review processes: work with benefits broker, providers and leadership team to establish best fits for employee coverage and Company’s budget
• Design and implement an effective employee communications strategy that contributes to an overall positive employment brand, aligns with company values, allows for open flow of communications, and creates operational efficiencies.
• Assess operational and transactional HR policies and processes, recommend and implement improvements.
• Ensures Company’s Human Resources policies are in compliance with all Federal, State, Local, and Industry laws and regulations, and are appropriately communicated to staff.
• Build lasting relationships and develop rapport with employees at all levels.

Talent Acquisition 

• Attract top talent to the company as the employer of choice.
• Create and implement the organization’s recruitment process including developing robust candidate pipelines, following consistent and targeted assessment practices during interviews and stewarding candidates through a positive candidate process.
• Maintain understanding of current best practices in recruiting, labor trends (e.g,. remote vs. in office, gig vs. full-time), and competitive compensation and benefit packages.
• Creates job descriptions, classifies exemption status of new positions, and conducts benchmarking to ensure salaries, work preferences, and incentive compensation programs are competitive with market.
• Develop and implement a best-in-class onboarding and orientation process for employees at all levels.

Performance Management and Career Development

• Assess, develop and lead the on-going administration and improvement of the organization-wide performance appraisal process.
• Design and deploy strategies to improve employee retention.
• Foster growth in our existing team members so they advance within the organization.
• Develop/select, implement, and monitor employee training programs to increase individual and organizational effectiveness.   This includes designing training and methods for obtaining feedback.
• Provide coaching to managers and staff on employee-relations issues and ensure that fair corrective processes are in place.
• Provide general employee relations support and services as needed, including addressing personnel issues and responding to inquiries regarding policies.
• Provide real-time advice to managers regarding performance issues and development of skills.

Compensation and Benefits

• Establish systems to accurately measure, compensate, and incentivize the right competencies and behaviors for all positions.
• Develop a comprehensive recognition program (e.g.. awards, events) that promotes positive organizational outcomes and rewards individual and team accomplishments.
• Ensure group medical and health and welfare benefits are competitive, meet the needs/values of the company and the employee population, and are compliant with applicable federal, state, local and HIPAA legislation (e.g., health and welfare, wellness, employee assistance programs, 401K Employee Assistance Planning, paid time off, etc.).
• Educate employees on company compensation and benefits programs and policies.

Employee Relations

• Ensure that employee relations activities are compliant with applicable federal, state, and local laws and regulations.
• Create systems that provide and monitor meaningful metrics to track the effectiveness of employee relations interventions on turnover, retention, supervisory feedback scores and employee engagement surveys.
• Review and establish workplace policies and procedures (e.g., dress code, attendance, computer use) and monitor their application and enforcement to ensure consistency.
• Develop, administer, and evaluate performance improvement policies and procedures.
• Work with inside and outside counsel (as appropriate) to resolve employee complaints filed with federal, state, and local agencies involving employment practices, utilizing professional resources as necessary.
• Act as executive sponsor and administrator for all compliance driven programs (i.e. Privacy Officer, Equal Employment Opportunity).
• Oversee Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion programs.
• Act as official spokesperson for articulation of company purpose and values.

Human Resource Information Systems (HRIS)

• Evaluate and ensure current HRIS system (ADP) meets the needs of the company with respect to compliance reporting, management reports, interfaces with third parties and supporting processes are efficient and cost effective.
• Leverage relationships with benefits brokers, payroll, and third-party vendors to ensure system utilization and ROI is maximized for the company.
• Lead and/or participate in the negotiation of agreements with vendors to ensure continuity of service and competitive rates are achieved.

Risk Management

• Ensure that the company’s workplace health, safety, security, and privacy guidelines and protocols are compliant with applicable federal, state, and local regulations.
• Develop/select, implement, and evaluate plans and policies to protect employees and others on premise, and to minimize the organization’s loss and liability (e.g., crisis/emergency response, evacuation, workplace violence, substance abuse, return-to-work policies).
• Communicate and train the workforce on the plans and policies to protect employees and other individuals, and to minimize the organization’s loss and liability.
• Monitor workers' compensation claims and coordinate work between employee and insurance carriers. If appropriate, develop systems that will reduce overall level of risk and maintain compliance.
• Develop and administer internal and external privacy policies (i.e. identity theft, data protection, HIPAA compliance, workplace monitoring).

Qualifications/Experience

• BA/BS degree in Human Resources, Organizational Behavior or other related discipline is required.
• A Master’s degree in Human Resource Management or Organizational Development is strongly preferred.  PHR/SPHR certification is highly desirable.
• 7 – 10+ years of progressive leadership experience in the Human Resources field required; Minimum of 2 years of experience as the senior HR leader within the organization preferred.
• Demonstrated experience of successfully implementing HR programs and initiatives required.
• At least 5 years of direct experience in the development and implementation of HR programs including organizational development, compensation and benefits systems, performance management, succession planning, employee relations, talent acquisition, employee engagement, and HRIS reporting.
• Proven leadership ability to influence, develop, and empower employees to achieve objectives within a teamwork approach.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills are required. Ability to present to all levels of senior management and boards, as well as with key business and community partners.
• Experience leveraging Predictive Index (PI) talent optimization platform a plus.
•   Bilingual in English and Spanish a plus.