Sr. Director of Human Resources
Mission Statement:
Committed to kindness in service to the community since 1931, the Humane Society of Sonoma County is a donor-supported safe haven for animals. Our mission is to save lives and benefit the wellbeing of pets and their people with kindness, innovation, and leadership.
SUMMARY:
The Senior Director of Human Resources provides strategic and hands-on leadership for all aspects of human resources across HSSC’s multi-site nonprofit operations. Reporting to the Executive Director, this role ensures HR practices are deeply aligned with the agency’s mission, vision, and values. The Senior Director oversees a full spectrum of HR functions including compliance, talent development, employee relations, systems and audits, benefits administration, workforce planning, leadership coaching, and agency-wide culture building.
They serve as a key partner in evaluating organizational growth opportunities, such as expanded services or inter-agency collaborations, from an HR and compliance perspective. The Senior Director may also provide external consultation and capacity support to peer organizations without internal HR capacity, represents HR on internal and external committees, and maintains ongoing communication with legal counsel, agency leadership, and board members.
As a member of the Executive Leadership Team, the Senior HR Director plays an active role in key committees and attends all Executive, Leadership, and Director meetings. They serve as a collaborative partner to executive and departmental leaders, helping shape and support the organizational goals and culture of HSSC. This position is best served with a hopeful, human-centered, and solutions-oriented approach.
This position is central to ensuring that people practices align with the organization’s commitment to compassion, integrity, equity, inclusion, and excellence in serving animals and the community.
Key Responsibilities:
Departmental Leadership & Oversight
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Provides strategic leadership and oversight for the entire Human Resources department.
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Develops, directs, and coordinates the implementation of goals, objectives, policies, and work standards for the HR department.
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Creates and implements HR systems, tools, and strategies that support equitable practices, workforce engagement, and leadership accountability.
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Evaluates, designs, plans, and implements the progressive evolution of the HR department in accordance with the agency’s growth and needs.
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Leads the preparation, monitoring, and forecasting of the HR department’s annual budget.
Compliance, Audits, & Legal Oversight
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Oversees all internal and external HR-related audits, including those from local, state, and federal agencies.
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Conducts comprehensive policy reviews to ensure legal compliance and alignment with HSSC’s mission, vision, and values.
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Advises on legal compliance across all areas of HR policy and practice, conferring with legal counsel as needed.
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Implements and communicates critical legal and compliance requirements including state-specific mandates.
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Manages any out-of-state HR compliance issues including registration and certification for payroll tax and workers’ compensation for any remote employees.
Workforce Strategy, Culture & Development
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Leads agency-wide workforce planning, policy development, and implementation of HR best practices in employee engagement, retention, and supervision.
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Oversees the creation, evaluation, and delivery of leadership development and employee growth initiatives, including internal and external LMS platforms.
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Develops internal communication strategies to inform and engage staff in alignment with agency mission and values.
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Leads change management planning for organizational growth, restructuring, and system transitions, ensuring clear communication, role clarity, and culture continuity throughout.
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Applies project management methodologies to HR initiatives and infrastructure improvements.
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Evaluates new technologies and systems for HRIS, benefits administration, and training/development.
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Champions and protects organizational culture and trust during periods of change or uncertainty, ensuring staff feel informed and supported.
Employee Relations & Organizational Support
- Build positive, trust-based relationships with staff across all levels of the organization.
- Collaborate with leadership to foster a culture of appreciation, inclusion, and continuous feedback.
- Serve as a resource for employees and supervisors to resolve workplace issues, including investigations, navigating conflicts, and foster respectful, solutions-oriented communication, always in a fair and impartial manner.
- Applies trauma-informed principles to coaching, conflict resolution, and policy design, recognizing the cumulative impact of high-stress animal welfare work on staff wellbeing.
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Provides support for performance management, workplace restructuring, and coaching, ensuring alignment with legal standards and internal expectations.
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Facilitates difficult workplace conversations and helps build a culture of transparency and learning throughout the agency.
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Identify and address barriers, and support initiatives that strengthen organizational culture, promote staff well-being, and build an inclusive environment.
