Human Resources Director

Position Summary The Human Resources Director is the Housing Authority of the City of Milwaukee's senior human resources leader and a trusted advisor to the Secretary-Executive Director and executive team. The Director provides strategic and hands-on leadership for the full employee lifecycle and builds fair, consistent, legally compliant, and service-centered people practices that support HACM's mission, operational recovery, and long-term sustainability. The position leads workforce planning, employee relations, talent acquisition, compensation and benefits, performance management, learning and development, HR operations, records, HR technology, and organizational culture. The Director is expected to exercise sound independent judgment, protect confidentiality, strengthen management accountability, and translate workforce data and risk into timely action. Essential Duties and Responsibilities Serve as a member of the executive leadership team and align the human resources strategy, annual work plan, budget, and performance measures with HACM's strategic priorities, recovery commitments, sustainability plan, and resident-service objectives. Lead, coach, assign, and evaluate Human Resources staff; establish service standards, internal controls, documentation requirements, cross-training, and succession coverage for critical HR functions. Advise the Secretary-Executive Director, executives, and managers on organizational structure, staffing, position design, spans of control, workforce capacity, leadership effectiveness, change management, and workforce-related risk. Develop, maintain, interpret, and consistently administer personnel policies, procedures, the employee handbook, work rules, and management guidance. Coordinate legal review and required approvals when appropriate. Ensure compliance with applicable federal, Wisconsin, and local employment requirements and with HACM policies, contracts, grant or funding conditions, and record-retention obligations. Monitor changes and implement corrective action promptly. Direct employee relations, including management coaching, workplace investigations, complaints, corrective action, accommodations, leave coordination, separations, and workplace dispute resolution. Ensure decisions are timely, impartial, well documented, and consistently applied. Establish reliable recruitment and selection practices that support equitable access, timely hiring, workforce diversity, appropriate screening, defensible selection decisions, onboarding, introductory-period reviews, and retention of qualified employees. Lead workforce and succession planning for mission-critical and difficult-to-fill roles. Maintain current organizational charts, position descriptions, staffing plans, vacancy data, and contingency coverage. Administer a coherent classification and total-rewards program, including job evaluation, salary structures, internal equity, market analysis, pay actions, incentive or recognition programs, employee benefits, retirement coordination, vendor performance, and annual enrollment. Design and administer performance management processes that set clear expectations, connect individual performance to agency goals, address performance deficiencies, recognize contributions, and support leadership accountability. Assess learning needs and implement required and role-specific training, including supervisor fundamentals, respectful workplace, ethics, safety, employment practices, documentation, and leadership development. Oversee HR operations and employee records, including personnel files, transactions, position control, time and attendance coordination, HRIS workflows, data security, retention, reporting, and audits. Partner with Finance to reconcile authorized positions, payroll-impacting changes, benefits deductions, and workforce costs. Develop dashboards and regular executive reports on vacancies, time-to-fill, turnover, retention, attendance, leave, employee complaints, discipline, training, workforce demographics, personnel costs, and other indicators. Use data to identify risk, service gaps, disparities, and corrective actions. Lead culture, engagement, and organizational-change initiatives that reinforce ethics, accountability, inclusion, psychological safety, respectful conduct, collaboration, and high-quality service to residents and the public. Manage the Human Resources budget, procurements, contracts, consultants, insurance or benefit brokers, and other vendors; monitor costs, service levels, deliverables, renewals, and compliance with procurement requirements. Coordinate workforce-related responses to internal audits, external reviews, litigation holds, public-records requests, regulatory inquiries, and corrective-action plans. Maintain audit-ready documentation and report material risks promptly. Maintain appropriate access to the Secretary-Executive Director and, for sensitive matters involving executive leadership, retaliation, ethics, or significant legal/compliance risk, elevate concerns through established legal, ethics, or Board channels without interference. Perform other related duties consistent with the role, classification, and business needs of HACM. Leadership and Management Accountability Models integrity, discretion, impartiality, responsiveness, and respect in all employment matters. Sets measurable departmental goals and reports progress, risks, resource needs, and overdue corrective actions to executive leadership. Builds manager capability instead of substituting HR for appropriate supervisory accountability. Protects employees from retaliation for good-faith reporting and ensures concerns are routed and addressed appropriately. Maintains continuity plans for essential HR services during vacancies, emergencies, system outages, or organizational transitions.