HR Business Partner - Talent & Employee Relations

Job Title: HR Business Partner - Talent & Employee Relations
Location: Cambridge, ON (In-Office)
Position Type:Full-time Regular
Vacancy Status: This position will be Vacant in November  
AI Disclosure in Hiring:Artificial intelligence (AI) may be used to assist with certain aspects of the recruitment process, including the initial review and screening of applications. Final hiring decisions are made by Human Resources and hiring managers.

Role Summary

The HR Business Partner is a hands-on role at the Cambridge site that combines direct delivery of HR services with practical advice and coaching for leaders on their people matters. A collaborative member of the Human Resources team, the role owns the talent lifecycle day to day, from recruiting and onboarding through performance, development, succession and offboarding, and handles the site’s day-to-day employee and labour relations. The role also administers pension and benefits and manages WSIB claims.

The Director, Human Resources owns site-level HR strategy, collective bargaining, arbitrations and complex employee and labour relations matters, with the HR Business Partner providing hands-on support and escalating issues as appropriate. Working alongside the Director and other HR team members, the HR Business Partner spots people issues early, gives managers practical, compliant advice and does the work to put HR programs and practices in place. The role supports both non-union and unionized employees, applying Bimeda policies and procedures and the collective agreement consistently to minimize risk and ensure compliance with legislative requirements.

Key Role Specific Requirements

Day-to-Day Partnership with Leaders

• Be visible and accessible on site, building trusted relationships with leaders, managers and staff and learning the business’s operations, priorities and workforce needs first-hand.
• Work with leaders to turn departmental and Bimeda objectives into practical people actions and help carry them out.
• Act as the go-to advisor and coach for managers on people decisions, communication and the application of HR policies and programs, stepping in to help with difficult conversations when needed.
• Pull and review workforce data, BambooHR reports and employee feedback to spot issues and give leaders practical, fact-based recommendations.

Employee and Labour Relations

• Advise and coach managers and staff on performance management, conflict resolution, progressive discipline, attendance management, accommodations and return to work, and handle cases hands-on, from preparing documentation to attending meetings.
• Apply Bimeda policies and procedures for non-union staff and the collective agreement for unionized staff, and advise managers on how to do the same.
• Conduct workplace investigations, including workplace conflict, harassment and workplace violence assessments, from interviews through findings and recommendations, and support the Director on more complex matters.
• Respond to and help resolve grievances, and support the Director through arbitration and collective bargaining with research, documentation and preparation.
• Build effective day-to-day working relationships with leaders, senior management and union representatives.
• Recommend fair and compliant approaches, and keep thorough documentation and confidentiality on every file.

Compliance and Risk Management

• Advise and train managers and staff on current and evolving legislation, including the Employment Standards Act, Labour Relations Act, Human Rights Code, Occupational Health and Safety Act, Pay Equity Act and the Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act, so day-to-day decisions minimize risk and stay compliant.
• Flag risks early and do the due diligence on files to protect Bimeda from unnecessary legal challenges regarding employment issues.
• Liaise directly with legal, professional, community and government organizations and agencies.
• Follow, write and update HR standard operating procedures (SOPs), policies and guidelines that bring efficiency and continuity to how HR work is done and help people managers act with speed, consistency and compliance.

Talent Acquisition and Onboarding

• Own full-cycle recruitment, from workforce need and role definition through sourcing, selection, interviewing, offer and onboarding.
• Work with hiring managers to define role requirements, write job postings and selection criteria, and source candidates through job boards, social media, networks, agencies and internal talent.
• Screen candidates, schedule and conduct interviews, and coach hiring managers on fair, consistent and legally compliant selection decisions.
• Prepare and extend offers, including salary positioning in line with compensation guidelines, reference checks and pre-employment requirements.
• Run onboarding so new hires and managers have a consistent, positive experience that supports early engagement and retention.
• Track recruitment metrics such as time to fill, source effectiveness and new-hire retention, and use them to fix what isn’t working.

Talent, Performance Management, and Succession

• Run talent reviews, succession discussions, performance cycles and development planning, preparing the materials and facilitating the conversations.
• Help leaders identify capability gaps, critical roles, retention risks and development priorities.
• Advise leaders on, and coordinate, internal talent movement, promotions and career pathways.
• Coach leaders through performance improvement, career development, recognition and employee engagement actions.

Workforce Planning and Organizational Change

• Pull together headcount, capability and role-clarity information for workforce planning, and flag workforce risks.
• Prepare business-unit analysis and recommendations for organizational structure discussions led by HR leadership.
• Carry out approved structure and workforce changes, including preparing leaders, drafting employee communications and processing the changes.

Compensation, Benefits and HR Programs

• Guide leaders through annual compensation, merit, job evaluation and salary administration, and process the work using established HR guidelines and approval processes.
• Prepare business context and recommendations for salary positioning, promotions, and other compensation decisions.
• Identify potential pay, retention, or internal equity concerns and escalate them through the appropriate review process.
• Administer pension and benefits programs and manage WSIB claims from first report through return to work, advising employees and managers along the way.
• Roll out HR programs and report back on adoption and business impact.
• Develop, customize and deliver HR workshops and information sessions for managers and staff.

