Director – Engagement & Workforce Risk

Overview

Do you want to join a team that's changing the world? Do you have a strong background as a Director, Engagement & Workforce Risk? Then we're looking for you! Check out the job description and apply now! Put your skills to meaningful use, gain unique experience, and work with world-class team members with diverse backgrounds and expertise who share the same vision. Join the PECNA team today!

Responsibilities

Director, Engagement & Workforce Risk

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This position can be based in either our Reno, Nevada or De Soto, Kansas site. Candidates should expect up to 50% travel between these two locations.

Meet the Recruiter: Jenny Willhoit

Job Summary:

The Director, Employee Engagement & Workforce Risk is the enterprise leader for PECNA's positive employee relations, employee experience, and workforce-risk strategy. This role leads the Employee Relations and Employee Experience teams and creates an integrated system that listens to employees, identifies and resolves emerging issues, strengthens leader capability, improves the everyday employee experience, and reduces workforce and organizing risk. The Director partners closely with the Chief People Officer, Legal/OEC, Internal Communications, site HR and business leaders to ensure PECNA is prepared, responsive and consistent across Kansas and Nevada.

Essential Duties:

• Lead PECNA's integrated Employee Engagement, Employee Relations and Workforce Risk strategy, connecting employee listening, experience, ER trends and organizing risk into one enterprise approach.
• Lead and develop the Employee Relations team, including the Sr. Manager, Employee Relations & Workforce Risk and site ER Managers; ensure consistent investigation standards, escalation, case governance, reporting and compliance across PECNA.
• Lead and develop the Employee Experience team, including site Employee Engagement Managers; set enterprise priorities for listening, recognition, employee HR experience, all-hands content, daily communications and site activation.
• Develop and implement PECNA's positive employee relations and union-risk mitigation strategy in partnership with the CPO and Legal, including vulnerability assessments, risk indicators, mitigation plans and recurring readiness reviews by site, shift and workforce segment.
• Build leader and HR capability through practical education on labor law, the National Labor Relations Act, positive employee relations, engagement techniques, lawful organizing-risk mitigation, employee communications and respectful workplace expectations.
• Create transparent processes for identifying, escalating and driving solutions for issues impacting employees. Integrate focus groups, engagement and pulse surveys, ER/OEC cases, workforce data, leader feedback and operational signals to identify root causes, hotspots and emerging risk.
• Establish enterprise employee-communication standards that build trust, consistency and transparency. Define objectives, audiences, messages, timing and escalation requirements; partner with Internal Communications and Legal to develop and deploy targeted positive employee relations communications.
• Maintain enterprise union-petition readiness, including a current, legally reviewed 30-day response plan that can be activated immediately upon organizing activity or a petition.
• Establish and maintain a trained supervisor 'jump team' and rapid-response operating model, including roles, decision rights, leader deployment, communication cadence, site coverage and escalation protocols.
• Maintain ready-to-deploy union-response communication campaign materials, leader talking points, FAQs, employee listening mechanisms and response protocols in partnership with Legal and Internal Communications.
• Partner with Legal/OEC to ensure labor and employment compliance, appropriate escalation, policy alignment and disciplined documentation; translate legal and ER trends into proactive workforce-risk actions.
• Set KPIs, dashboards and reporting for engagement, employee experience, ER trends, workforce risk and union readiness; provide actionable insights and recommendations to the CPO, HR Leadership Team and site leadership.
• Partner with PECNA Institute to embed leader capability and positive employee relations expectations into leadership development, onboarding and ongoing training.
• Create a closed-loop model in which ER and workforce-risk insights inform employee-experience priorities and engagement actions are measured for their impact on recurring employee friction and risk.

Key Skills & Capabilities

• Deep expertise in employee engagement, Employee Relations, positive employee relations, labor relations and workforce-risk management in complex operating environments.
• Strong working knowledge of U.S. labor and employment law, including the National Labor Relations Act, lawful organizing-response practices and employee communication requirements.
• Demonstrated ability to build and operationalize union-readiness strategies, vulnerability assessments, rapid-response plans and leader preparedness programs.
• Strong employee-listening and diagnostic capability; able to connect surveys, focus groups, case data, employee feedback and operational trends into clear priorities and interventions.
• Exceptional communication judgment and ability to translate sensitive workforce issues into credible, transparent and legally sound employee and leader communications.
• Proven ability to lead multiple specialized teams and create clear interfaces across ER, Employee Experience, Internal Communications, Legal/OEC, HRBPs and business leadership.
• Strong executive presence, judgment and discretion; able to lead through sensitive, high-risk and fast-moving employee situations.
• Experience in manufacturing, large hourly workforces and multi-site operations strongly preferred.

Supervisory Responsibilities:

• Leads the Sr. Manager, Employee Relations & Workforce Risk and the Employee Experience/Engagement team.
• Provides enterprise functional leadership for site Employee Relations Managers and site Employee Engagement Managers across Kansas and Nevada.
• Coordinates closely with Internal Communications resources supporting employee engagement and positive employee relations priorities.

Travel Requirement:

• Occasional local travel between company facilities, as required to support operational needs
• Up to 50% travel required, primarily between PECNA sites

Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) Requirements:

• To ensure the health and safety in the workplace and for the protection of our employees, wearing PPE is a possibility and may include equipment such as a full Tyvek suit, safety shoes, gloves, safety glasses, face mask, bump cap, and a full hazmat suit that includes a respirator.

