Employee Relations Manager

Who We Are:

At Balfour Beatty Communities, we are dedicated to a singular mission: delivering the quality communities people are proud to call home. We believe exceptional living experiences can only be created when We Care-about our residents, our partners, our communities and each other. Our culture of caring drives every aspect of our business, guiding us to always do the right thing and build meaningful connections as we fulfill the needs of our residents and partners with sincerity, empathy and creativity.

Our Benefits:

• Discretionary bonuses
• Medical and Dental Insurance 1st of the month following employment
• Health, Flexible Spending and Dependent Care Accounts
• Company paid life insurance
• 401K plan with employer matching
• Robust PTO to include, sick, floating holidays, vacation, and personal days
• 2 Volunteer Days per year
• Company paid short-term and long- term disability, parental leave.
• And more!

About the role

The Employee Relations Manager is responsible for fostering a positive, productive, and legally compliant work environment by helping manage the relationship between employees and Balfour Beatty Investments. This role is both a strategic advisor to leaders in addressing workforce concerns, and a tactical operator who proactively engages with employees to promote our culture and core ethical values. The primary responsibilities of this role include investigating employee relations issues related employee concerns, interpersonal conflicts, performance, supporting leaders in mediating resolution of conflicts, and engaging with employees and managers to ensure Balfour Beatty is a safe, compliant, and ethical workplace. As such, a high degree of integrity and the ability to maintain confidentiality is critically important.

This position serves as a point of contact for employees and people leaders within the organization, providing guidance on corporate culture, employee engagement and retention, demonstrating our "We Care" Pillars, while addressing conflicts. In this capacity, you will carry out thorough investigations, establishing processes and controls for evidence collection, conducting interviews, and documenting and reviewing findings with HR and other internal key stakeholders.

Additionally, this role serves as the primary owner of employee relations systems and tools to ensure timely and accurate case management, while leading data analysis and reporting efforts that support trend identification, compliance, and consistent resolution of employee issues.

What you'll be doing

Investigations & Conflict Resolution

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  Independently conduct investigations into employee workplace concerns that are outside of the scope of Ethics Investigations. Interview involved parties, gather documentation, determine root causes, and conduct de-brief meetings with HR and business leaders. Partner with HRBPs to ensure appropriate action is taken based on findings, and documentation is completed in a timely manner.

  
  

Employee Engagement and Culture:

• Identify themes and opportunities emerging from ER case data and employee surveys to engage leaders and employees in building a positive work environment.
  Partner with HR, Legal, and Ethics & Compliance leaders to design and implement initiatives that promote fairness, trust, and alignment with Balfour Beatty's core values across all levels of the organization.

Data Analysis and Reporting:

• Utilize internal systems and data to monitor trends in employee issues and disciplinary actions and analyze in context of engagement indicators such as turnover and employee retention. Responsible for system administration of employee engagement technology.
• Translate findings from trends and employee sentiment data into actionable insights to support engagement strategies and interventions to improve the overall workplace culture.Provide admin support as need including meeting scheduling, selection and invitations, tracking of attendees

Coaching People Leaders and Support:

• Partner with people leaders to appropriately address issues in need of mediation and proactively drive engagement and retention strategies.

Risk Migitation and Compliance

• Support organizational compliance with labor laws (e.g., FMLA, ADA, Title VII). Document employee relations matters to reduce legal risk and support audit-readiness. Work with legal counsel or HR leadership on sensitive or high-risk cases.

Regularly uses hands to manipulate phones, computer keyboard and similar tools. Ability to view computer screens, mobile devices, and other electronic equipment, for extended periods of time. Sit and stand to perform administrative work. Regularly lift and move office supplies up to 20 lbs.

Who we're looking for

Bachelor's degree in Human Resources or related field required, Master's degree preferred.

Certifications in Human Resources or Investigator such as SHRM-CP, PHR or AWI-CH preferred.

