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Director, Employee and Labor Relations



Classification Title:

Director, Human Resources

Job Description:

Become the University of Florida’s next Innovative Director of Employee and Labor Relations

Position Summary:

The University of Florida’s Office of Human Resources (UFHR) is looking for an Innovative Director of Employee and Labor Relations with a strong track record of leading innovative and transformational Employee and Labor Relations Teams, championing innovative and strategic plans, objectives, and goals that support the strategic vision of their organization, and can serve as the University’s Chief Negotiator in collective bargaining agreements.

The Director of Employee and Labor Relations will also develop, lead, and implement strategies, programs, policies, and courses of action to support the University and continuously improve UF’s positive work environment.

The Director regularly partners with the Provost’s Office, Office for Accessibility and Gender Equity, Office of Internal Audit, Office of Compliance, and other core offices regarding employment matters, performance management, and counsel.

Responsibilities:

  • Responsible for planning, organizing, and directing a comprehensive Employee and Labor Relations program as well as formulating and recommending program goals and objectives in all areas of employee relations, including conflict resolution, corrective action administration, grievances, appeals, layoffs, non-renewals, employment practices and assist in resolving employee relations through proactive intervention.
  • Oversees three Employee and Labor Relations HR satellite offices on the UF Campus as well as the worker's compensation and drug testing programs.
  • Serves as Chief Negotiator on UF collective bargaining agreements for non-academic positions and is a member of the collective bargaining team for academic bargaining agreements.
  • Responsible for the management and review of UF Engaged, the University’s comprehensive staff performance management program that raises the bar on performance expectations and fosters a culture of excellence.
  • Advises and provides counsel to managers with employee conflict resolution and disciplinary actions.
  • Serves as a member of the UF Behavioral Consultation Team (BCT) in assessing risk to employees and students who may need assistance.
  • Represents the HR office on the Emergency Operations Team
  • Assist the General Counsel’s Office with arbitrations, hearings, and mediations.


Employee and Labor Relations Team:

UFHR’s award-winning Employee and Labor Relations team is a trusted and strategic partner to our campus supervisors, managers, faculty, and executive leaders. The team has produced successful and progressive programs such as UF Engaged, a new approach to employee evaluations designed to encourage regular feedback, rather than a once-a-year evaluation.

The team, comprised of 15 skilled HR professionals, is committed to promoting and fostering an inclusive environment where all employees can be productive and successful in achieving their professional and career goals and are treated fairly and respectfully.

The Office of Human Resources:

The Office of Human Resources supports the University of Florida’s aspiration to be a premier university that the state, nation, and world look to for leadership. At the core of our leadership and commitment to service, excellence is our vision of preeminence through people.

This vision brought to life in our strategic commitment is to create a culture where individual contributors, high functioning collaborators, and excellent leaders are encouraged and enabled to do their best work. Guided by our principles to drive results, promote inclusiveness, be agile, and model excellence, we have designed and implemented a strategic commitment for the Gator Good. We are committed to attracting, hiring, and retaining a diverse workforce and value diversity of thoughts, background, and experience

The Office of Human Resources is comprised of nearly 100 skilled HR professionals specialized within 6 units: Classification and Compensation, Communications and Worklife, Employee and Labor Relations, Talent Acquisition and Onboarding, Training and Organizational Development, and University Benefits.

The University of Florida

The University of Florida ranks 7th among public research universities and is the flagship of Florida’s state university system. Located in Gainesville since 1906, UF has 16 colleges, a major academic health center, a championship-winning athletic program, a top-ranked undergraduate online program and, in keeping with its land-grant mission, one of the nation’s most comprehensive agriculture and natural resources programs. All are based at the university’s 2,000-acre main campus, joining its historic core with advanced facilities and preserved natural areas, and connecting to adjacent innovation, commercial and residential districts.

UF has 56,000 students, 31,000 employees, including 5,500 faculty members, a $6 billion annual budget and more than 140 mission-focused units across the state of Florida. It is the Sunshine State’s only member of the Association of American Universities comprising the nation’s 60 leading public and private research universities. It is ranked seventh among public universities in the U.S. News &World Report Best College Rankings, second in Kiplinger’s Best College Values and sixth in The New York Times College Access Index. UF has 45 members of the National Academies and American Academy of Arts and Sciences; 51 fellows with the American Association for the Advancement of Science; and two Pulitzer Prize winners. A record 41,400 students applied for 6,500 positions in the 2019-20 freshman class.

Several qualities distinguish UF among today’s leading public research universities. The first is its highly comprehensive breadth on a single campus, facilitating interdisciplinary collaboration among, for example, faculty within the adjacent colleges of journalism, engineering, and medicine. The second is its unwavering support from the State of Florida, which has endorsed UF’s drive to become one of the nation’s very best public research universities, supporting this effort since 2013 with hundreds of millions of dollars in additional funding to grow its faculty ranks. UF’s third exceptional quality is its dynamism. Like the state of Florida, now the nation’s third largest and among its fastest-growing, UF is undergoing rapid transformation as it pursues its overarching aspiration “to be a premier university that the state, nation and world look to for leadership.”

Expected Salary:

$100,000 - $150,000/year, commensurate with qualifications and experience.

Minimum Requirements:

Master's degree in an appropriate area and six years of relevant experience; or a bachelor's degree in an appropriate area and eight years of relevant experience.

Preferred Qualifications:
  • Working knowledge of employment laws and the ability to apply laws, regulations, and policies to employment situations; equal employment opportunity regulations and reporting guidelines; and human resource principles.
  • Demonstrated experience establishing effective working relationships across campus with various levels of employees and experience working with sensitive and highly confidential information.
Special Instructions to Applicants:

Questions related to the application process may be directed to Mercedes Swan at mdswan@ufl.edu.

Application must be submitted by 11:55 p.m. (ET) of the posting end date.

If an accommodation due to a disability is needed to apply for this position, please call 352/392-2477 or the Florida Relay System at 800/955-8771 (TDD).

Hiring is contingent upon eligibility to work in the US.

The “government in the sunshine” laws of Florida require that all documents relating to the search process, including letters of application/nomination and reference, be available for public inspection upon request.

This requisition has been reposted. Previous applicants are still under consideration and need not apply.

Health Assessment Required: No

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