What does a senior director human resources do?
A Senior Director of Human Resource supervises all human resource operations and ensures that all of them are executed smoothly and effectively. They also supervise the work of HR personnel and provide guidance.
Senior director human resources responsibilities
Here are examples of responsibilities from real senior director human resources resumes:
- Lead the complex migration to a new HRIS system to house policies, forms, and benefit information.
- Manage and publish several cost-savings models for Sr. level management.
- Ensure compliance with legislate requirements such as EEO, FLSA, FMLA and ADA.
- Implement an HRIS system that meet all applicable labor and employment requirements at the federal and state levels.
- Investigate and respond to formal internal and external EEO complaints and disciplinary cases for the prevention of further legal actions.
- Project management responsibility for transition of payroll and benefit function from ADP to PeopleSoft during acquisition.
- Develop a payroll audit plan that mitigate the risk of operational inefficiencies and ensuring compliance with relevant regulations and audit standards.
- Represent Americas and corporate in creating annual succession plan for board of directors, resulting in several high-level internal promotions.
- Serve as company representative and spokesperson at arbitration and / or mandatory settlement conferences.
Senior director human resources skills and personality traits
We calculated that 11% of Senior Directors Human Resources are proficient in Performance Management, Employee Engagement, and SR. They’re also known for soft skills such as Interpersonal skills, Leadership skills, and Organizational skills.
We break down the percentage of Senior Directors Human Resources that have these skills listed on their resume here:
- Performance Management, 11%
Customized and implemented salary, bonus/incentive, equity, performance management and benefits programs in support of assigned lines of business.
- Employee Engagement, 6%
Facilitated four cross functional teams in developing/deploying turnaround strategies for sales / service, operations, employee engagement and leadership initiatives.
- SR, 5%
Recruited Senior Executives for key impact positions (CFO, Controller, Sr. Director of Operations, Vice President Product Development)
- HRIS, 5%
Revamped company recruiting process including implementation of HRIS and Social Media components.
- Workforce Planning, 5%
Led an annual workforce planning process focused on determining strategic workforce priorities and implementing appropriate solutions.
- Organizational Development, 5%
Led all Human Resources and organizational development initiatives for Microsoft's Windows Mobile and Windows Server divisions.
Common skills that a senior director human resources uses to do their job include "performance management," "employee engagement," and "sr." You can find details on the most important senior director human resources responsibilities below.
Interpersonal skills. To carry out their duties, the most important skill for a senior director human resources to have is interpersonal skills. Their role and responsibilities require that "human resources managers regularly interact with people, such as to collaborate on teams, and must develop working relationships with their colleagues." Senior directors human resources often use interpersonal skills in their day-to-day job, as shown by this real resume: "conducted executive management presentations to potential buyers, and developed positive interpersonal relationships during sales process. "
Leadership skills. Many senior director human resources duties rely on leadership skills. "human resources managers must coordinate work activities and ensure that staff complete the duties and responsibilities of their department.," so a senior director human resources will need this skill often in their role. This resume example is just one of many ways senior director human resources responsibilities rely on leadership skills: "provided managerial oversight while encouraging critical thinking, and garnering leadership buy-in. "
Organizational skills. Another skill that relates to the job responsibilities of senior directors human resources is organizational skills. This skill is critical to many everyday senior director human resources duties, as "human resources managers must be able to prioritize tasks and manage several projects at once." This example from a resume shows how this skill is used: "drive efforts to strengthen organizational infrastructure through process improvement, legal awareness and compliance, talent acquisitions and upgrades. "
The three companies that hire the most senior director human resourcess are:
- Balfour Senior Living24 senior directors human resources jobs
- Senior Resource Group17 senior directors human resources jobs
- Sodexo Management, Inc.11 senior directors human resources jobs
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Compare different senior directors human resources
Senior director human resources vs. Employee relations manager
An employee relations manager's responsibilities revolve around maintaining a strong professional relationship between employees and a company's management. They are also in charge of resolving conflicts and issues within the workplace, providing technical support on all employee programs, developing orientation and workshop activities among trainees and new members of the workforce, and addressing their concerns promptly and professionally. Furthermore, there are instances when an employee relations manager must conduct investigations, all while implementing the company's policies and regulations.
