Director of Human Resources

Position Summary

Lightwave is seeking an experienced and highly collaborative Director of Human Resources to serve as the second-in-command to the Senior Vice President of Human Resources. This role is responsible for leading the day-to-day execution of the HR function while serving as a trusted strategic partner to executive and operational leaders.

The Director of Human Resources provides leadership across HR operations, employee relations, compliance, HR technology, payroll and benefits oversight, organizational initiatives, and business partnership. This individual ensures operational excellence while helping scale the HR function to support a rapidly growing, multi-state healthcare organization.

The ideal candidate is equally comfortable solving complex employee issues, improving HR processes, leading enterprise initiatives, coaching leaders, and translating business strategy into practical HR solutions.

The role reports to the SVP, Human Resources and will have five direct reports.

Key Responsibilities

Strategic HR Business Partnership

• Serve as the primary HR Business Partner for senior operational and corporate leaders.
• Partner with leaders on organizational design, workforce planning, talent strategies, succession planning, and change management.
• Coach leaders through performance management, employee relations, organizational effectiveness, and leadership development.
• Advise leaders on employment law, policy interpretation, and risk mitigation.
• Act as the senior HR leader in the absence of the SVP of HR.

HR Operations Leadership

Lead the day-to-day HR operation, ensuring consistent, high-quality service delivery across the organization.

Responsibilities include:

• HR service delivery
• Employee lifecycle administration
• HR process optimization
• HR policies and procedures
• Compliance programs
• Leave administration oversight
• HR governance
• Service level performance
• Continuous process improvement

Employee Relations

Provide strategic oversight of complex employee relations matters, including:

• Investigations
• Performance management
• Corrective action
• Workplace conflict resolution 
• Reductions in force
• Sensitive employment decisions
• Litigation support
• Employment practices risk mitigation

HR Technology & Process Improvement

Partner with the HR team to maximize the effectiveness of Dayforce and HR technology by:

• Improving workflows
• Automating manual processes
• Enhancing reporting capabilities
• Strengthening data integrity
• Driving adoption of best practices
• Leading system enhancements and upgrades

Payroll & Benefits Oversight

Provide leadership and oversight for payroll and benefits administration while ensuring:

• Payroll accuracy
• Regulatory compliance
• Benefits administration excellence
• Vendor partnership management
• Process improvements
• Employee experience

Organizational Effectiveness

Partner with the SVP to:

• Drive organizational design initiatives
• Support leadership development
• Improve manager capability
• Enhance employee engagement
• Support culture initiatives
• Lead change management efforts

HR Projects

Lead enterprise HR initiatives including:

• HR process redesign
• Policy development
• Compliance initiatives
• Technology implementations
• Organizational restructuring

Leadership

Lead, develop, and mentor the HR team by:

• Establishing clear priorities
• Developing talent
• Creating accountability
• Building a high-performing HR function
• Fostering collaboration across departments

Qualifications

Required

• Bachelor's degree in Human Resources, Business Administration, or related field
• 10+ years of progressive Human Resources leadership experience
• 5+ years leading HR teams in a multi-site organization
• Strong experience across:
• HR Operations
• Employee Relations
• HR Business Partnership
• Employment Law
• Compliance
• Performance Management
• Organizational Change
• Experience supporting organizations with 1,000+ employees across multiple states
• Experience leading HR technology initiatives (Dayforce experience preferred)
• Strong analytical, coaching, and influencing skills

Preferred

• Healthcare services, dental, physician practice management, or other multi-site services experience
• Experience in a private equity-backed environment
• SHRM-SCP or SPHR certification
• Experience supporting acquisitions and organizational growth

Leadership Competencies

The successful candidate will demonstrate:

• Executive presence
• Sound business judgment
• Strategic thinking with operational discipline
• High emotional intelligence
• Exceptional relationship-building
• Strong decision-making
• Ability to thrive in a fast-paced, growth-oriented environment
• Continuous improvement mindset
• Ability to balance empathy with accountability

Success Measures (First 12 Months)

• Improve HR service delivery and responsiveness across the organization.
• Strengthen partnerships with operational and corporate leaders.
• Reduce time to resolution for employee relations matters while maintaining consistency and compliance.
• Streamline HR processes and increase Dayforce utilization through workflow improvements.
• Establish meaningful HR metrics and executive dashboards.
• Enhance manager capability through coaching and practical HR guidance.
• Improve employee experience across onboarding, policy administration, and HR support.
• Successfully lead enterprise HR initiatives and support organizational growth and integration efforts.

