Lead, Human Resources Business Partner

Share Our Purpose. Be Yourself. Feel Valued. People are the heart of our business. As an American Water employee, you will be offered a competitive salary and health benefits package, along with opportunities to develop, grow, and evolve your career. Our benefits packages focus on key areas such as health & wellness, emotional & well-being, and savings for current & future goals. We are Beautifully Different. We strongly believe having diversity across our company makes us more successful and helps us provide essential services to our customers. We are stronger because we embrace different ideas, viewpoints, experiences, and backgrounds. American Water is the best choice for your next role! Click here for more information on our inclusion, diversity, and equity journey. About American Water American Water (NYSE: AWK) is the largest regulated water and wastewater utility company in the United States. With a history dating back to 1886, We Keep Life Flowing® by providing safe, clean, reliable and affordable drinking water and wastewater services to more than 14 million people across 14 regulated jurisdictions and 18 military installations. American Water’s 6,500 talented professionals leverage their significant expertise and the company’s national size and scale to achieve excellent outcomes for the benefit of customers, employees, investors and other stakeholders. As one of the fastest growing utilities in the U.S., American Water expects to invest $30 to $34 billion in infrastructure repairs and replacement, system resiliency and regulated acquisitions over the next 10 years. The company has a long-standing history of executing its core operations, aligned with sustainable best practices, through its commitments to safety, affordability, customer service, protecting the environment, an inclusive workforce and strengthening communities. American Water has been recognized on the 2023 Bloomberg Gender-Equality Indexfor the fifth consecutive year, ranked 18th on Barron’s 100 Most Sustainable U.S. Companies 2023 List, earned the U.S. Department of Homeland Security SAFETY Act designation and U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s WaterSense® Excellence Award, among additional state, local and national recognitions. For more information, visit amwater.com and join American Water on LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. Primary Role Ensures alignment of business and HR strategies with service delivery. This role will provide solutions related to employee relations matters and strategic HR business needs in partnership with HR Centers of Expertise. This role will act as the primary Human Resources contact for the IT organization, and duties include Employee Relations and HR Business Partner responsibilities. This role will act as the primary Human Resources contact responsible for Employee Relations and HR Business Partner duties typically for a smaller scale operation/business line determined by either geographic or employee size.Key Accountabilities

• Provides Employee Relations expertise and guidance in union and non-union environments; handles employee questions, investigates issues and recommends and tracks coaching and discipline.
• Ensures an excellent employee experience throughout the lifecycle of employment which includes onboarding and offboarding.
• Provides talent acquisition consulting in partnership with talent acquisition partner.
• Facilitates and delivers training on a variety of HR topics.
• Analyzes and tracks employee relations trends to proactively identify and address areas of opportunity and improve employee engagement.
• Acts as part of the local leadership team and provides guidance and HR consultation to business leaders.
• Partners with various levels of leadership to identify and grow talent and technical capability for the business.
• Provides input and coaching to management team to support performance management and compensation processes, operational improvements and problem-solving activities.
• Joins project teams in support of the broader HR team and business initiatives.
• Uses information systems to prepare and communicate metrics and quantitative data on HR and employee related activities.
• Ensures adherence with all state and federal employment laws and regulations. Manage compliance reporting processes.Knowledge/Skills
• Expertise in Employee Relations
• Knowledge of Labor Relations processes and laws
• Broad understanding and ability to apply concepts of key HR areas to include Organizational Development, Change Management, Talent Acquisition, Learning and Development, Compensation and Benefits/LOA.
• Thorough understanding of regulatory requirements in recruiting, performance management, employee development, compensation, succession planning and employee and labor relations.
• Demonstrated coaching and strategic consultation to business leaders
• Ability to collaborate across a matrixed organization
• Ability to navigate technology platforms
• Whatever it takes approach, sense of urgency, maturity and professionalism
• Ability to communicate effectively verbally and in writing
• Must be able to deal with strict confidentiality
• Strategic thinking skills, including influence
• Strong teamwork and ability to work independently with minimal supervision
• Strong communicator, customer focused, ability to work cross-collaboratively across different HR groups and Legal.
• Solution and data-oriented approach to problem-solving and proven experience in project management and policy development.
• Strong interpersonal and stakeholder management skills.
• Intercultural sensitivity and adept with handling sensitive and confidential data. Ability to demonstrate attention to detail and strong organizational skills.Experience/Education
• Minimum 7 years applicable experience, which should include: Facilitation of a departmental organization re-design Participated in Talent Acquisition process
• Participated in multiple compensation review cycles
• Led investigations, administered discipline and performance management Provided consultation to business leaders
• Experience in a union environment
• Bachelor’s degree or equivalent experience
• Prior experience as an HRBP for IT preferredTravel Requirements

Occasional travel required, which may include overnight travelOther Indoor office environmentCompetenciesPlans & AlignsDecision MakingCommunicates EffectivelyBuilds NetworksAction Oriented