Employee Relations Lead

Job Title

Employee Relations Lead

Job Description

About Vanderlande
Vanderlande is a global leader in logistics process automation, specializing in automated material handling systems for airports, warehouses, and parcel operations. Our innovative solutions help move millions of products and pieces of luggage around the world every day. With a strong focus on technology, collaboration, and continuous improvement, we are committed to delivering reliable solutions for our customers while providing meaningful career opportunities for our employees.

Position Summary

We are seeking an experienced and proactive Employee Relations Lead to support Vanderlande's North American operations. This role will serve as the Regional Employee Relations subject matter expert and Centre of Excellence lead, ensuring that Vanderlande excels in employee relations best practices, case governance, manager capability, documentation standards, and consistent application of policies and processes.

The Employee Relations Lead will manage and advise on complex employee relations matters, while also building scalable tools, training, frameworks, and best practices that strengthen the way employee relations is handled across North America.

Essential Functions / Responsibilities

• Serve as the regional Employee Relations Lead and subject matter expert for North America, providing guidance and escalation support within the HR Partner Team.

• Lead, advise on, and support complex employee relations matters, including workplace concerns, complaints, investigations, conflict resolution, policy violations, performance issues, and corrective action processes. 

• Conduct or guide objective and timely investigations, ensuring appropriate documentation, confidentiality, consistency, and follow-through. 

• Design, implement, and continuously improve ER best practices, governance, tools, templates, playbooks, investigation protocols, documentation standards, and escalation criteria. 

• Drive consistent and high-quality case handling across locations and business groups, balancing employee experience, compliance, risk, and business needs. 

• Recommend, design, and deliver training on critical ER topics.

• Build practical manager and HR resources, including checklists, guides, scripts, and toolkits that strengthen manager capability and promote proactive issue resolution. 

• Coach People Managers & HR Partners colleagues through sensitive employee situations while building long-term self-sufficiency. 

• Analyze ER trends, case themes, root causes, and risks; provide recommendations to HR leadership on preventive actions, policy/process improvements, and capability-building priorities. 

• Partner with Legal, HR leadership, global HR teams, and business leaders on high-risk matters and continuous improvement initiatives that help Vanderlande North America excel in ER best practice. 

Required Qualifications and Experience

• Bachelor's degree in Human Resources, Business Administration, Industrial Relations, Employment Law, or a related field; equivalent relevant experience may also be considered.
• Minimum 10 years of progressive HR experience, including significant employee relations experience.
• Demonstrated experience managing complex employee relations cases and conducting or advising on workplace investigations.
• Strong knowledge of U.S. employment practices and employee relations best practices; multi-state experience is preferred.
• Experience developing or improving ER processes, governance models, playbooks or templates.
• Experience designing, recommending, or facilitating manager training on HR or employee relations topics.
• Excellent judgment, curiosity, discretion, confidentiality, and professional integrity.
• Strong conflict resolution, coaching, facilitation, and influencing skills.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills, including the ability to document complex matters clearly and objectively.
• Strong analytical and problem-solving capability, with the ability to identify trends, root causes, and practical recommendations.
• Experience with Workday or a similar HRIS/case management system is an asset.

Preferred Qualifications

• SHRM-SCP, SHRM-CP, SPHR, PHR, or another relevant HR certification.
• Experience supporting manufacturing, technology, engineering, service, logistics, airport, or operational environments.
• Experience supporting employees and managers across multiple North American locations.
• Familiarity with Canadian employee relations practices is considered an asset.
• Excellent stakeholder mana