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The Senior HR Partner is a strategic advisor to their unit(s) (e.g., Student Affairs, ITS), focused on improving the employee experience and achieving unit and university objectives through people and other HR strategies. This role works hand in hand with leadership of their unit(s) to consult, advise, coach, and partner on people and organizational needs. This role strives to work strategically and proactively with unit leaders to create and implement talent and organizational plans that support culture, diversity and inclusion, employee engagement and experience, and professional development. This role will drive HR activities within their units that align to the overall talent and organizational strategy in areas such as performance management, talent and succession planning, employee onboarding and assimilation, total rewards including compensation, labor and employee relations, etc., and provide leadership to HR Partners and Associate HR Partners. The Senior HR Partner will manage the alignment between unit and university initiatives, focused on successful execution and outcomes while taking into account immediate and broader implications. They will align their unit(s) to HR policies and practices as it is critical that this role ensures compliance adherence of all HR policies and practices within the area of responsibility and with legislative and regulatory requirements, standards, and other applicable policies and guidelines. The team of HR Partners will work closely with the centers of expertise for deep domain expertise, and Solution Center for employee questions and HR transactions. This role will work primarily with their unit(s) but will report into HR for operational guidance, including leading practices, standard HR processes and procedures, HR related expertise, and for personal career growth in the HR field from HR leadership. This role will help enable USC’s mission and vision while promoting USC’s culture and values.

Minimum Qualifications

The candidate for the position of Senior HR Partner must meet the following qualifications:

• Bachelor's degree in business, psychology, human resources, industrial relations or related field. 

• Seven or more years of experience in human resources or human capital management.

• In-depth understanding of and experience working in a broad spectrum of HR domains including total rewards (including compensation), employee and labor relations, talent management (including performance management, learning and development), continuous process improvement, change management, training, diversity and inclusion, workforce planning, and organizational development. 

• Demonstrated success in consulting with business unit leaders about talent management strategies including workforce planning, talent assessments, employee and labor relations and performance management. 

• Ability to work with multiple leaders and manage competing priorities. 

• Experience with presenting complex and sensitive information articulately through presentations or reports to executive leadership. 

• Excellent mentoring and coaching skills to enhance client management and leadership abilities and relationships among teams. 

• Analytical and problem-solving skills including conflict resolution skills. 

• Ability to manage multiple concurrent projects with diverse teams. 

• Ability to learn quickly and flexibly adapt HR expertise to different business units. 

• Ability to develop positive working relationships and a rapport with team members. 

• Ability to manage one or more direct reports.  

• Knowledge of Microsoft Office Suite. 

Preferred Qualifications

The ideal candidate for the position of Senior HR Partner has the following qualifications:

• Advanced degree in business, psychology, human resources, industrial relations or related field. 

• Ten or more years of experience in human resources or human capital management.

• Experience in higher education and/or consulting.

• Knowledge of Workday Human Capital Management applications and analytics. 

• Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD), Certified Professional in Learning and Performance (CPLP), Organization Development Certified Professional Program (ODCP), Society for Human Resource Management Certified Professional/Senior Certified Professional (SHRM-CP/SHRM-SCP), Professional in Human Resources/Senior Professional in Human Resources (PHR/SPHR) or other similar certifications.   

Job Responsibilities

The candidate for the position of Senior HR Partner will be responsible for:

• Engaging proactively and strategically with leaders and HR centers of expertise leaders (e.g., Talent Acquisition, Total Rewards, Employee Engagement, and Culture) to ensure that USC can hire, develop and retain the “best of the best” talent to maintain a high talent bar for academic and staff. Working with HR subject matter experts, as needed, to provide their units with the best advice and coaching to maximize talent performance and mitigate risk at the university. Maintaining in-depth knowledge of legal requirements related to day-to-day management of employees, reducing legal risks and ensuring regulatory compliance. Coaching HR Partners and Associate HR Partners on leading practices in connection with managing talent.

