Position Summary

The Senior Director, Human Resources is a strategic and operational leader responsible for designing and executing a scalable people strategy across a multi-brand, multi-state QSR platform supporting 600+ locations in 17 states.

This role partners closely with executive leadership and field operations to drive workforce performance, support rapid unit growth, and mitigate employment-related risk. The ideal candidate brings deep expertise in high-volume environments and a strong ability to align HR strategy with operational and financial performance.

Key Responsibilities

Executive Leadership & Business Partnership

• Serve as a strategic advisor to executive and brand leadership on workforce planning, labor cost management, and organizational effectiveness
• Align HR strategies with key business drivers including same-store sales, new unit growth, and margin optimization
• Partner closely with operations to drive accountability, execution, and performance at the field level

HR Team Leadership & Field Support

• Build and lead a high-performing, multi-state HR organization supporting a geographically dispersed workforce
• Develop and implement an HR Business Partner model aligned to field operations and brand structure
• Establish KPIs and service-level expectations tied to operational outcomes (e.g., turnover, time-to-fill, employee relations trends)

Talent Strategy & High-Volume Recruiting

• Lead end-to-end talent strategy for high-volume hourly hiring and field leadership roles
• Implement scalable recruiting processes to support aggressive growth and reduce vacancy risk
• Develop and execute retention strategies to improve workforce stability and reduce turnover

Training, Development & Performance Culture

• Design and deploy scalable training programs for field leadership, with emphasis on compliance, safety, and operational execution
• Drive a performance-based culture with clear accountability across all levels
• Oversee performance management frameworks, succession planning, and leadership development pipelines

Employee Relations, Investigations & Risk Management

• Provide executive oversight of complex employee relations issues, including investigations and terminations
• Partner with legal counsel to manage litigation exposure (wage & hour, discrimination, harassment, class action risk)
• Standardize investigation protocols and documentation practices to ensure consistency and defensibility

Compliance & Regulatory Leadership

• Ensure enterprise-wide compliance with federal, state, and local employment laws across all jurisdictions
• Oversee wage and hour compliance including overtime, break policies, and classification standards
• Partner with legal on EEOC claims, audits, and agency investigations
• Ensure timely completion of OSHA, EEO-1, and other regulatory reporting
• Develop proactive compliance training and audit programs

HR Operations, Systems & Analytics

• Oversee HRIS systems (including ADP Vantage HCM) to ensure data integrity and scalability
• Leverage workforce analytics (turnover, labor %, absenteeism, time-to-fill, claims) to drive decision-making
• Lead process improvement and automation initiatives to support a high-volume, multi-unit environment

Qualifications

• 10+ years of progressive HR leadership experience
• Significant experience in multi-unit, multi-state environments (QSR, retail, or hospitality preferred)
• Proven success supporting large hourly workforces
• Deep knowledge of employment law and multi-state compliance
• Strong partnership experience with operations leadership in decentralized environments
• Demonstrated ability to build scalable HR infrastructure to support growth

Key Competencies

• Operational leadership & field partnership
• Labor cost management & workforce analytics
• High-volume talent acquisition strategy
• Employment law expertise & risk mitigation
• Change management in multi-unit environments
• Execution-focused leadership

Scope & Impact

• Supports 600+ locations across 17 states
• Oversees HR strategy across three distinct restaurant brands
• Direct impact on labor cost structure, compliance risk, and operational performance
• Critical leadership role in enabling growth, scalability, and enterprise risk management