Senior Human Resources Business Partner

Senior Human Resources Business Partner

Toronto (East), Ontario

$115-135K + bonus

The Opportunity

Our client is seeking an experienced Senior Human Resources Business Partner to work closely with senior leadership in a dynamic, multi-functional business environment.

This is a strategic HR role focused on aligning people initiatives with business objectives, strengthening organizational capabilities, and supporting operational effectiveness.

The successful candidate will provide HR leadership across a diverse range of business functions, including technical, commercial, operational, and corporate teams. This position requires someone who can operate as both a trusted strategic advisor and a hands-on partner to leadership.

Key Responsibilities

Strategic HR Partnership

• Act as a trusted advisor to senior management, providing guidance on people strategy, organizational effectiveness, and workforce priorities.
• Translate business goals and operational requirements into practical, results-oriented HR initiatives.
• Collaborate with functional leaders to understand workforce challenges, future talent requirements, and organizational risks.
• Influence business decisions through HR expertise, workforce analytics, and strong commercial judgment.
• Provide proactive guidance on leadership effectiveness, employee engagement, and organizational health.
• Adapt HR strategies to support both corporate and operational employee populations.

Workforce Planning & Organizational Effectiveness

• Lead workforce planning initiatives, evaluating current capabilities, future talent requirements, and succession vulnerabilities.
• Work with business leaders to develop headcount plans and workforce budgets.
• Support organizational changes, including restructuring, reporting relationships, role alignment, and team redesign.
• Assess organizational structures, management layers, spans of control, and decision-making accountability.
• Participate in job analysis, position evaluation, role mapping, and job-level assessments.
• Identify opportunities to improve productivity, remove duplication, and build sustainable organizational structures.
• Support workforce planning across technical, manufacturing, commercial, and corporate functions.

Talent Management & Succession Planning

• Partner with leadership to identify high-potential employees, business-critical positions, and emerging talent needs.
• Facilitate talent reviews and succession planning for leadership, specialist, and functional roles.
• Develop practical succession strategies and support internal talent movement.
• Work with learning and talent development teams to establish targeted development opportunities.
• Assess future technical and professional capability requirements.
• Support internal career development and mobility across geographically dispersed teams.
• Strengthen talent pipelines for operational, technical, commercial, and leadership positions.

Performance Management & Employee Development

• Guide leaders through performance management activities, including objective setting, feedback, calibration, and development planning.
• Coach managers on effective performance conversations and performance differentiation.
• Evaluate workforce performance trends and identify opportunities for improvement.
• Assist leadership in addressing performance concerns and strengthening team effectiveness.
• Connect performance outcomes with succession planning, employee development, and career progression.
• Promote accountability, continuous feedback, and a high-performance culture.

Leadership Development & Organizational Capability

• Identify leadership development needs and collaborate with internal specialists to implement appropriate solutions.
• Support leadership development programs, functional training initiatives, and technical skills development.
• Work with business leaders to anticipate changing skill requirements and capability gaps.
• Contribute to technical career development frameworks and knowledge-transfer planning.
• Provide coaching to managers on leadership effectiveness, team dynamics, and employee development.
• Support graduate development and early-career initiatives where applicable.

Employee Relations & Leadership Advisory

• Advise managers on employee relations matters, workplace concerns, investigations, performance issues, and HR policy interpretation.
• Promote consistency, fairness, and sound judgment in the application of employment policies and practices.
• Support management in resolving complex employee situations while considering business needs, employee experience, and organizational risk.
• Collaborate with HR leadership and legal resources on sensitive or higher-risk matters.
• Identify recurring employee relations challenges and recommend preventative measures.

Compensation & Workforce Management

• Collaborate with compensation specialists on salary decisions, promotions, organizational changes, and internal pay equity.
• Provide insight and business context to support compensation and talent decisions.
• Participate in annual salary reviews, incentive planning, promotion cycles, and talent assessment processes.
• Identify retention risks involving key employees and specialized talent.
• Support responsible workforce cost management while maintaining essential business capabilities.

HR Operations & Continuous Improvement

• Partner with HR operations, technology teams, and Centres of Excellence to improve the delivery of HR services.
• Recommend opportunities to streamline workflows, standardize practices, and introduce automation.
• Support the implementation and adoption of HR systems and digital tools.
• Provide input on process improvements that enhance the employee and manager experience.
• Participate in broader HR transformation and organizational improvement initiatives.

Qualifications & Experience

• Bachelor's degree in Human Resources, Business Administration, Organizational Psychology, or a related field.
• Minimum 8 years of progressive HR experience, including substantial experience in a Human Resources Business Partner capacity.
• Demonstrated success partnering with senior leaders in a complex, multi-functional organization.
• Experience in manufacturing, industrial, engineering, technology, building systems, or a similarly technical business environment is strongly preferred.
• Strong background in organizational design, workforce planning, succession planning, talent management, performance management, and employee relations.
• Experience supporting organizational restructuring, business transformation, or significant change initiatives.
• Understanding of HR practices across both professional/corporate and operational or manufacturing workforces.
• Strong business acumen, financial awareness, and ability to connect HR initiatives to operational results.
• Ability to collaborate effectively across multiple business units, locations, and geographically dispersed teams.
• CHRL, CHRP, SHRM, or an equivalent professional HR designation is considered an asset.