Required Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in Human Resources, Business Administration, Organizational Leadership, or a related field; equivalent combination of education and relevant experience may be considered.
• 10+ years of progressive Human Resources experience, including significant experience in HR leadership and people management roles.
• Demonstrated success serving as a senior HR Business Partner and trusted advisor to executive, operational, and functional leaders.
• Broad-based HR leadership experience with demonstrated expertise across HR operations, employee relations, employment law and compliance, performance management, organizational effectiveness, and change management.
• Experience supporting a large, geographically dispersed, multi-site and multi-state workforce, preferably within an organization of 1,000+ employees.
• Proven ability to lead a team and oversee multiple HR disciplines while establishing priorities, developing talent, driving accountability, and ensuring high-quality HR service delivery.
• Significant experience managing complex and sensitive employee relations matters, including investigations, performance issues, corrective action, organizational restructuring, reductions in force, and employment-related risk.
• Demonstrated ability to translate business priorities into practical, scalable HR strategies, programs, and solutions.
• Experience evaluating and improving HR processes, operating models, policies, controls, and service delivery practices.
• Experience leveraging HR technology to improve efficiency, data integrity, reporting, automation, and the employee and manager experience; Dayforce experience strongly preferred.
• Working knowledge of federal and multi-state employment laws and demonstrated ability to appropriately assess and mitigate employment-related risk.
• Experience using HR metrics, workforce data, and business insights to identify trends, inform decisions, and measure HR effectiveness.
• Strong project and change management capabilities, including experience leading cross-functional and enterprise-wide initiatives.
• Exceptional interpersonal, communication, coaching, influencing, and relationship-building skills, with the ability to effectively partner at all levels of an organization.
• Demonstrated ability to operate with a high degree of judgment, discretion, integrity, and independence in a fast-paced, growth-oriented environment.

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience within healthcare services, dental or physician practice management, or another complex, multi-site service organization.
• Experience supporting a private equity-backed or other high-growth organization undergoing significant transformation, acquisition, or integration.
• Experience supporting mergers and acquisitions, including due diligence, integration, organizational restructuring, and change management.
• Experience overseeing or partnering closely with payroll, benefits, leave administration, and HR technology functions.
• Experience leading HR transformation, process redesign, or shared-service/service-delivery improvement initiatives.
• Experience developing HR dashboards, executive reporting, and workforce analytics.
• SHRM-SCP, SPHR, or comparable senior-level HR certification.

Leadership Profile

The successful candidate will be a business-minded, hands-on HR leader who combines strategic thinking with strong operational execution. This individual will be comfortable moving from an executive leadership discussion to resolving a complex employee issue, improving an HR process, coaching a leader, or leading a major organizational initiative.

They will demonstrate:

• Executive presence and credibility with senior leaders.
• Strong business acumen and sound judgment.
• A balance of strategic thinking and operational discipline.
• High emotional intelligence and exceptional relationship-building skills.
• The confidence to appropriately challenge and influence leaders while remaining solutions-oriented.
• A strong sense of ownership and accountability.
• The ability to make thoughtful decisions in complex or ambiguous situations.
• A continuous-improvement and service-oriented mindset.
• The ability to balance empathy, consistency, compliance, and accountability.
• Comfort operating as both a leader and a hands-on practitioner when needed.
• The ability to lead the HR function effectively in the absence of the SVP, Human Resources.