Tono | HR Manager in Saint Paul, Minnesota at Tono

Full-Time | Multi-Brand | Multi-Location

Location: St. Paul, MN (In Office | WFH Fridays)

Reports to: VP, People Excellence

Role Summary

Join a growing restaurant group that includes Tono Pizzeria + Cheesesteaks, Frank & Andrea, SliceCraft, and Gambino's built on the belief that great hospitality starts with how we treat our own people. We're hiring an HR Manager who gets that: someone who can be in the field with GMs and team members one day and buttoned-up on wage & hour compliance the next. This isn't a back-office role. You'll help build the HR function for a company that's actively growing across Minnesota and Wisconsin, with real ownership over how we support our teams and real say in how things get built not just maintained.

You'll be equal parts people-first partner and compliance backbone: someone who cares as much about a GM having a good week as about getting a wage notice out the door on time. If you like fast pace, real ambiguity, and being trusted to figure things out rather than follow a script, this is your kind of role.

Core Responsibilities

Out in the Field, With the Teams

• Serve as the go-to HR partner for multi-unit and store leadership across all five brands
• Conduct regular field visits this is a role that lives in restaurants, not just behind a screen
• Support the full employee lifecycle across every MN and WI location, from onboarding to offboarding
• Build and improve HR processes as we grow, rather than inheriting something already fixed in place

People & Employee Relations

• Lead employee relations matters and workplace investigations with care and discretion
• Coach managers through performance conversations and terminations
• Serve as the escalation point for sensitive employee issues the person people trust to handle it right
• Support administration of our performance review process across team member, GM, and corporate tiers
• Keep documentation clean, consistent, and audit-ready across brands

Wage & Hour and Tip Compliance

• Own compliance execution for tip pooling, gratuity, and service charge policies across brands including Minnesota's ban on tip credits and FLSA-based exclusion rules for management roles
• Deliver statutory wage notices on time, every time (Minnesota Wage Theft Prevention Act, plus the Wisconsin-equivalent for our Madison location)
• Manage workers' comp reporting under both Minnesota and Wisconsin rules two different clocks, two different processes, and you'll know the difference cold
• Stay ahead of regulatory changes in both states so nothing catches us by surprise

Systems & Data

• Keep our HRIS (ADP, moving to UKG), scheduling (7shifts), timekeeping (Toast), and applicant tracking (Fountain) data clean and accurate
• Catch and correct discrepancies across systems active/inactive mismatches, duplicate records, name variants before they become bigger problems
• Improve reporting so leadership always has real visibility into the people side of the business

Ideal Background

• 5+ years as an HR generalist or HR manager, ideally in restaurants, hospitality, or retail
• Multi-location, multi-state experience you've done this across more than one set of rules before
• Comfortable in a growth environment where things aren't fully built yet you'd rather build the process than wait for one

Capabilities That Matter Here

• Strong employment law instincts, especially around wage & hour and tips
• The ability to hold two states' rules in your head at once without mixing them up
• Field credibility GMs trust you because you show up, not just because you have a title
• A problem-solver's mindset and high follow-through
• Genuine care for people, balanced with real business judgment