Sugar Bowl is seeking a seasoned Senior HR Generalist who thrives on making things run smoothly and creating seamless, people-centered experiences. This is a dynamic, high-impact role for an HR professional who takes pride in owning and optimizing day-to-day HR operations; someone who enjoys connecting the dots across processes, systems, and teams to ensure everything works efficiently and effectively throughout both our winter and summer seasons.
In this role, you’ll serve as a key driver of our core HR functions, leading programs such as full-cycle recruitment and onboarding, employee recognition, employer branding, HRIS operations, and team leadership. You’ll focus on streamlining workflows, improving processes, and ensuring a consistent, high-quality experience for employees at every stage of their journey.
You’ll partner closely with the Human Resources Manager to support benefits administration, international talent programs, and learning and development - helping ensure these programs are executed smoothly and cohesively.
The ideal candidate brings strong ski resort or hospitality industry experience, a proactive and detail-oriented mindset, and a genuine passion for hands-on HR work. If you’re someone who enjoys building clarity, improving systems, and keeping operations running at their best, this role offers a unique opportunity to make a meaningful impact.
Why Sugar Bowl?
Sugar Bowl Resort has been proudly independent for over 80 years and is one of the oldest ski resorts in California. Situated atop beautiful Donner Summit, Sugar Bowl has a storied past with ties to Austrian ski culture, Hollywood and Walt Disney. This special community helped bring skiing to “sunny California” since December 1939. Since then, it continues to attract adventurous winter sports enthusiasts a like.
Who You Are:
- 4+ years of progressive HR experience, with at least 2 years in a Generalist or full-cycle HR capacity.
- Prior experience in ski resort, mountain resort, outdoor recreation, or hospitality/hotel HR; you understand the unique rhythms of seasonal operations.
- Demonstrated expertise in full-cycle recruitment including high-volume and hard-to-fill roles in competitive, seasonal labor markets.
- Direct, hands-on experience administering international worker programs (J-1, H-2B, or similar) including compliance, logistics, and employee support.
- Proficiency with UKG Pro or UKG Ready, including workflows, reporting, and HRIS administration.
- Working knowledge of ACA compliance requirements, including eligibility tracking and 1094-C/1095-C filing processes.
- Experience partnering on payroll operations with a strong grasp of California wage and hour law.
- Solid understanding of benefits administration, open enrollment processes, LOA administration, and EDD interactions.
- Experience designing or facilitating training programs, onboarding curricula, or structured L&D initiatives.
- Exceptional written and verbal communication skills with the ability to build trust across all levels of the organization.
- Proven ability to manage sensitive information with the highest level of discretion and confidentiality.
- Payroll processing / auditing experience is required, including the full range of HR involvement necessary to support accurate and timely payroll - from data entry and approvals to corrections and compliance checks.
- UKG HRIS platform knowledge is a plus, particularly as it relates to payroll processing and integration.
What You’ll do:
Talent Acquisition & Employer Branding
- Own full-cycle recruitment across all departments, ensuring legal compliance and exceptional candidate experience.
- Design and execute annual recruiting plans with measurable goals, including innovative sourcing strategies for hard-to-fill and seasonal roles.
- Build and steward Sugar Bowl’s employer brand through job fairs, campus outreach, and community partnerships.
- Leverage UKG and other ATS/HRIS tools to track candidate pipelines, generate reporting, and continuously optimize hiring workflows.
- Oversee the Employee Referral Program and coordinate with Accounting on referral incentive administration.
HRIS & Systems Administration
- Serve as a power user and internal subject matter expert for UKG Ready, including workflow configuration, reporting, and troubleshooting.
- Own HRIS data integrity: employee records, position management, org structure, and reporting hierarchies.
- Develop and maintain custom reports and dashboards to support leadership decision-making on headcount, turnover, overtime, and labor costs.
- Lead or contribute to HRIS system upgrades, implementations, and integrations with payroll, timekeeping, and benefits vendors.
- Manage Employee Status Changes (ESC), terminations, and all associated HR actions within UKG.
- Work cross-functionally with Accounting/Finance on payroll reconciliation and auditing when necessary, ensuring HR and financial records stay aligned.
