Senior Associate Director, HR Operations & Strategic Initiatives

If you are a current Barnard College employee, please use the internal career site to apply for this
position.

Job:
Senior Associate Director, HR Operations & Strategic Initiatives

The Senior Associate Director,
HR Operations & Strategic Initiatives is a senior leader responsible for operationalizing the College’s HR strategy and ensuring its
effective execution across the function. This role drives the translation of strategic priorities into disciplined, trackable workplans,
maintaining momentum, accountability, and alignment with institutional goals. Reporting to the Director of Human Resources, the position
oversees HR operations, process design, and operational analytics, while ensuring that initiatives remain on pace, outcomes are measured,
and resources are aligned.
This role serves as a central integrator across HR Centers of Excellence, monitoring progress against
priorities, supporting project execution, and ensuring consistency and quality in service delivery. The Senior Associate Director also
oversees the HR operating budget, tracking spend, forecasting needs, and ensuring alignment with strategic priorities.
In addition, this
role provides operational leadership across the HR function, stepping in to fill gaps, support team capacity, and maintain continuity of
operations as needed. The position works closely with the Associate Director of Labor and Employee Relations, providing operational
coordination, handling complex and escalated matters, and ensuring alignment and process integrity across HR.

Job
Description:

Key Responsibilities

HR Operations & Process Optimization

• Translate HR strategic priorities
  into actionable workplans with clear timelines, ownership, and deliverables.
• Track progress against HR initiatives, ensuring
  projects remain on pace and aligned with College priorities.
• Identify and address bottlenecks, resource gaps, and risks to
  execution.
• Serve as the central driver of HR project execution, ensuring initiatives move forward efficiently and
  effectively.
• Monitor and report on progress across HR priorities, providing visibility to leadership on status, risks, and
  outcomes.
• Oversee HR operational workflows, ensuring efficient, consistent, and high-quality service delivery across HR
  functions.
• Design, document, and implement Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) aligned with HR Centers of
  Excellence.
• Partner with Associate Director, Client Services to lead process improvement initiatives to streamline workflows and
  eliminate inefficiencies.
• Drive automation of routine HR transactions and processes through partnership with Centers of
  Excellence.
• Develop process maps and frameworks to support scalability and continuous improvement.

Metrics, Analytics &
Reporting

• Establish and monitor key performance indicators (KPIs) and operational metrics for HR services.
• Develop dashboards
  and reporting tools to track workflow, service levels, and workforce trends.
• Analyze data to identify opportunities for
  optimization, risk mitigation, and improved service delivery.
• Provide regular reporting and insights to HR leadership to support
  strategic decision-making.

HRIS Operations Oversight

• Serve as primary collaborator with the Workday teams primarily
  servicing Workday HCM, managing priorities, workflow, and professional development.
• Partner with the Director, Workday HCM to align
  HRIS operations with system strategy and governance.
• Oversee HRIS-related processes including data integrity, reporting, and
  transactional workflows.
• Support system enhancements, reporting improvements, and automation initiatives.
• Ensure accuracy,
  compliance, and consistency of HR data across systems.

Leadership & Collaboration

• Act as a key operational partner to the
  Director of Human Resources in executing departmental priorities.
• Collaborate across HR Centers of Excellence to ensure alignment
  and integration of HR services.
• Mentor and support HR staff, fostering a culture of accountability, efficiency, and continuous
  improvement.
• Lead or support change management initiatives related to HR processes, systems, and organizational
  changes.
• Operate in the absence of Director of Human Resources

Employee & Labor Relations (Strategy, Integration & College
Alignment)

• Serve as a strategic partner in shaping and advancing the College’s employee and labor relations approach, ensuring
  alignment with College priorities, risk management, and a consistent employee experience.
• Partner closely with the Associate
  Director, Labor and Employee Relations to align on overall strategy, using insights from investigations, grievances, and disciplinary
  matters to inform broader HR policies, practices, and priorities.
• Translate employee and labor relations trends into actionable,
  cross-functional strategies by collaborating with HR Centers of Excellence, including People Experience, Total Rewards, and HRIS to address
  root causes and strengthen organizational effectiveness.
• Identify systemic themes and emerging risks across employee and labor
  relations, proactively recommending policy, process, and training interventions that improve consistency, reduce risk, and enhance the
  employee experience.
• Ensure consistent and equitable application of collective bargaining agreements (CBAs), HR policies, and
  employment laws, while advising on opportunities to improve clarity, usability, and alignment across the institution.
• Serve as a
  strategic escalation point for complex or high-risk matters, ensuring issues are addressed in a way that aligns with College values,
  mitigates risk, and informs broader organizational learning.
• Partner with People Experience to design and implement tools, training,
  and resources that build manager capability and confidence in navigating employee relations effectively.
• Serve as a core member of
  the College’s labor contract negotiation team, contributing to strategy development, preparation, and execution in alignment with
  institutional priorities.
• Collaborate with the Office of General Counsel on arbitration strategy and preparation, ensuring a
  coordinated and thoughtful approach to risk mitigation and institutional positioning.
• Lead the translation of negotiated agreements
  into clear, operationally sound processes, partnering across HR and the institution to ensure effective communication, implementation, and
  sustained compliance.

Other duties as assigned.

Skills, Qualifications & Requirements:

Required
Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in Human Resources, Business Administration, or related field (Master’s
  preferred).
• 8-10+ years of progressive HR experience.
• Strong experience and leadership roles in employee and labor
  relations, including exposure to conflict resolutions, settlement agreements, grievances, investigations, and arbitration
  processes.
• Strong experience and demonstrated leadership working in a unionized environment.
• Demonstrated experience in HR
  operations, process improvement, and workflow optimization.
• Experience developing metrics, dashboards, and operational
  reporting.
• Supervisory experience, including oversight of technical or HR staff.
• Knowledge of employment laws and HR best
  practices.

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience in higher education or similarly complex, regulated
  environments.
• Experience with Workday HRIS and HR reporting tools.
• Lean, Six Sigma, or process improvement
  certification.
• HR certification (SHRM-CP, SHRM-SCP, PHR, SPHR).

| Salary: $130,000 –
$140,000

The salary of the finalist selected for this role will be set based on a variety of factors, including but not
limited to departmental budgets, qualifications, experience, education, licenses, specialty, and training. The above hiring range represents
the College’s good faith and reasonable estimate of the range of possible compensation at the time of posting.

Company:
Barnard College

Time Type:
Full time

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