- Serve as a resource for employees and managers regarding HR policies, benefits, conflict resolution, and workplace concerns.
- Support and advise in employee performance conversations, coaching, corrective actions, and terminations.
- Organize recognition programs and assist with internal communications like newsletters and culture-building events
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Evaluates prospective mergers and partnerships from an HR compliance, fiscal, and workforce impact perspective.
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Provides advisement to HSSC’s partner organizations that lack internal HR infrastructure and have engaged with HSSC in a collaborative HR management partnership.
Policy Development & Compliance
- Stewards the development, communication, and consistent application of HR policies and procedures across departments and all leadership levels.
- Responsible for employee handbook maintenance in alignment with changing organizational needs and Federal and State laws, incorporating input and insight from leadership
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Partner with leadership to ensure policies reflect organizational values and legal compliance, with attention to equity and accessibility.
- Monitor state and federal employment law changes and recommend updates as needed.
- Stay current on employment law and HR best practices; ensure organizational compliance.
- Support audits, employment verifications, and regulatory reporting as needed.
Recruitment & Onboarding
- Partner with hiring managers to design and carry out fair, inclusive recruitment processes.
- Design, refine, set standards and provides oversight for Job Description development, screening criteria, and interview design, and new hire offers, overseeing day to day execution (posting, screening, scheduling) by HR support staff.
- Design and oversee onboarding and orientation framework and new-hire experience strategy, including 30-60-90 day touchpoints, ensure new hires feel connected to HSSC’s mission and culture from day one.
Training & Development
- Support the design and delivery of training that equips staff and supervisors with the tools they need to grow and succeed.
- Help identify professional development opportunities and resources that align with both organizational needs and employee goals.
Compensation & Benefits
- Ownership of the strategy and development for competitive compensation and benefits programs, in collaboration with the Fiscal department and the Executive Team.
- Owns the strategy and negotiation for annual worker’s compensation and employee-benefit renewals, including carrier/broker negotiations and plan design recommendations with reporting to executive leadership and Board as needed.ke
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Serve as a resource for employees navigating benefits, leave, and pay-related questions.
- Administer employee benefit plans (health, vision, dental, life, retirement).
- Manage open enrollment and ongoing benefits education.
- Ensure compliance with all federal, state, and local employment laws and recordkeeping requirements.
Executive & Strategic Leadership
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Serves as a strategic advisor to the ED, Executive Team, and Board of Directors on all HR matters.
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Prepares and delivers presentations and HR updates to the Board of Directors as needed.
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Represents HR on cross-functional teams and committees as needed. Participates in Director-level and Executive-level interviews and hiring processes.
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Advises other nonprofits and community organizations at the request of the ED, providing expert HR support and assessments.
Data Management & Reporting
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Identifies organizational HR goals and objectives in partnership with leadership and reports regularly on progress.
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Oversees the maintenance and confidentiality of all employee records.
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Oversees the maintenance of detailed personnel data including hiring, turnover, promotions, performance, and engagement trends.
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Compiles statistical HR data and prepares reports for internal and external stakeholders.
Other Duties
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Leads and participates in special projects or initiatives as assigned by the ED.
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Supports interdepartmental collaboration and innovation through an HR lens.
Additional Agency-Wide Leadership Responsibilities
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Provide strategic leadership across the organization, contributing to long-term planning and goal setting.
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Participate in cross-functional initiatives to improve operational efficiency and service delivery.
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Represent the organization in external forums, conferences, and stakeholder meetings to promote its mission.
Supervised by: Executive Director
Supervises: All HR positions as department grows, beginning with an HR Admin/HR Generalist level hire.
The Senior Director is directly responsible for the professional growth of every HR staff member reporting to this role, delivering regular, specific feedback with kindness and respect; identifying development needs and growth opportunities; and actively mentoring staff toward greater skill and confidence. Anyone supervised by this role should experience becoming a stronger, more capable HR professional as a direct result of that mentorship.