International Talent Programs
- Support the HR Manager in championing international seasonal worker programs, including J-1 visa sponsorship, H-2B petitions, and coordination with program sponsors and legal counsel.
- Serve as primary point of contact for international employees throughout their program lifecycle.
- Maintain deep working knowledge of applicable immigration regulations, DOS/USCIS requirements, and ski industry international staffing best practices.
- Develop culturally inclusive onboarding materials and training resources to support a diverse, multilingual workforce.
Benefits Administration & ACA Compliance
- In partnership with the HR Manager, support annual benefits open enrollment, and employee communications for medical, dental, vision, life, and ancillary benefit plans.
- Administer Leave of Absence programs (FMLA, CFRA, PDL, PFL) and coordinate with carriers, managers, and employees throughout leave cycles.
- Ensure full compliance with Affordable Care Act (ACA) reporting requirements, including 1094-C/1095-C filings and ongoing eligibility tracking.
- Respond to EDD inquiries, unemployment claims, and state agency requests in a timely and accurate manner.
- Manage dependent pass and reimbursement programs in partnership with operations teams.
Learning, Development & Retention
- Partner with the HR Manager to design, curate, and facilitate training programs that build manager capability, compliance knowledge, and employee skills across resort departments.
- Build and maintain a seasonal onboarding and orientation program that accelerates time-to-productivity for a high-volume, rapid-turn workforce.
- Identify retention risks using data and manager feedback; develop targeted action plans in partnership with department leaders.
- Champion a culture of continuous learning by sourcing external development opportunities, e-learning tools, and career pathing frameworks.
Compliance, Team Leadership & Office Management
- Maintain working knowledge of federal, California state, and local employment laws: FMLA, CFRA, ADA, FLSA, WARN, and Cal/OSHA, among others.
- Champion employee recognition programs and partner with the HR Manager on the planning and execution of resort-wide HR events, including seasonal kickoffs, employee appreciation events, and milestone celebrations, that reinforce culture and drive engagement across a diverse, distributed workforce.
- Own the development, maintenance, and regular review of HR standard operating procedures (SOPs) and process documentation, ensuring policies are current, accessible, and consistently applied across all departments and seasons.
- Coach, train, and mentor HR Coordinators, ensuring effective task management and professional development.
- Manage general office operations: filing, mail handling, form completion, phone support, and customer-facing interactions.
Additional Duties
- Participate in cross-functional projects and support reciprocal HR programs as needed.
- Other duties, as assigned.
Physical Requirements:
- Prolonged periods of sitting at a desk and working on a computer
- Ability to occasionally stand, walk, bend, reach, and lift up to 30 pounds
- Manual dexterity to operate standard office equipment (e.g., computer, phone, copier)
- Visual ability to read and produce documents, spreadsheets, and digital content
- Ability to communicate clearly and effectively in person, over the phone, and via email
- Occasional travel to attend job fairs or community events
- Must be able to safely navigate winter conditions, including walking through deep snow to access the office in a snowbound village environment, and perform occasional snow shoveling as needed.
- Must be comfortable working in and tolerating heavy winter weather conditions.
Benefits:
- Paid time off & Paid sick leave
- Employer sponsored 401k plan after 1,000 worked hours and one (1) year of service
- Medical, dental, and vision benefits
- Employer paid life insurance
- Additional voluntary benefits (AD&D, critical illness, etc.)
- Employee Assistance Program (EAP)
- Free ski and tubing passes for employees
- Free ski passes for dependents
- 50% off food at our restaurants
- Free group ski and snowboard lessons for employees
- Employee discounted lift tickets for family and friends
- Lift ticket discounts at multiple resorts including 24 Mountain Collective destinations
- Employee ski reciprocal programs
Sugar Bowl Resort believes that all persons are entitled to equal employment opportunity and does not discriminate against its employees or applicants because of race, color, hair, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, gender orientation, gender expression, pregnancy, marital status, national origin, citizenship, veteran status, ancestry, age, physical or mental disability, medical condition, or any other status protected by federal, state or local law, ordinance or regulation. Equal employment opportunity will be extended to all persons in all aspects of the employer-employee relationship, including recruitment, hiring, upgrading, training, promotion, transfer, discipline, layoff, recall, and termination.