The foregoing description is not intended and should not be construed to be an exhaustive list of all responsibilities, skills and efforts or work conditions associated with the job. It is intended to be an accurate reflection of the general nature and level of the job.

Qualifications

Requirements - Required and/or Preferred

Essential Education, Certifications, and Licenses:

• Bachelor's degree in Human Resources, Labor Relations, Business, Communications or related field.
• 10+ years of progressive HR, Employee Relations, Labor Relations or Employee Engagement experience, including leadership responsibility.
• Demonstrated experience developing positive employee relations and union-readiness strategies in a large hourly workforce environment.
• Experience leading complex Employee Relations matters and partnering closely with employment/labor counsel.
• Experience building enterprise programs, standards, training, communications and measurement across multiple locations.
• Strong knowledge of federal, state and local labor and employment laws, including the National Labor Relations Act.

Preferred Qualifications:

• Master's degree, JD or advanced education in Human Resources, Labor Relations, Organizational Development or related discipline.
• SHRM-SCP, SPHR or comparable professional certification.
• Manufacturing experience with a large hourly workforce and demonstrated experience preparing for or responding to union organizing activity.
• Experience leading both Employee Relations and Employee Engagement/Experience functions.
• Experience operating in a complex, multi-site and/or global organization.

Physical Demands:

Physical Activities: Percentage of time (equaling 100%) during the normal workday the employee is required to:

• Sit: 10%
• Walk: 50%
• Stand: 40%

Required Lifting and Carrying: Rare (<1%), Occasional (1-33%), Frequent (34-66%), Continuous (67-100%)

For this position, the required frequency is:

• Up to 10 lbs.: Continuous
• Up to 20 lbs.: Frequent
• Up to 35 lbs.: Frequent
• Team-lift only (over 35 lbs.): Occasional

Benefits & Perks - What's In It For You:

Panasonic Energy prioritizes total well-being and offers comprehensive benefits options to support physical, emotional, financial, social, and environmental health:

• Health Benefits – Offering medical, dental, vision, prescription plans, plus Health Savings Account and Flexible Spending Account options.
• Voluntary Benefits – Life, accident, critical illness, disability, legal, identity theft, and pet insurance.
• Panasonic Retirement Savings & Investment Plan (PRSIP) – 401(k) plan with company matching contributions and immediate vesting.
• Paid Time-Off Benefits – Vacation, holidays, personal days, sick leave, volunteer, and parental & caregiver leave.
• Educational Assistance – Tuition reimbursement for job-related courses after six months of service.
• Health Management and Wellbeing Programs –Lifestyle Spending Account, EAP, virtual health management, chronic condition, neurodiversity, tobacco cessation, substance abuse support, and life stage and fertility resources. Available to eligible employees starting the first day of the month following your start date. Eligibility for each benefit may vary based on employment status, location, and length of service.
• Employee Recognition Program - High5 employee recognition and awards platform, quarterly and annual employee recognition
• Annual Bonus Program - Opportunity for an annual performance-based bonus.
• On-site Food Options: Several on-site cafes, plentiful snack and beverage kitchens, revolving on-site vendor visits and employee events
• Free Shuttle: Rides to and from work, depending on location!

Where You'll Be:

For our onsite roles, Panasonic Energy is committed to fostering an ideal working environment that goes beyond the conventional. We understand the significance of moments that matter in your onsite experience, and we prioritize creating a workspace that not only promotes productivity but also ensures a fulfilling and positive work atmosphere. Join us at Panasonic Energy, where your onsite presence is valued, and we strive to make each moment count in your professional journey.

Who We Are:

Meet Panasonic Energy! At Panasonic Energy, you'll do work that matters as we are dedicated to transforming the world through the acceleration of sustainable energy. By producing safe, high-quality lithium-ion batteries, you become part of a team that plays a crucial role in creating technologies that move us.

Our journey began in 2017, and now, as the world's largest lithium-ion battery factory, we are expanding operations to De Soto, Kansas, providing you with the opportunity to experience career growth in more ways than one.

As an innovative thinker, you'll thrive here, as we continually push the boundaries of lithium-ion battery technology and production capabilities to enhance efficiency and performance in EVs.

Being part of Panasonic Energy means positively contributing to society, aligning with our commitment to building a better world through sustainable energy solutions.

We care about what you care about, fostering an environment where your contributions make a meaningful impact on the future of energy and transportation. Join us and be part of a team that values your work, encourages innovation, and actively contributes to a positive societal impact.

In addition to an environment that is as innovative as our products, we offer competitive salaries and benefits.

We Take Opportunity Seriously:

At Panasonic Energy, we are committed to a workplace that genuinely fosters inclusion and belonging. Fairness and Honesty have been part of our core values for more than 100 years and we are proud of our diverse culture as an equal opportunity employer.

We understand that your career search may look different than others and embrace the professional, personal, educational, and volunteer opportunities through which people gain experience. If you are actively looking or starting to explore new opportunities, submit your application!

Supplemental Information:

Pre-employment drug testing is required.

Qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, national origin, disability, protected veteran status or other characteristics protected by law. All qualified individuals are required to perform the essential functions of the job with or without reasonable accommodation.

Due to the high volume of responses, we will only be able to respond to candidates of interest. All candidates must have valid authorization to work in the U.S. without restriction.

Thank you for your interest in Panasonic Energy Corporation of North America.

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