These skill sets are where the common ground ends though. The responsibilities of a senior director human resources are more likely to require skills like "sr," "workforce planning," "continuous improvement," and "business objectives." On the other hand, a job as an employee relations manager requires skills like "corrective action," "disciplinary actions," "ethics," and "federal laws." As you can see, what employees do in each career varies considerably.
Employee relations managers really shine in the retail industry with an average salary of $87,349. Comparatively, senior directors human resources tend to make the most money in the telecommunication industry with an average salary of $170,299.employee relations managers tend to reach similar levels of education than senior directors human resources. In fact, employee relations managers are 2.6% less likely to graduate with a Master's Degree and 0.3% less likely to have a Doctoral Degree.Senior director human resources vs. Human resources administration manager
A human resources administration manager performs multiple roles, one of which is to maintain and review all human resources, administrative systems, and procedures. They give guidance on HR to the office. They also oversee the development and monitoring of processes that involve recruiting and retention of individuals, compensation, benefits, training, and employee development. They essentially take charge of administrative functions.
In addition to the difference in salary, there are some other key differences worth noting. For example, senior director human resources responsibilities are more likely to require skills like "employee engagement," "sr," "workforce planning," and "continuous improvement." Meanwhile, a human resources administration manager has duties that require skills in areas such as "process payroll," "disciplinary procedures," "financial statements," and "human resource functions." These differences highlight just how different the day-to-day in each role looks.
In general, human resources administration managers achieve similar levels of education than senior directors human resources. They're 4.3% less likely to obtain a Master's Degree while being 0.3% less likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.What technology do you think will become more important and prevalent for senior director human resourceses in the next 3-5 years?
Karen Sharp-Price
Instructor/Career Consultant, Daemen College
Just over the past year, video conferencing and video chat has become mainstream for most companies. Learning how to maneuver and use the many different forms of video conferencing has become an everyday occurrence now for companies. Companies that said they could never go fully remote have done so and found not only that it can be done but done well with all this technology. But in the near future, you will see many new features added to all of these mediums to enhance the experience for employees and companies to communicate with co-workers, near and far. This technology has been around for a long time but is not used to its fullest extent. Due to the pandemic, it is heavily used, and I don't see us reverting back to our old ways but only improving upon how to better utilize technology in our businesses going forward.
Senior director human resources vs. Human resources generalist/manager
A human resource (HR) generalist performs a variety of HR functions and duties. These include recruiting and interviewing job applicants, conducting background checks and verifying employee eligibility, and implementing new employee orientation and recognition programs. In addition, you will be responsible for administering and executing HR programs, including benefits, disputes and investigations, and compensation. As an HR generalist, you are expected to provide answers to inquiries from applicants, employees, and managers. You are also expected to maintain compliance with local, state, and federal employment laws.
The required skills of the two careers differ considerably. For example, senior directors human resources are more likely to have skills like "employee engagement," "sr," "workforce planning," and "continuous improvement." But a human resources generalist/manager is more likely to have skills like "payroll processing," "disciplinary procedures," "exit interviews," and "safety training."
Human resources generalist/managers earn the best pay in the finance industry, where they command an average salary of $88,661. Senior directors human resources earn the highest pay from the telecommunication industry, with an average salary of $170,299.When it comes to education, human resources generalist/managers tend to earn similar degree levels compared to senior directors human resources. In fact, they're 3.4% less likely to earn a Master's Degree, and 2.0% less likely to graduate with a Doctoral Degree.Senior director human resources vs. Human resources recruiter/manager
The primary duty of a human resources recruiter/manager is to source job candidates for open positions in a company. They meet the needs of their client by matching them with candidates that meet the company's organizational culture and will perfectly fit into the open job position. Some small firms will require a human resources recruiter/manager to interview potential employees.
Even though a few skill sets overlap between senior directors human resources and human resources recruiter/managers, there are some differences that are important to note. For one, a senior director human resources might have more use for skills like "employee engagement," "sr," "workforce planning," and "continuous improvement." Meanwhile, some responsibilities of human resources recruiter/managers require skills like "human resources policies," "senior level management," "disciplinary procedures," and "recruitment process. "
Human resources recruiter/managers reach lower levels of education compared to senior directors human resources, in general. The difference is that they're 5.7% more likely to earn a Master's Degree, and 2.3% less likely to graduate with a Doctoral Degree.Types of senior director human resources
Updated January 8, 2025
