Strategic HR Business Partner

Company: Commonwealth of Massachusetts
Location: Boston
Posted on: April 11, 2025

Job Description:

An Official website of the Commonwealth of MassachusettsALERTEffective January 25, 2024, Executive Order #627 cements the Commonwealth's well-established practice of skills-based hiring, paving the way to a more equitable hiring process. The Commonwealth is committed to ensuring a diverse and inclusive workplace where all employees feel respected, valued, and empowered to serve our citizens. Join us today!Job Description - Strategic HR Business Partner (250001VW)Who We Are: The Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs (EEA) seeks to protect, preserve, and enhance Massachusetts' environmental resources and create a clean energy future for all residents. Through the stewardship of open spaces, the protection of environmental resources, and the advancement of clean energy, EEA works tirelessly to make Massachusetts a wonderful place to live, work, and raise a family. Our commitment to environmental justice ensures that every resident, regardless of background or location, can live in a safe, clean environment and shares equally in the benefits of the clean energy transition.Who We Are as an Employer: At EEA, we create meaningful, inclusive opportunities that empower our employees to make a real difference in shaping the environmental future of Massachusetts. We foster a workplace culture where diversity is valued, innovation is encouraged, and collaboration thrives. Our employees play a vital role in advancing sustainability, environmental justice, and clean energy solutions, ensuring a positive and lasting impact on Massachusetts and its residents.The Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs seeks applicants for a Strategic HR Business Partner to perform the following duties:Position Overview: The Strategic Human Resources Business Partner is responsible for developing and executing HR strategies that align with their respective agencies' overall business goals and objectives. This person will be a key partner in HR innovation, organizational growth, and strategic alignment, contributing significantly to the overall success of the agencies they support by collaborating with agency leadership. They will oversee the administration and implementation of HR policies, initiatives, and activities in coordination with EOEEA HR.EOEEA Human Resources (HR) Shared Services provides support and administers human resources programs and services to current and prospective EOEEA employees and agency business partners for the Secretariat including Massachusetts Environmental Police, and its six agencies and their divisions including: Department of Agricultural Resources and the State Reclamation Board - Mosquito Control Projects; Department of Conservation and Recreation; Department of Environmental Protection; Department of Fish and Game; Department of Public Utilities, and the Department of Energy Resources.This is an exciting time to join the Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs (EOEEA) Human Resources Shared Service Team as we work to strengthen the Human Resources function throughout the Secretariat and its agencies. EOEEA is a mission-driven state environmental organization that is experiencing strong, sustained growth, placing increased demand on its Human Resources services.Key Responsibilities:

• Strategic HR Planning:

