Director of Human Resources

at  Alverno College

Department: Human Resources Status: Full-time/12 Month
Alverno College is seeking applicants for a full-time Director of Human Resources position in Milwaukee,
WI. The position reports to the Chief Financial Officer. The department serves HR needs by supporting
the Alverno community of faculty, staff, and student workers. The Director will be a change agent for
enhanced HR policies and services to enable the Alverno community to thrive. Upcoming projects include,
but are not limited to, additional systems/procedures process improvement and enhancing the ADP HRIS
implementation.
Alverno College health, disability, and retirement plan enrollment is available to full-time employees and
eligible dependents. Per the college’s policy, tuition benefits are also available for employees and qualified
dependents.
Alverno College is a private liberal arts college with an internationally acclaimed ability-based program
and a diverse student body. Our instructor-to-student ratio and collaborative faculty contribute to a positive
learning environment. We provide students with real-life, hands-on experiences in the classroom, study
abroad opportunities, and professional internships related to their major. These experiences, among
others, have resulted in Alverno College being ranked higher than any other college in Wisconsin in its
“Strong Commitment to Teaching” category for the 14th consecutive year.
Primary Duties and Responsibilities
The following information is not meant to be all-inclusive.
Other duties and responsibilities may be assigned, as necessary.
Primary Function:
Oversee the strategy for managing the college’s human resources to support and achieve college
goals. Maintain and promote a service-oriented Human Resources function. Serve as a campus-
wid e resource person on all employee-related issues. Provide oversight of compensation, policies
and practices, payroll, benefits, employment, employee communications, training and development,
safety, and record maintenance. Be a change agent for enhanced HR policies and services to enable
the Alverno community to thrive.
Principal Responsibilities:
1. Strategic planning of people resources throughout campus. Meet with Alverno leaders to plan
appropriately to achieve the right people at the right place and time. Prepare demographic reports
and be aware of program planning across campus, which may require new skills. Align
department goals and objectives to the strategic plans of the college.
2. Employment: Oversee the recruiting, screening, interviewing, selection, onboarding, and
termination process across campus for best practices, accurate records, and following legal
guidelines to ensure we hire the best candidates and limit risk and turnover. Analyze recruitment
costs for effectiveness. Analyze and review applicant pools for position-matching skills and
diversity. Analyze and monitor turnover. Promote Equal Employment Opportunities for applicants
and employees to encourage employee diversity.
3. Salary Administration: Design, implement, and oversee staff wage and salary programs, job
descriptions, and Self-Assessment of Performance process. Analyze compensation systems for
internal compensation equity and market competitiveness. Develop and coordinate career
development process and performance appraisal program. Work to achieve a high level of
employee acceptance and utilization of related programs. Complete IPEDS, CUPA, and AAUP
surveys and review results against our compensation structure.
4. Policy Development: Write and communicate policy to administer policies consistently and fairly
across campus. Work with department heads for sound interpretation and communication of
policies and policy development in other departments.
5. Benefits: Oversight of employee benefits program to ensure comprehensive, cost-effective, and
competitive benefits are offered to employees. Monitor proper utilization by employees and cost-
effectiveness of benefits. Annually review benefits offered. Manage benefit renewals and review
new vendors as needed. Communicate eligibility and plan features so that employees take full
advantage of programs. Oversee open enrollment.
6. Payroll: Oversight of bi-weekly pay cycles for staff, faculty, adjuncts, and student payrolls and
related tax reporting. Evaluate and implement moving some employee segments to Colleague
(ERP systems) from ADP, possibly on a different pay cycle. Authorize all pay rate and other
payroll changes. Verify payroll before the final run. Oversee unemployment compensation cases.
Verify new hire report. Periodically review the payroll systems cost structure to minimize service
fees.
7. Employee and Labor Relations: Review and promote positive working relations across the
College community. Regularly review policies and practices for potential employee relations
issues. Maintain open door policy. Maintain training and development philosophy regarding
employee performance and behavior issues. Coordinate annual employee awards program,
employee picnic, and other special programs to show appreciation to employees. Be a regular
contributor to the faculty and staff newsletter. Negotiate and administer union contracts covering
maintenance employees. Participate in grievance resolution and negotiations.
8. Safety and Worker’s Compensation: Direct the development of safety programs and training to
promote safety and accident prevention. Oversee Worker’s Compensation cases. Work with
supervisors to facilitate a prompt return to work program. Monitor all College incident reports.
Promote and provide safety training to employees.
9. Training and Development: Review annual self-assessments to identify gaps in skills and training
needed on campus. Provide training for regulatory requirements, personal development, and the
enhancement of leadership skills across campus. Monitor record keeping according to best
practices.