AI and HR Technology

• Be a hands-on BambooHR power user: work in it daily and keep improving how it supports HR standards, onboarding and offboarding, job postings, employee documentation and other HR processes. Proficiency in BambooHR is a core expectation of the role.
• Put AI and HR technology to responsible, practical use to improve the quality, speed and outcomes of HR projects and services.
• Use AI tools to support analysis, research, drafting, workforce insights and process improvement, while applying sound judgment, accuracy checks and confidentiality.
• Stay current on AI capabilities in HR and show leaders and HR colleagues how to use them effectively and ethically, in line with Bimeda policies and privacy requirements.

Change, Engagement, and Culture

• Do the hands-on people work behind change, including transformation, restructuring, growth and process changes, and coach leaders through it.
• Use engagement feedback and employee insights to build focused action plans with leaders and help follow them through.
• Reinforce Bimeda’s Vision, Mission, Values and expected leadership behaviours through day-to-day partnership and decision-making.
• Participate in special projects as required.

Please note that this job description is not exhaustive, and the role holder may be required to undertake other relevant duties commensurate with the grading of the post. Activities may be subject to amendment over time as the role develops and/or priorities and requirements evolve.

Competencies Required for the Role

THOROUGHNESS/DETAIL ORIENTED – Ensuring that one’s own and others’ work ad information are complete and accurate; carefully preparing for meetings and presentations following up with others to ensure that agreements and commitments have been fulfilled.

EFFECTIVE COMMUNICATION - Is the ability to convey information to another effectively and efficiently, to listen – help facilitate sharing of information between people.  It is about understanding the emotional intention behind the information. The ability to express oneself clearly in conversations, confirm understanding, communicate using data and facts whilst adapting to one’s audience.  Exhibit willingness to listen, and show respect for oneself and others in interactions with others.   express oneself clearly in verbal and business writing.

ADAPTABILITY/CHANGE AGILITY – Is the ability to be agile and adapt to constant change; shows good resistance to pressure and stress; is resilient and open-minded. The ability to demonstrate support for innovation and for organizational changes needed to improve the organization’s effectiveness; initiating, sponsoring, and implementing organizational change.  The ability to change or be changed in order to fit or work better on some situation or purpose, and embraces change.  Strives for continuous improvement.

ANALYTICAL THINKING/PROBLEM SOLVING - is the ability to identify the information needed to clarify a situation, seek that information from various sources and then tackle a problem by using a logical, systematic, sequential approach.  Ability to identify and separate the key components of problems and situations.  Ability to interpret information from a range of sources to spot patterns and trends in information and to deduce cause and effect from this

FOSTERING COLLABORATION/TEAMWORK- is the ability to work jointly with others or together especially in an intellectual endeavor; the ability and desire to work cooperatively with others on a team; as a team leader, the ability to demonstrate interest, skill, and success in getting groups to learn to work together. Builds partnerships for global performance.  Respects others.

NEGOTIATION – Is the ability to know how to get what you want; understands the win-win relationships; understands each party’s interest in the situation.

Education:

• University degree in Human Resources, Business, Organizational Development, or a related discipline, or equivalent experience.

Experience:

• Minimum 3 - 5 years of progressive HR experience including time as an HR advisor and full-cycle recruitment.
• Pharmaceutical or food manufacturing industry or other regulated industry experience preferred.  
• Experience advising on employee relations concerns and human rights issues.
• Experience with the interpretation and application of Ontario employment legislation, including the Employment Standards Act, Labour Relations Act, Human Rights Code and Occupational Health and Safety Act.
• Experience supporting workforce planning, organizational change and compensation processes such as job evaluation and annual merit cycles.
• Success in managing difficult issues and facilitating sensitive discussions and meetings.
• Demonstrated ability to build consensus and influence others with diplomacy in a diverse, multi-disciplinary environment.

Knowledge, Skills and Abilities:

• Certified Human Resources Leader (CHRL) designation, or actively working towards it.
• Outstanding interpersonal, relationship-building and employee/manager coaching skills.
• Superior oral and written communication, presentation and organization skills, with proven ability to handle sensitive and confidential information with discretion.
• Solution-focused problem solving and sound judgment, with the confidence to challenge constructively.
• Strong business acumen and the ability to interpret analytics and communicate data.
• A hands-on, roll-up-the-sleeves approach: comfortable both doing the work and advising on it, and able to move between the two in a busy manufacturing environment.

Desirable:

• Experience working in a unionized environment, including the interpretation and application of a collective agreement.
• Labour relations experience, including grievance, arbitration and collective bargaining processes.
• Hands-on experience with compensation programs, including job evaluation and market analysis.

Compensation & Benefits:

• Competitive salary.
• 13 paid holidays.
• Competitive vacation policy effective upon hire.
• 5 paid personal care days.
• Employee Assistance Program.
• Medical, dental, vision, STD & LTD benefits.
• Expected Salary Range: $75,000 - $90,000 / Year; depending on experience

About Bimeda

Bimeda is a leading global innovator, manufacturer and marketer of veterinary pharmaceuticals and animal health products and has over half a century’s experience in providing science-driven solutions to optimize the health, wellbeing and productivity of the world’s animals.

Bimeda’s global innovation program sees six state-of-the art R&D centers across four continents collaborate on an enviable product development pipeline which anticipates the ever-evolving needs of the animal health industry.

Bimeda’s nine manufacturing facilities across seven countries allow the company to manufacture a broad range of preventative, curative and nutritional products including sterile injectables, vaccinations, nutritional boluses, feed additives, tablets, water-soluble powders, pastes and non-sterile liquids.

Globally, the company focuses on the development, manufacture and commercialization of quality Bimeda-branded products while also being the partner of choice for contract manufacturing and R&D services for prominent companies within the animal health industry.