• Ensures all agency HR needs are met and aligned with the Secretariat's strategic direction and business objectives. Provides insight and recommends areas for process improvement, change management, organizational development, performance management, communications strategies, and employee engagement.
• Collaborate with HR and agency leadership to formulate long-term HR strategies that support the agency's mission, vision, and strategic goals.
• Identify emerging HR trends and best practices and integrate them into the agency's HR strategy.
• Monitor and analyze HR metrics and trends to make data-driven recommendations for strategic HR initiatives to agency leadership.
• Stay up to date with HR trends, changing labor laws, and regulations, to advise agency leadership on HR strategy and compliance.
• Prepare and present HR reports to agency leadership to support data-driven decisions and recommendations utilizing relevant HR metrics.
• In collaboration with agency leadership and finance, coordinate new and repurposed hiring roles and positions, and evaluate and assist in prioritizing critical staffing needs through annual workforce planning process.
• Partnership Development:
  • Establish and maintain strategic partnerships with agency senior leadership and department heads.
  • Leverage partnerships to drive collaborative initiatives that enhance HR effectiveness and align with agency organizational and operational objectives.
  • Understand the organizational and operational goals of the agencies they support and identify how HR strategies can contribute to the success of those goals.
  • Coach and support high-level executives, function heads, and senior-level management throughout the agencies in all leadership, business strategies and HR related areas.
  • Organizational Development:
    • Lead initiatives to foster organizational growth and development to achieve agency organizational and operational goals, including workforce planning, succession planning, and performance management.
    • Advise Agency Leadership on organizational design and organization sizing activities to ensure strategic and efficient use of resources across the agencies they support.
    • Partner with senior leadership and Agency managers on reorganization and restructuring efforts, including the creation of promotional opportunities, identifying new roles, and proper job classification consistent with the organizational structure and workforce planning.
    • Recommend and support implementation of Collective Bargaining Agreement updates and modifications.
    • Serve as a point of escalation to resolve and mitigate challenging or high-profile employee relations issues for the agencies they support.
    • Collaborate with Recruitment Partners to ensure compliance with hiring protocols and to support agency Hiring Managers.
    • Serve as a point of escalation for Recruitment Partners to advise on salary negotiations.
    • Collaborate with Agency Leadership and Recruitment Partners to monitor FTE report and mitigate any issues.
    • Confer with management to advise on salary and adjustments, monitoring for MEPA (Massachusetts Equal Pay Act) implications and management compression and collisions.
    • Collaborate with Employee Relations, Training & Development, and Diversity, Equity and Inclusion to inform succession planning activities.
    • Change Management:
      • Play a key role in managing organizational and operational change by providing HR expertise in areas such as restructuring, strategic workforce planning, and process improvements for the agencies they support.
      • Develop change management strategies to facilitate smooth transitions and minimize disruptions.
      • Diversity, Equity and Inclusion:
        • Promote diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging initiatives for the agencies they support to ensure the agency fosters an inclusive and equitable environment for all employees.
        • Collaborate with DEI Managers and organizational leaders to develop strategies that promote diversity at all levels of the agencies.
        • Collaborate with DEI Managers as needed on Reasonable Accommodations in alignment with the American with Disabilities Act (ADA).Preferred Qualifications:
          • At least 5 years of well-rounded experience in human resources, preferably as a Business Partner or HR Generalist.
          • Working knowledge of labor and employment laws, regulations, and HR best practices.
          • Experience in a government agency or public sector HR.
          • Familiarity with unionized environments.
          • Experience in employee performance management, including coaching, delivering feedback, motivating, and developing employees and managers.
          • Experience with effectively navigating complex and sensitive employee relations matters and facilitating resolutions; experience conducting workplace investigations and providing investigation reports is a plus.
          • Experience with workforce planning and development a plus.
          • Excellent communication and problem-solving abilities.
          • Ability to maintain confidentiality and handle sensitive information with discretion.
          • Demonstrated strategic thinking, leadership capabilities, objective setting, and measurement skills.
          • Ability to analyze and determine the applicability of program data, to draw conclusions, and to make appropriate recommendations.
          • Ability to communicate effectively with others to arrive at consensus to further the organization's strategic plans.
          • Demonstrated ability to drive multiple projects to successful completion.
          • Ability to adjust to changing situations, be flexible to meet changing priorities, and work with ambiguity.
          • Must maintain a high degree of professionalism.
          • Solution- and team-oriented.
          • Excellent written and verbal communicator with strong interpersonal skills and high emotional intelligence.
          • Experienced in building strong relationships and collaborations, as well as alliances and productive partnerships in a complex, matrixed organization.MINIMUM ENTRANCE REQUIREMENTS:Applicants must have at least (A) five (5) years of full-time or, equivalent part-time, professional, professional internship, administrative, supervisory, or managerial experience in business administration, business management, public administration, public management, clinical administration or clinical management or (B) any equivalent combination of the required experience and substitutions below.Substitutions:I. A certificate in a relevant or related field may be substituted for one (1) year of the required experience.II. A Bachelor's degree in a related field may be substituted for two (2) years of the required experience.III. A Graduate degree in a related field may be substituted for three (3) years of the required experience.IV. A Doctorate degree in a related field may be substituted for four (4) years of the required experience.When you embark on a career with the Commonwealth, you are offered an outstanding suite of employee benefits that add to the overall value of your compensation package. We take pride in providing a work experience that supports you, your loved ones, and your future.An Equal Opportunity / Affirmative Action Employer. Females, minorities, veterans, and persons with disabilities are strongly encouraged to apply.The Commonwealth is an Equal Opportunity Employer and does not discriminate on the basis of race, religion, color, sex, gender identity or expression, sexual orientation, age, disability, national origin, veteran status, or any other basis covered by appropriate law. Research suggests that qualified women, Black, Indigenous, and Persons of Color (BIPOC) may self-select out of opportunities if they don't meet 100% of the job requirements. We encourage individuals who believe they have the skills necessary to thrive to apply for this role.Official Title: Program Manager VPrimary LocationJobJob: Environmental and EnergyAgencyAgency: Exec Office Of Energy and Environmental AffairsScheduleSchedule: Full-timeShiftShift: DayJob PostingJob Posting: Mar 7, 2025, 12:41:34 PMNumber of OpeningsNumber of Openings: 1Salary: 84,281.57 - 107,000.00 YearlyIf you have Diversity, Affirmative Action or Equal Employment Opportunity questions or need a Reasonable Accommodation, please contact Diversity Officer / ADA Coordinator: Melixza Esenyie - 6176261282Bargaining Unit: M99-Managers (EXE)Confidential: NoPotentially Eligible for a Hybrid Work Schedule: Yes
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Keywords: Commonwealth of Massachusetts, Boston , Strategic HR Business Partner, Human Resources , Boston, Massachusetts