Director of Labor Relations

Reporting to the Assistant Vice President of People and Talent, the Director of Labor Relations will manage Holyoke Community College’s (HCC) labor relations program, including contract administration, grievance resolution, and fostering positive relations with the labor unions. This critical role is responsible for handling all labor relation issues across the college and requires a broad understanding of labor laws, grievance resolution, negotiating, and arbitration. This position   involves strategic planning and ensuring compliance with labor laws and regulations. The Director implements and evaluates the college's labor relations workplace agreements, policies and procedures. The Director will serve as an advisor to HCC management on complex labor issues and deliver positive outcomes while maintaining effective and productive working relationships with all people involved.

1. Serves as labor relations subject matter expert and provides advice and recommendation across HCC to address and resolve complex labor relations matters in a timely manner. 
2. Directs and supports campus leaders regarding the administration and interpretation of collective bargaining agreements, ensuring compliance with terms and conditions.
3. Serves as a subject matter expert in all union contract agreements and negotiations on American Federation of State County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME) and Massachusetts Community College Council (MCCC).
4. Manages all grievance (AFSCME, MCCC, and Non-unit Professionals) processes, including conducting fact findings, facilitating grievance hearings, rendering decisions, supporting timely appropriate resolution of labor disputes, and working with leadership/management and union officials to resolve issues in a timely manner while mitigating risk to the college.
5. Collaborates with the Training Specialist on developing and implementing labor relations strategies to management in order to ensure that managers and supervisors have guidance on labor relations issues, contract administration, and effectively managing relations with union representatives.   
6. Serves as a member of the collective bargaining team during negotiations, including working with the Assistant Vice President of People and Talent to develop negotiating strategy, preparing proposals, supporting negotiations in collaboration with Legal, Human Resources, and the college operations. 
7. Handles special human resources projects that are assigned by the Assistant Vice President of People and Talent.
8. Analyzes labor relations data, trends, and metrics to provide insights and recommendations to management. Prepare reports and presentations as needed. 
9. Collaborates with the human resources professionals (Total Rewards, Talent Acquisition, Talent Management, People and Talent Analytics) to ensure that matters specific to HCC employees are clearly understood and taken into account with labor relations. 
10. Attends the human resources state meetings on a weekly/monthly basis.
11. Other duties as assigned or requested.