About The Role

Employee Relations Senior Manager

Position Summary

The Employee Relations Senior Manager serves as a trusted advisor and strategic partner to leaders, HR, Legal, Compliance, and employees in fostering a fair, respectful, and compliant workplace. This role leads complex employee relations matters, workplace investigations, and policy interpretation while helping the organization proactively identify and address workforce risks and trends.

The Senior Manager plays a critical role in safeguarding employee experience, ensuring consistent application of policies and practices, and influencing organizational culture through objective, evidence-based decision making. This individual will also help modernize and scale employee relations processes, tools, and reporting to improve operational effectiveness and organizational insight.

Key Responsibilities

Employee Relations & Investigations

Lead and manage complex employee relations matters involving:
Harassment and discrimination complaints
Workplace conduct concerns
Retaliation allegations
Performance and behavioral issues
Substance abuse concerns
Mental health and wellness-related workplace matters
Conflict of interest reviews
Other sensitive workplace issues
Conduct thorough, objective, and timely investigations involving employees, managers, and leaders.
Gather and evaluate evidence, interview parties and witnesses, determine findings, and develop recommendations.
Produce comprehensive investigation documentation, reports, and executive summaries that clearly articulate facts, findings, risk considerations, and recommended actions.

Strategic Partnership & Consultation

Partner closely with HR Business Partners, Legal, Compliance, Privacy, Internal Audit, Ethics, and business leaders to resolve sensitive employee matters.
Serve as a trusted advisor to managers and leaders regarding:
Employment policies
Employee conduct
Workplace risk mitigation
Performance management
Corrective action
Employee engagement concerns
Influence decision making by providing balanced, objective perspectives and practical recommendations.

Policy & Compliance

Interpret and apply company policies while ensuring consistency, fairness, and legal compliance.
Support policy governance efforts by identifying gaps, recommending enhancements, and contributing to policy development.
Maintain strong knowledge of federal, state, and international employment laws and emerging workplace trends.

ER Operations & Insights

Manage employee relations cases through case management systems and ensure accurate documentation and tracking.
Analyze employee relations data and trends to identify systemic issues and opportunities for organizational improvement.
Develop dashboards, reporting, and insights that inform HR and business leaders regarding workplace risk and employee experience trends.

Culture & Organizational Impact

Act as a steward of organizational culture and employee experience.
Identify recurring themes and emerging workforce risks and escalate insights to HR leadership.
Recommend proactive interventions, manager training, and process improvements to strengthen workplace culture and accountability.
Help shape scalable employee relations practices as the function continues to evolve and modernize.

Qualifications

Required

Bachelor's degree in Human Resources, Business, Psychology, Organizational Development, Employment Law, or related field.
8-12+ years of progressive HR or Employee Relations experience, with a minimum of 3-5 years of Employee Relations focus.
Significant experience conducting complex workplace investigations independently.
Strong knowledge of:
Employee relations practices
Employment law
Workplace compliance
HR policies and procedures
Demonstrated ability to influence senior leaders and navigate highly sensitive situations.
Excellent interviewing, investigation, analytical, and report-writing skills.
Exceptional judgment, discretion, and ability to manage confidential information.

Preferred

Experience within highly regulated industries such as:
Pharmaceuticals
Biotechnology
Medical Devices
Healthcare
Financial Services
Other regulated environments
Experience supporting global organizations and cross-border employee relations matters.
Experience implementing or optimizing employee relations case management systems such as ServiceNow or similar platforms.
HR certification (SPHR, SHRM-SCP, AWI-CH, or equivalent).

Critical Success Factors

The successful candidate will demonstrate

Deep expertise in workplace investigations
Ability to proactively identify facts, ask insightful questions, and uncover root causes
Strong storytelling and influence skills when presenting findings and recommendations
Objectivity and sound judgment in ambiguous situations
Emotional resilience and composure under pressure
Ability to balance employee advocacy with organizational risk management
Strong collaboration across HR, Legal, Compliance, Privacy, and business stakeholders
Commitment to creating a fair, respectful, and accountable workplace

Impact of the Role

This role significantly influences employee trust, workplace culture, risk mitigation, and leadership effectiveness. The Employee Relations Senior Manager serves as a critical connector across HR functions and business stakeholders, ensuring employees are treated fairly, organizational values are upheld, and leaders are equipped to address workplace issues consistently and effectively.

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Pay Range

$121,100 - $181,700

Disclosure Statement

The range provided is based on what we believe is a reasonable estimate for the base salary pay range for this job at the time of posting. This role is eligible for an annual bonus and annual equity awards. Some roles may also be eligible for overtime pay, in accordance with federal and state requirements. Actual base salary pay will be based on a number of factors, including skills, competencies, experience, and other job-related factors permitted by law.

At Vertex, our Total Rewards offerings also include inclusive market-leading benefits to meet our employees wherever they are in their career, financial, family and wellbeing journey while providing flexibility and resources to support their growth and aspirations. From medical, dental and vision benefits to generous paid time off (including a week-long company shutdown in the Summer and the Winter), educational assistance programs including student loan repayment, a generous commuting subsidy, matching charitable donations, 401(k) and so much more.