HR Generalist

If you're looking to grow your career at a company where creativity meets legacy, ABRAMS is the place for you. As a trailblazer in illustrated publishing since 1949, ABRAMS continues to set the standard for beautifully crafted books across art, design, culture, and children’s literature. As we continue to bring exceptional books to readers around the world, we're seeking a HR Generalist to join our People Team!

At Abrams, our people are at the heart of everything we do. We are committed to fostering an inclusive, collaborative, and creative workplace where employees feel valued, supported, and empowered to grow. As a member of our People team, you'll play an important role in shaping the employee experience while supporting the talented individuals who bring our books and brands to life.

This role is ideal for an HR professional who enjoys wearing multiple hats and partnering across the employee lifecycle—from recruiting and onboarding to benefits, employee engagement, compliance, and employee relations. The HR Generalist serves as a trusted resource for employees and managers, helping to deliver a positive employee experience while ensuring HR processes are executed accurately and efficiently. Working closely with the HR Business Partner, this role supports payroll processing, benefits administration, talent acquisition, compliance, and day-to-day HR operations.

What you’d be doing:

Benefits Administration

• Serve as the primary liaison between employees and benefits vendors.
• Respond to employee benefit questions and resolve benefit-related issues.
• Coordinate new hire enrollments, qualifying life events, and benefit terminations.
• Support annual Open Enrollment planning and execution.
• Maintain benefit records and ensure timely processing of enrollment changes.
• Partner with vendors and brokers to resolve employee inquiries.

Talent Acquisition

• Support full-cycle recruitment for entry-level and professional positions.
• Coordinate job postings, candidate scheduling, interviews, and offer logistics.
• Partner with hiring managers to ensure a positive candidate experience.
• Assist with university recruiting, internship programs, and career fairs.
• Maintain applicant tracking system records and recruiting metrics.

Payroll Support

• Partner with the HR Business Partner to prepare and process bi-weekly payroll.
• Review payroll changes, including new hires, promotions, salary adjustments, and terminations.
• Audit employee data for accuracy and ensure timely payroll submissions.
• Assist employees with payroll-related questions.

Employee Relations

• Serve as a first point of contact for employee questions and routine workplace concerns.
• Support managers in addressing employee issues and escalating matters as appropriate.
• Conduct exit interviews and identify trends to improve retention and engagement.
• Maintain accurate and confidential employee documentation.

Employee Engagement

• Assist with planning and coordinating employee engagement initiatives, recognition programs, wellness events, and company celebrations.
• Support communication of People initiatives and company programs.
• Help administer employee surveys and analyze feedback.
• Participate in developing programs that foster an inclusive and engaging workplace culture.

Performance Management & HR Reporting

• Partner with the HR Business Partner and VP, People to support the annual performance review process from planning through completion.
• Coordinate the performance review rollout, including timeline management, system setup, employee and manager communications, and follow-up.
• Monitor completion rates and provide regular reporting and status updates to HR leadership.
• Generate and analyze HR metrics and reports related to headcount, turnover, recruiting, performance management, and employee engagement.
• Assist in preparing dashboards, presentations, and workforce analytics to support business and People initiatives
• Partner with the HR team to identify trends and opportunities for continuous improvement across People programs and processes.

Onboarding & Offboarding

• Coordinate all aspects of new hire onboarding to ensure a seamless employee experience.
• Prepare onboarding materials and facilitate orientation.
• Coordinate IT, facilities, and hiring managers to ensure employees have the tools they need on day one.
• Manage offboarding activities, including exit interviews, system access, and benefit notifications.

HR Compliance & Administration

• Maintain employee personnel files and HRIS records.
• Ensure compliance with federal, state, and local employment laws.
• Assist with required compliance training and policy acknowledgments.
• Support I-9 administration, audits, and record retention.
• Prepare HR reports and assist with internal audits.
• Support implementation of HR policies and procedures.

We’re looking for someone who has:

• Bachelor's degree in Human Resources, Business Administration, or a related field preferred.
• 2–5 years of progressive Human Resources experience.
• Experience supporting benefits administration, payroll, recruiting, and employee relations.
• Working knowledge of employment laws and HR best practices.
• Strong organizational skills with exceptional attention to detail.
• Excellent communication and interpersonal skills.
• Ability to manage multiple priorities while maintaining confidentiality.
• Proficiency in Microsoft Office Suite, particularly Excel.

Highly preferred candidates also have:

• Experience working with HRIS and payroll systems (ADP experience preferred).

Success in This Role

• Build trusted relationships with employees and managers.
• Deliver exceptional employee service with professionalism and empathy.
• Demonstrate strong organizational and follow-through skills.
• Take initiative and continuously look for ways to improve HR processes.
• Thrive in a collaborative, fast-paced environment where no two days are the same.

This position is in New York, NY and follows a hybrid work schedule, requiring in-office presence three days per week.

The base salary range for this position is ($65,000 - $70,000) per year. The final offer will be determined based on factors such as experience, skills, and qualifications.

What We Offer: 

• Generous paid holidays and Summer Fridays.
• Company-paid year-end office closure between Christmas Eve and New Year’s Day each year
• Comprehensive health benefits, including short-term and long-term disability.
• Retirement savings (401k) and life insurance.
• Vacation, Personal, and Sick time off. 

About ABRAMS

Founded in 1949 as the first U.S. publisher to specialize in art and illustrated books, ABRAMS has a long-standing reputation for publishing visually stunning, critically acclaimed, and bestselling works. Today, ABRAMS continues to lead in the creation and distribution of high-quality books across a wide range of categories—including art, photography, design, fashion, entertainment, cooking, craft, and popular culture—as well as award-winning children’s and young adult titles under imprints such as Abrams Books for Young Readers, Amulet Books, and Abrams Appleseed.

Headquartered in the creative heart of New York City, ABRAMS is home to a passionate team of editors, designers, marketers, and publishing professionals who bring bold ideas to life in collaboration with celebrated authors, artists, chefs, photographers, and cultural icons. Our books are distributed globally and have helped shape conversations in classrooms, kitchens, museums, and living rooms around the world.

ABRAMS is deeply committed to diversity, equity, and inclusion—both in the stories we publish and in the culture we foster. Through programs like the ABRAMS Amplify Award, we uplift and support underrepresented voices in children’s publishing. Internally, we promote inclusive hiring practices and an environment where employees of all identities, backgrounds, and lived experiences are encouraged to bring their full selves to work.

At ABRAMS, creativity, integrity, and collaboration are the foundation of everything we do. If you’re inspired by books that make a difference and want to be part of a team that values art, impact, and inclusion, we invite you to join us. Learn more at abramsbooks.com.