Senior HR Business Partner

As a valued member of Human Resources senior management team, the Senior Human Resources Business Partner leads and supports the City’s corporate and operating departments in maintaining effective labour relations and in all workforce planning requirements.

You will be responsible for delivering both strategic and operational excellence across all aspects of HR—including, but not limited to, labour relations, workforce planning, Diversity, Equity and Inclusion, recruitment and retention, learning and development, succession planning, and performance and attendance management.

You will work closely with the City’s senior leadership team, departmental managers, union partners, and lead and supervise talented HR staff to build a strong and resilient workforce aligned with the City’s long-term vision and service priorities.

As the successful candidate:

• You have a track record of extensive experience across multiple HR fields of discipline, with demonstrated experience in labour relations, working knowledge of employment and labour legislation, and experience across multiple HR disciplines. You have delivered HR strategic support in unionized, multi-stakeholder environments in public or private sector.

• You seek to drive meaningful change to positively impact workplace culture, with the ability to respond to the changes and challenges facing today’s workplaces—from fostering equity and inclusion to addressing workforce planning and development, to building strong labour relationships.

• You are a lifelong learner, curious and creative and willing to take calculated risks, knowing that sometimes they will fail as steps on the path to success.

Key Responsibilities

As the Senior Human Resources Business Partner, your key responsibilities will include, but are not limited to:

Labour Relations:

• Maintain effective working relationships with union bargaining agents representing City employees through clear and professional communications, while promoting a solution-based approach to problem solving

• Facilitate joint union/ management meetings and discussions to resolve issues

• Manage the grievance and arbitration processes, including research, preparation, and participation, in accordance with legislation and respective collective agreement’s provisions

• Consult, educate, and guide managers on interpretation of respective collective agreement terms and disciplinary matters

• Conduct internal workplace investigations and facilitate external investigations

• Lead and/or participate in collective bargaining

Human Resources Workforce Planning and support:

• Partner with assigned departments to lead their planning for current and future resource requirements and, changes and enhancements to skills and abilities within roles

• Work with corporate HR staff to communicate departmental needs and support planning of corporate HR initiatives that support these needs

• In collaboration with department leaders, guide managers through performance and attendance management processes to support employee engagement and optimization of resource utilization

• Guide departmental leadership through talent management processes to establish succession planning, employee learning and development, and skill training to support future workforce requirements.

• Lead the delivery of Human Resources programs to managers and employees within assigned departments, in coordination with other Human Resources staff members

Special Assignments:

• Lead specified corporate Human Resources projects, programs, and/or policies

• As assigned, serve as the Human Resources liaison on various organizational initiatives and projects, in the capacity as facilitator, chair, or participant