HR Business Partner — Client Services
Full-Time | Remote — United States
Base Salary: $85,000–$110,000 annually, based on relevant experience and qualifications
Schedule: Monday–Friday, with availability during Central Time business hours
About the role
We are an HR consulting firm seeking an experienced HR Business Partner to provide fractional HR leadership and hands-on support to a portfolio of small and mid-sized clients.
This is a full-time employee position with our firm—not an independent contractor opportunity or a position dedicated to one client. You will serve as the day-to-day HR lead for assigned accounts, partnering with client leadership, managers, employees, and our internal HR operations team.
Our clients have different needs, systems, and levels of HR infrastructure. Some require ongoing guidance and established processes; others need help organizing manual workflows and building foundational HR practices. You should be equally comfortable advising a business leader, managing an employee concern, and completing the detailed work needed to move an issue forward.
Client responsibilities and workload will be determined by each engagement’s agreed scope, complexity, and support needs.
What you’ll do
- Own client HR relationships. Serve as the primary HR contact for assigned accounts, lead client meetings, establish priorities, and communicate recommendations, risks, deadlines, and next steps. Recognize requests outside the agreed scope and raise them internally before committing to additional work.
- Manage employee relations and support managers. Handle employee concerns, conduct workplace investigations, coach managers, and support corrective action, performance improvement, and separation planning. Use sound judgment and involve employment counsel when appropriate.
- Manage the employee lifecycle. Prepare offers using approved templates; coordinate reference and background checks; oversee onboarding, orientation, employee documentation, and U.S. Form I-9 administration; and coordinate offboarding, benefits changes, access removal, and equipment return.
- Administer benefits, retirement, leave, and accommodations. Support enrollment, open enrollment, qualifying life events, and employee questions. Manage applicable leave and accommodation processes, disability-claim coordination, and return-to-work planning. Coordinate with brokers, carriers, retirement-plan administrators, and workers’ compensation providers.
- Support U.S. and Canadian HR compliance. Maintain policies, handbooks, jurisdiction-specific addenda, required notices, and training records. Identify employment requirements associated with new hiring locations and coordinate specialized questions with the appropriate advisors.
- Coordinate performance and people programs. Support performance-review cycles, manager guidance, PTO policies, employee communications, and approved compensation changes.
- Build dependable HR operations. Create and maintain SOPs, templates, checklists, employee records, and compliance calendars. Improve manual workflows and identify practical opportunities for better systems and approved automation.
- Coordinate delivery across the team. Partner with HR operations colleagues on administrative and coordination tasks, provide clear handoffs, and review work for accuracy. Maintain appropriate separation of client information, track time by account, and flag workload or service issues early.
Payroll processing is not part of this role. You will communicate accurate, approved information to payroll administrators and coordinate follow-through. Legal, tax, immigration, and specialized benefits-plan matters will be referred to appropriate advisors.
What you’ll bring
- At least seven years of progressive HR generalist, HR business partner, HR management, or consulting experience, including independently managing a broad range of HR responsibilities.
- Hands-on experience supporting employees in both the United States and Canada, including multi-state U.S. environments and familiarity with applicable Canadian provincial requirements.
- Experience supporting small or mid-sized organizations, particularly those without large internal HR departments.
- Strong employee-relations judgment and practical experience with investigations, manager coaching, benefits, leave administration, onboarding, and offboarding.
- The ability to manage multiple client relationships, prioritize competing deadlines, and provide clear recommendations—not simply identify problems.
- Strong written communication, discretion, and attention to detail, with comfort working in Microsoft 365, SharePoint, Excel, HR systems, and project-management tools.
Preferred: Experience in an HR consulting firm, outsourced HR provider, or other multi-client service environment. PHR, SPHR, SHRM-CP, SHRM-SCP, or a comparable certification is a plus.
What success looks like
Clients have a responsive HR partner who takes ownership and follows through. Employees and managers receive clear guidance. Important deadlines and handoffs are managed accurately. Processes are documented, sensitive information is protected, and recurring problems are addressed at their source.
You work independently while making effective use of the team and recognizing when an issue requires escalation.