10. Recordkeeping and Federal/State Compliance: Oversight of the organization and management
of all Human Resources recordkeeping and database requirements. Provide report-generating
capabilities to meet requests for information. Comply with all state and Federal laws pertaining to
the recordkeeping of Human Resources functions. Educate other department heads as to
compliance issues.
11. Information Management: Manage the use of the Colleague and ADP Human Resources
software, which includes a personnel database, report writer, benefits, payroll, and time accrual.
Maximize system use to meet department and college needs and improve service and efficiency.
Provide oversight to ensure information is accurate and current. Work with the Chief Information
Officer to keep system security a high priority.
12. General Administration: Work collaboratively across campus. Attend and participate in standing
committees and other meetings as requested. Manage department budget and resources.
Complete the annual budget for Departments 5110 and 5120. Manage resources responsibly to
stay within budget. Assist all departments with payroll budgets as needed. Provide Finance with
budget guidelines for benefit costs. HR liaison to WAICU groups.
13. Department Staff: Supervise and develop Human Resources staff to allow each individual to
successfully complete their tasks and personal development. Oversee day-to-day work
assignments. Ensure information flows from benefits to payroll and vice versa to eliminate errors.
Cross-train staff for skills development and backup.
14. Committee work: Serve as Co-Chair of the Incident Response Team. Other committee
assignments may include the Wellness Committee, Organizational Development Committee,
Department Head Forum, Internal Compensation Committee, and Safety and Security Committee
as determined by the CFO.
15. Comply with safety procedures and maintain clean and orderly work areas.
16. Perform other tasks as necessary to support the mission of the College.
17. Perform other duties and responsibilities as may be assigned by the CFO.
Qualifications and Education
1. Bachelor’s degree in Human Resources, business, or related field required; SPHR or PHR
certification preferred.
2. A minimum of seven years of direct human resource leadership experience, showing increased
responsibility. Experience in higher education is highly preferred.
3. Knowledge of federal, state, and local laws pertaining to personnel administration with strong
compliance experience.
4. Familiarity and experience utilizing an HRIS (ADP or other), Microsoft Teams environment, and
Enterprise systems (Colleague or other) preferred.
5. Strong supervisory skills and ability to develop personnel.
6. Strong employee relations experience with a demonstrated ability to change morale and create
high employee engagement, including coaching and employee development skills and the ability
to bring others together to reconcile differences.
7. Experience being a change agent for enhanced HR policies and services.
8. Willingness to understand and value the perspective of both the institution and the employee.
9. Ability to use good judgment and maintain even emotions when dealing with campus crises or
employee issues.
10. Ability to identify complex issues, review laws and best practices, develop and evaluate options,
and implement solutions.
11. Ability to counsel and drive HR strategies with the senior leadership.
12. Strong interpersonal, written, and oral communication skills and analytical and quantitative skills
are required.
13. Ability to coordinate multiple projects simultaneously.
14. Ability to work within a highly collaborative work environment.
Working Conditions:
General office environment
Sitting for an extended period
Ability to freely move about campus
How to Apply
Apply online at https://www.alverno.edu/jobs/apply/login.php
Please attach your cover letter, resume, and list of references to the online application.
Alverno College is an Equal Opportunity Employer and committed to workplace diversity
in its faculty, staff, and students. We believe inclusion and excellence are fundamental to education. Our
community is stronger because of our differences in race, ethnicity, religion, nationality, physical ability, and
gender identity. We encourage applications from qualified Individuals with varied backgrounds, experiences
and ideas who would increase the diversity of the College.
Alverno College does not discriminate against any employee, applicant for employment, student, or applicant for
admission on the basis of actual or perceived inclusion in a protected class or group.
Alverno College seeks to comply with all federal, state, and local laws, regulations, and ordinances prohibiting
discrimination in private post-secondary education institutions.
This Policy applies to, covers, and requires nondiscrimination in both employment and access to educational
opportunities. Therefore, any member of the Alverno community whose acts deny, deprive, unreasonably interfere
with, or limit the education or employment, residential, social access, benefits, or opportunities of any member of
the Alverno community, guest, or visitor on the basis of that person’s actual or perceived protected
characteristic(s), is in violation of this Policy.
Alverno will promptly and effectively address any such discrimination of which it has Knowledge or Notice using
the resolution processes of the College including the Title IX Grievance Process and the Bias Reporting Process
and Procedures.
For the full Non-Discrimination statement or information on Title IX protections, policies, and process please visit:
https://www.alverno.edu/Civility-Sexual-Misconduct-and-Harassment.
To file a Bias Report for all non-Title IX related complaints and concerns please visit:
https://catalog.alverno.edu/collegepolicies/studentnon-academicpolicies/biasincident/

Please refer the Job description for details