MINIMUM QUALIFICATIONS:
To perform this job successfully, an individual must be able to perform each essential duty satisfactorily. The requirements listed below are representative of the knowledge, skill, and/or ability required.
EXPERIENCE and EDUCATION:
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Minimum of 10 years of progressively responsible HR leadership experience, ideally in a nonprofit or mission-driven organization of comparable size and complexity, including at least 5 years independently managing a full-spectrum of HR functions such as compliance, employee relations, benefits administration, and systems development.
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Bachelor’s degree in Human Resources, Business Administration, or equivalent experience and education.
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Demonstrated experience in direct supervision of multiple staff and ability to take independent action in a complex environment.
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Experience managing departmental budgets, including forecasting and financial oversight.
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Demonstrated experience negotiating vendor, carrier, or broker contracts and evaluating renewal proposals for cost and value. Proven ability to lead and implement major HR initiatives, including organizational restructures, audits, policy overhauls, system transitions (HRIS, payroll, LMS), and agency-wide staff development strategies.
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Successful history in mentoring and developing HR staff, with a proven track record of helping HR professionals grown in skill, judgement and confidence.
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Demonstrated ability to apply project management approaches to multi-department initiatives.
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Ability to assess, implement, and evaluate systems and platforms (HRIS, benefits administration, learning management, compliance tools) for efficacy and alignment with operational needs.
KNOWLEDGE, SKILLS, AND ABILITIES:
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Strong command of California and federal labor law, including areas such as FMLA/CFRA, ADA, Title VII, wage and hour, WARN Act, and Cal/OSHA, with experience interpreting and applying legal requirements in both union and non-union settings.
- Experience representing the organization in legal matters and collaborating with outside counsel; acts as the primary HR contact for audits, legal investigations, and compliance reporting across multiple state and federal programs.
- Exceptional communication and interpersonal skills, with the ability to build trust, coach across levels of leadership, and promote clear, respectful, and inclusive workplace dialogue.
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Knowledge of trauma-informed and compassion-fatigue-aware approaches to leadership coaching and staff communication, with the ability to apply these frameworks in a high-emotion, mission-driven environment.
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Strong conflict resolution and employee relations skills, including managing complex personnel matters, conducting or overseeing sensitive investigations, and recommending sound, legally compliant actions.
- Strategic thinker with the ability to balance big-picture planning with detailed execution.
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Skilled at policy development, internal communications, and aligning HR language and systems with agency mission, values, and leadership principles.
- Comfortable serving as a cross-agency advisor and consultant to external partners lacking internal HR support, offering expertise in staffing strategy, risk mitigation, and policy alignment.
- Technologically proficient, with advanced working knowledge of Google Workspace, Paylocity or similar HRIS systems, and general SaaS platforms for document management, training, and compliance tracking.
- Emotionally mature, discreet, and responsive under pressure. Capable of balancing legal compliance with human empathy in high-stakes situations.
- Deep commitment to HSSC’s values of Dignity, Compassion, Integrity, and Connection.
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Bilingual oral and written communication skills in Spanish/English are highly desirable.
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Comfort navigating change and working in fast-paced environments.
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Excellent communication skills; clear, kind, and culturally aware.
PHYSICAL REQUIREMENTS:
The physical demands described here are representative of those that must be met by an employee to successfully perform the essential functions of this job. Must be able to sit or stand at a desk for significant periods of the day. Must be able to communicate (speak and listen) verbally. Must be able to lift and move paperwork and files, up to 40 pounds. While performing the duties of this job, the employee is regularly required to walk, sit, use hands to handle objects/operate technology; reach with hands and arms; stoop, kneel, and crouch; talk and hear.
Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.
WORK ENVIRONMENT:
The work environment characteristics described here are representative of those an employee encounters while performing the essential functions of this job. This job operates in a professional office environment and remotely. The noise level in the work environment is usually moderate.
EEO STATEMENT:
HSSC is an Equal Opportunity Employer. We are committed to building a diverse, inclusive, and equitable team. We encourage applications from individuals of all backgrounds and identities, especially those historically underrepresented in animal welfare and veterinary medicine.