• Serving as an HR representative during department/school strategic planning. Advising on impact to workforce throughout the planning process. Demonstrating understanding of and responding to the complex business environment, the alignment of talent with business strategies and goals and identifying how business managers can partner with HR productively.

• Working closely with business units by providing thoughtful advice and counsel. Managing and resolving employee and labor relations matters through problem-solving, coaching and advising. Providing guidance to line management on talent and organizational matters (e.g., performance management, career development, disciplinary actions). Providing HR templates to unit leadership and advising on current HR processes. 

• Communicating complex HR related policies and procedures in a way that units can easily plan, act, and execute on. Advising and delivering communications during complicated and sensitive situations in a manner that promotes action and compliance. Demonstrating effective written and verbal communications skills to produce documents, proposals, presentations, and reports tailored to individual audience needs. Maintaining open line of communication with business unit and team. 

• Analyzing feedback and insights from business units to develop new HR strategies and initiatives in support of business goals. Educating and development of unit leadership on trends and insights to allow for proactive talent strategies and actions. Continually refreshing knowledge of existing and proposed federal, state and local employment laws/regulations. 

• Partnering with the HR Systems & Data Analytics Team to gather and analyze information on key personnel indicators to support effective decision-making and talent planning. Leveraging leading practices and data to support and advise the units for all areas of HR including hiring decisions, promotion, compensation, learning, professional development, and succession planning. Providing guidance and oversight to direct reports.

• Striving to promote culture and values by proactively educating and advising to improve the employee experience and reduce risk. If compliance breaches occur, recording and reporting to HR leadership as well as providing on the ground support to rectify. Providing guidance and counsel on complex employee matters. Promoting an environment that fosters inclusive relationships and creates unbiased opportunities for contributions through ideas, words, and actions that uphold principles of the USC culture and values including the Code of Ethics.

• Demonstrating, through words, actions, and ideas, alignment to USC’s strategic plan and the HR organization’s strategic plan. Enabling the university to fulfill its academic and people missions through enhanced HR service.

• Performing other related responsibilities as requested and when necessary. The university reserves the right to add or change duties at any time.

The annual base salary range for this position is $107,372.68- $125,084.31. When extending an offer of employment, the University of Southern California considers factors such as (but not limited to) the scope and responsibilities of the position, the candidate’s work experience, education/training, key skills, internal peer equity, federal, state, and local laws, contractual stipulations, grant funding, as well as external market and organizational considerations.

The University of Southern California is an Equal Opportunity Employer

Minimum Education:Bachelor’s degreeMinimum Experience:7 yearsMinimum Field of Expertise:Bachelor’s degree in business, human resources, psychology, industrial relations or a related field. Seven years’ experience in HR and/or human capital management, able to drive strategies utilizing demonstrated skill sets in varied HR domains (e.g., total rewards/including compensation), recruitment, employee/labor relations, talent and performance management). Extensive experience in learning and development, change management, training, diversity and inclusion efforts, workforce planning, and organizational development. Excellent written and oral communications skills, with the ability to exercise discretion with confidential information. Experience presenting complex and sensitive information articulately through presentations/reports to executive leadership and other varied audiences. Demonstrated success consulting with unit leaders about talent management strategies (e.g., talent assessments, employee/labor relations, performance management). Ability to work with multiple leaders and manage competing priorities. Demonstrated analytical and problem-solving skills, with exceptional attention to detail. Ability to work on multiple concurrent projects with diverse teams and alongside varied stakeholders (e.g., corporate partners, healthcare providers, staffing vendors). Ability to learn quickly and flexibly adapt expertise to different business units. Demonstrated emotional intelligence and excellent interpersonal and conflict-resolution skills, able to develop positive working relationships and strong rapport with people from diverse backgrounds. Excellent mentoring/coaching skills and leadership abilities. Ability to manage one or more direct reports. Proficiency with Microsoft Office.

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