Director of Human Resources

Organization: NHS Management, LLC

Location: Tuscaloosa, AL — corporate office | Travel 40-50% across Alabama, Arkansas, and Florida

Reports to: VP of Human Resources

Status: Full-time, exempt

About NHS Management: NHS Management is a family-owned company supporting 43 skilled nursing and long-term care facilities across Alabama, Arkansas, and Florida. Our facilities employ thousands of nurses, aides, dietary staff, therapists, and administrators who care for residents around the clock. We are large enough to invest in real infrastructure and small enough that the people making decisions know the buildings by name.

The RoleThis is the senior generalist leader for everything that happens after someone is hired. You will own employee relations, investigations, leave administration, unemployment, compensation analysis, and multi-state compliance for a distributed workforce operating 24/7 in one of the most heavily regulated industries in the country.You will not be buried in transactional work. Facility HR coordinators and administrators handle the day-to-day; you set the standards they operate by, handle the matters that carry real legal or survey exposure, and build the systems that keep 44 buildings consistent. Talent acquisition is a separate function you'll partner with closely rather than manage.If you want a role where HR is treated as an operating discipline rather than a paperwork department, this is it.

What You'll OwnEmployee Relations & Investigations

• Serve as the escalation point for employee relations matters across all facilities, and coach Administrators, DONs, and facility HR staff through performance management, corrective action, and termination decisions
• Lead or oversee workplace investigations involving harassment, discrimination, retaliation, and policy violations — including matters that intersect with state survey requirements and abuse prohibition reporting obligations
• Build and enforce a consistent investigation and documentation protocol so outcomes hold up under EEOC charge, unemployment hearing, and state survey scrutiny
• Analyze ER activity by facility and leader to identify patterns, then intervene with targeted training or leadership change before problems compound

Leave & Accommodation

• Own FMLA administration end to end: eligibility, designation, certification and recertification, intermittent leave tracking, and return-to-work
• Manage the ADA interactive process and coordinate the overlap between FMLA, workers' compensation, and personal leave
• Reduce exposure from inconsistent leave administration across facilities while keeping the process defensible and humane

Unemployment Claims

• Manage unemployment claims across Alabama, Arkansas, and Florida, including responses, appeals, and hearing representation
• Drive facility-level documentation standards that hold up at hearing
• Track claim outcomes and their effect on experience rating and cost

Compensation Analysis

• Conduct market wage analysis for nursing, clinical, and support roles by facility and market — not statewide averages that hide local reality
• Govern wage scales, shift differentials, weekend and pickup incentives, and premium pay programs
• Model the cost of wage changes against turnover, overtime, and agency spend so pay decisions are made with numbers attached
• Run FLSA classification audits and periodic pay equity review

Compliance & Policy

• Maintain the employee handbook and HR policy set across three states
• Ensure compliance with FLSA, Title VII, ADA, FMLA, NLRA, and applicable state employment law
• Respond to EEOC and state agency charges in coordination with counsel
• Support survey readiness on personnel files, credentialing, and abuse prohibition requirements

HR Analytics

• Build and maintain reporting on turnover, retention, ER caseload, leave utilization, unemployment cost, and compensation competitiveness
• Use UKG and related systems to turn HR activity into decision-ready information for operations leadership

What Success Looks Like

First 90 days: You've assessed the current state of ER caseload, leave administration, unemployment outcomes, and wage positioning, and you've visited a representative sample of facilities in all three states.

By six months: Standardized investigation and documentation protocols are in place and facility leaders are trained on them. You have a working view of turnover and ER exposure by building.

By twelve months: Measurable improvement in unemployment claim outcomes, reduced ER escalation from repeat facilities, and a compensation structure that is defensible, competitive in each local market, and tied to a turnover and agency-spend business case.

What You BringRequired

• 7+ years of progressive HR experience, including 3+ years leading an HR function or team
• Direct, hands-on experience conducting workplace investigations and managing employee relations for a multi-site workforce
• Working command of FMLA, ADA, FLSA, and multi-state employment compliance
• Experience managing unemployment claims and representing an employer at hearings
• Compensation analysis experience — market pricing, wage structure design, and cost modeling
• Comfort with data: you can build a report, read it correctly, and defend a recommendation with it
• Willingness to travel regularly to facilities across three states

Preferred

• Skilled nursing, long-term care, hospital, or other 24/7 healthcare experience
• SHRM-SCP or SPHR certification
• Experience with UKG or a comparable HCM platform
• Background supporting a workforce with high hourly turnover and significant contract labor exposure
• Experience in a union or union-organizing environment

Why NHS

• A family-owned company where you have direct access to decision-makers and your recommendations don't die in committee
• Real scope: 44 facilities, three states, and full ownership of the post-hire employee lifecycle
• An organization actively investing in analytics and technology infrastructure across the people function

Benefits:

• 401(k) matching
• Dental insurance
• Employee assistance program
• Health insurance
• Life insurance
• Paid time off
• Vision insurance

Experience:

• human resources: 7 years (Required)
• employee relations: 5 years (Required)
• director level: 3 years (Preferred)
• HR policy: 5 years (Required)
• FMLA: 5 years (Required)
• Unemployment: 5 years (Required)
• UKG: 3 years (Preferred)

Work Location: In person