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.
