HR Operations Manager

Position Overview

The HR Operations Manager owns the day-to-day execution of the HR function to ensure Service Delivery Excellence — including employee lifecycle programs, compliance, policy administration, and people management for the HR team. This is a hands-on leadership role: managing HR staff, setting HR operational priorities, and ensuring HR programs are executed consistently and in compliance with policy and employment law. The role works in close coordination with the HR Talent Acquisition (TA) team on cross-functional processes (including onboarding handoffs, shared systems, operational support, and overall workforce planning) to foster an integrated HR and Talent Acquisition function that delivers a consistent employee experience.

The HR Operations Manager partners closely with HR leadership, Recruitment, Finance/Payroll, I.T., Security, and Program Management to support day-to-day HR operations while enabling data-driven decision-making across the employee lifecycle.

Work Location: Washington, D.C. area (remote)

Clearance: N/A

Job Responsibilities and/or Success Factors

HR Operations, Compliance & Service Delivery

• Partner with the Director of HR on key annual priorities in terms of strategy execution, deliverables, and overall HR performance monitoring.
• Support in overall Workforce Planning and Workforce Analytics efforts.
• Manage day-to-day HR operations, process execution, and policy administration.
• Directly manage HR staff, including performance management and development of staff.
• Own employee lifecycle programs (i.e., onboarding, benefits administration, performance management cycles, offboarding)
• Ensure Departmental compliance with employment law, EEO, and Affirmative Action Plan (AAP) requirements, along with company policies and procedures and clearance-related HR requirements.
• Lead and execute annual audits (e.g., EEO, AAP) and coordinate with HR staff to support the audit.
• Support Employee Relations (ER) cases (conduct internal due diligence, coordinate with key stakeholders, support conflict resolution, review performance records, and support policy interpretation).
• Support vendor management and maintain relationships with HR vendors.
• Coordinate with the Talent Acquisition team on cross-functional processes (onboarding handoffs, shared systems, surge support).  

HR Reporting, Analytics & KPIs

• Run standard and ad-hoc HR reports related to headcount, turnover, hiring activity, benefits, and workforce trends (e.g., running quarterly reports and leveraging data to inform workforce planning efforts).
• Monitor HR KPIs and metrics, identify any risks and mitigation for overall service delivery excellence.
• Support development of HR dashboards and reporting for leadership, ensuring data integrity and consistency.

Process Improvement & Cross-Functional Support

• Identify opportunities to improve HR processes, workflows, and reporting efficiency.
• Develop and train on HR procedures, SOPs, and job aids.
• Serve as a strategic partner between HR, Talent Acquisition, Payroll, I.T., PMO and internal stakeholders to ensure smooth service delivery.
• Provide responsive, professional support to employees and managers on HR-related inquiries.

Core Capabilities 

• HR operations & compliance: strong working knowledge of employment law, EEO/AAP compliance, policy administration, and HR process design
• People management: proven ability to manage and develop HR staff
• Employee relations: skilled in handling employee relations matters, investigations, and conflict resolution
• Employee lifecycle expertise: ability to manage across multiple functions to include but not limited to onboarding, benefits administration, offboarding
• HRIS & data fluency: comfortable working with HR systems and reporting tools; able to support administrative tasks related to data entry and reporting needs
• Cross-functional collaboration: effective in a matrixed structure, coordinating with the Talent Acquisition team and shared administrative resources
• Process & policy design: builds and documents repeatable HR processes and policies

Education and Minimum Qualifications

• 8–10 years of progressive HR operations experience, including 5+ years managing people
• Strong knowledge of EEO and Affirmative Action Plan (AAP) compliance and employment law; government contracting / cleared environment experience a plus
• Demonstrated employee relations experience, including investigations, conflict resolution, and policy interpretation
• Experience administering benefits and onboarding programs

Preferred Qualifications

• PHR or SHRM-CP certification preferred, not required
• Strong stakeholder management skills; comfortable partnering across multiple Departments and Executive Leadership