Manager, Business Partner (BP)

Reports To: Senior Vice President, People

Department: People Success

Location: Per Scholas National Team

Compensation: $70,000 – $75,000 (varies by geography and candidate qualifications/experience)

Position Summary

The Manager, Business Partner (BP) is a strategic and hands-on leader who plays a critical role in advancing Per Scholas' people strategy and its 2026–2027 goal of launching 5,240 new careers for Per Scholas graduates. The BP is the linchpin of the People Success model, bringing together proactive business partnership (business reviews, performance and career mapping, and human-centered insight) with the people relations expertise (performance management, behavior mitigation, and investigations) needed to support leaders end-to-end. This role partners with leaders across the organization to drive leadership accountability, embed a culture of continuous feedback and development, and ensure regulatory compliance. As a trusted advisor and strategic thought partner, the BP leads initiatives in performance management, employee relations, and risk mitigation, leveraging strong emotional intelligence, sound judgment, and the ability to influence leaders who are still developing their people-management capabilities.

How This Role Drives Our Strategy

The BP operates within the People Success team's VSEM framework, enabling leaders through three strategic pillars:

• Proactive Social Capital — building deep, trust-based partnerships with leaders to surface insights early.
• Performance Calibration — standardizing assessment to drive equitable growth and talent mobility.
• Behavioral Intelligence — leveraging data (Predictive Index, engagement pulse surveys) to tailor leadership coaching and resolve friction.

What You'll Do

Strategic HR Leadership

• Align HR strategies with business objectives and support organizational growth.
• Foster accountability and continuous improvement by advising on best HR practices.
• Support leaders and employees through organizational transitions.
• Promote an inclusive workplace culture aligned with the Per Scholas 5 guiding principles: Integrity, Perseverance, Collaboration, Innovation, and Professionalism.
• Track and analyze employee relations trends, using the Heat Map (Red/Yellow/Green) framework to prioritize risk and proactively intervene before issues escalate.
• Coach managers on navigating sensitive employee concerns.
• Influence and coach leaders — particularly those new to people management — on building high-performing, engaged teams through regular feedback, coaching, and transparent performance conversations.
• Clearly distinguish and signal transitions between advisory/coaching conversations and formal investigative processes (e.g., “I am moving into a formal PR capacity now, which requires different documentation standards”) to protect the integrity of the partnership.

HR Compliance & Risk Mitigation

• Conduct audits to ensure compliance with employment laws, workforce regulations, and policies.
• Monitor and mitigate employment-related risks, including wage compliance, discrimination laws, and workplace safety regulations (OSHA, EEOC, etc.).
• Ensure HR policies align with federal, state, and local labor laws across multiple jurisdictions.
• Partner with legal and compliance teams to assess HR risks and implement mitigation strategies.
• Own case intake and management through the NAVEX platform: triage incoming concerns (hotline, web, email, and Slack), log cases in the ER Tracking Spreadsheet, assign risk level, and coordinate legal consultation on high-risk cases.
• Maintain strict confidentiality throughout the case lifecycle, including with anonymous reporters.

Performance Management & Leadership Development

• Guide managers in creating and monitoring Performance Improvement Plans (PIPs).
• Coach leaders on performance feedback, documentation, and issue resolution.
• Lead quarterly 9-Box calibration and talent review sessions with leadership, a collaborative assessment of Performance (results/KPIs) and Potential (agility, leadership capacity, readiness for the next level) that informs promotion eligibility and compensation decisions.
• Translate 9-Box placements into targeted coaching conversations and development goals for career mobility across top performers, steady/middle performers, and low performers.

Behavioral Intelligence & Team Effectiveness

• Leverage the Predictive Index (PI) as a strategic tool to help people leaders understand natural behavioral drives, communication preferences, and work styles.
• Facilitate workshops that map team composition and dynamics using PI insights.
• Coach leaders on tailoring communication and motivation strategies to individual behavioral profiles.
• Reframe behavioral differences (e.g., varying levels of patience or formality) as diverse strengths rather than interpersonal friction, to mitigate conflict.

What You'll Bring

Experience

• Extensive HRBP/Business Partner experience with a focus on leadership development, performance management, compliance, and employment law risk mitigation.
• Proven track record handling complex employee relations matters, investigations, and risk mitigation — ideally within a case management system such as NAVEX or equivalent.
• Expertise in employment law compliance and internal audits.
• Experience leading or contributing to structured talent calibration processes (e.g., 9-Box or comparable performance/potential frameworks).
• Experience navigating and advising in both corporate and nonprofit environments, understanding the unique cultural and compliance nuances of each.

Skills

• Strong leadership, problem-solving, and conflict-resolution abilities.
• Exceptional communication skills with a focus on engaging presentations and facilitation.
• High emotional intelligence for managing sensitive employee matters.
• Ability to clearly distinguish and communicate transitions between advisory/coaching conversations and formal investigative processes, preserving documentation integrity and trust.
• Proficiency in HR systems, compliance/case-management platforms (e.g., NAVEX), and data analytics/reporting.
• Familiarity with behavioral or psychometric assessment tools (e.g., Predictive Index) strongly preferred.
• Demonstrated ability to build trust and credibility at all levels of an organization, particularly with people leaders who are still developing.