Senior Human Resources Specialist

Who We Are:


Xenon Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:XENE) is a neuroscience-focused biopharmaceutical company committed to discovering, developing, and commercializing innovative therapeutics to improve the lives of people living with neurological and psychiatric disorders. We are looking for great people who thrive in a respectful, collaborative, inclusive, and productive culture to join the Xenon team.


What We Do:


We are advancing an exciting product pipeline to address indications with high unmet medical need, including epilepsy and depression. Our flagship azetukalner program represents the most advanced potassium channel modulator in clinical development for multiple indications. Building upon the positive results and compelling data from our Phase 2b “X-TOLE” study in adult patients with focal epilepsy, our Phase 3 epilepsy program includes multiple clinical trials evaluating azetukalner in patients with focal onset seizures and primary generalized tonic-clonic seizures. In 2024, we are planning to initiate a Phase 3 azetukalner program in major depressive disorder, based on topline data from our Phase 2 “X-NOVA” clinical trial. In addition, we are proud of the leading-edge science coming out of our discovery labs, including early-stage research programs that leverage our extensive ion channel expertise and drug discovery capabilities to identify validated drug targets and develop new product candidates. Backed by a strong balance sheet to support our growth plans, we continue to build a fully integrated, premier neuroscience company with strong discovery, clinical development, corporate, and commercial operations.


About the Role:


We are seeking a Senior Human Resources Specialist contractor to join our team. The successful candidate will be responsible for ensuring systems, processes, data, and documentation are managed for assigned activities within the Commercial HR team. This role will also provide support for full-cycle recruitment and employee life-cycle activities for assigned client groups. As a member of the HR Operations team, the Sr. HR Specialist will work collaboratively to ensure company policies, programs, processes and guidelines are closely followed to ensure there is a well-managed experience for candidates and employees. In addition to these responsibilities, the Sr. HR Specialist will also support U.S. employment law compliance activities, U.S. benefits event and project planning and manage key initiatives. This is an exciting opportunity for an individual who enjoys working in a data-driven and complex organization to support a growing and fast-paced organization.
This position reports to the Vice President, Human Resources and is a 12-month contract position. The role will be based out of our Boston, MA, USA office located in Needham. The level of the position will be commensurate with the candidate’s education and industry experience. This role is a hybrid position, requiring a minimum of 2 days per week in the office.
RESPONSIBILITIES:
• Commercial HR operations and administrative support
◦ Partner with Program Leads to coordinate execution activities for Commercial People Strategy.
◦ Project manage key initiatives.
◦ Coordinate full-cycle recruitment, employee life-cycle changes, and performance management and compensation activities.
◦ Collect, update, and finalize all position and employee related data for Annual Operating Plans (AOP), Approved FTE variances to the AOP, and 5-year Staffing Plans in collaboration with Program Lead and HR Partners as required from a budget forecast perspective. Ensure AOP data is updated regularly.
◦ Train on Dayforce (Xenon’s HRIS and payroll system) system and conduct employee lifecycle transactions in the system such as Recruitment, Onboarding, and Performance.
• U.S. HR Support
◦ Project manage U.S. Benefits roadmap.
◦ Coordinate U.S. Benefits events.
◦ Coordinate activities related to compliance of federal, state and local labor laws.
◦ Manage local projects as needed.
• Conduct behavior in a professional and respectful manner while maintaining confidentiality. Provide clear information and explanations to employees regarding established and routine human resource programs, policies, and procedures. As necessary, exercise judgment and escalate sensitive and/or complex matters to a senior member of the HR team in a timely fashion.
• Conduct work with a high level of accuracy and quality; proactively seeking ways for process improvements and streamlining.
• Participate in departmental projects as needed.
• Act in accordance with Company policies, including, for example, the Code of Business Conduct and Ethics and ensure policies are understood and followed by direct reports, if any.
• Other duties as assigned.<