Minimum of 3 years of experience in HR, including specialty work in corporate culture, employee relations, with a focus on internal workplace issues. Preference for experience in highly distributed workplaces covering multiple geographies.

Knowledge/Skills:

• In-depth understanding of employment law (e.g., Title VII, ADEA, ADA, FMLA, FLSA), HR practices, and investigative techniques.Investigative: Ability to conduct effective interviews, maintain confidentiality, gather and analyze evidence, assess credibility, and write clear, objective reports.
• Interpersonal & Communication: Exceptional verbal and written communication skills, diplomacy, active listening, and the ability to build rapport and handle sensitive conversations.
• Problem-Solving: Ability to critically evaluate complex issues, identify root causes, and propose practical solutions.
• Analytics and data management: experience identifying and interpreting trends in employee data, and in managing reporting dashboards to inform decision-making
• Objectivity & Impartiality: Ability to maintain neutrality and avoid bias throughout the investigation process.
• Discretion & Professionalism: Maintaining confidentiality and handling sensitive matters with discretion and professionalism.

Technology Proficiency: Experience with case management and employee engagement systems, HRIS, and other relevant software supporting leadership communications and reporting (e.g. Microsoft Office Suite).

Ability to travel at minimum 50% of the time. US based travel based on proactive culture and engagement milestones as well as investigations needs. Must be available for multiple-day, overnight travel, occasionally with little prior notice.

Hybrid- Must be able to travel to Malvern office weekly.

Valid driver's license and safe driving record.

Why work for us

Grow. Succeed. Lead. Join the team delivering the best in residential real estate.

When you join Balfour Beatty Communities you join a growing company at the forefront of the exciting, fast-paced residential real estate industry. With an extensive portfolio of property locations throughout the United States as well as Regional Operating Centers and a large-scale corporate team, you'll find ample opportunity and a variety of career paths here.

Our reputation gives our residents, employees, partners, suppliers, investors and the many communities we serve the confidence to trust us and do business with us. Our culture, values-Integrity, Teamwork, Excellence, Respect-and code of conduct guide and challenge our employees, provide a clear framework for making the right decisions and form the foundation for our continued growth.

We are committed to the professional and technical development of every Balfour Beatty Communities employee. We deliver on this commitment by fostering a culture of learning and growth that provides a variety of development opportunities for our employees, including online, classroom and on-the-job programs.

Balfour Beatty Communities is all about delivering exceptional living and that starts with our employees. We offer a comprehensive benefits package that includes a variety of health care options, retirement benefits, paid time off and many more services and programs aimed at ensuring total employee wellbeing.

About us

Balfour Beatty Communities is a diversified real estate services company delivering acquisition, management and renovation services in the multifamily, student and military housing sectors. An innovative leader in the industry for more than 20 years, our residential portfolio currently consists of more than 50,000 units and $6 billion in real estate assets under management. Since our inception we have developed or renovated more than 31,000 units with a total value approaching $4 billion.

Our reputation is built on the hallmarks our clients, partners and residents have come to rely on: deep industry expertise, industry-leading practices, consistent results and an unwavering commitment to exceptional customer service.

Balfour Beatty Communities is part of Balfour Beatty Investments and Balfour Beatty, plc, an international group that finances, develops, builds and maintains infrastructure assets.

#LI-BBInvestments

Pay Rate: $80,000 - $90,000 yr.*

*This is the lowest to highest salary we in good faith believe we would pay for this role at the time of this posting. We may ultimately pay more or less than the posted range, and the range may be modified in the future. An employee's pay position within the salary range will be based on several factors including, but not limited to, relevant education, qualifications, certifications, experience, skills, seniority, geographic location, performance, shift, travel requirements, sales or revenue-based metrics, any collective bargaining agreements, and business or organizational needs. No amount of pay is considered to be wages or compensation until such amount is earned, vested, and determinable. The amount and availability of any bonus, commission, or any other form of compensation that are allocable to a particular employee remains in the Company's sole discretion unless and until paid and may be modified at the Company's sole discretion, consistent with the law.