Human Resources Operations Director in Atlanta, Georgia at Lifeline Animal Project Inc

Position: HR Operations Director

Department: Human Resources

Reports To: Chief People Officer

Location: 3180 Presidential Drive Atlanta, GA 30340

Summary:

LifeLine Animal Project is committed to the care and welfare of pets and the people who love them. The values we exhibit as an organization show the strength of our staff, our leadership and our community. We expect all employees to exhibit LifeLine’s core values as we complete daily tasks, provide services to clients and care for our animals.

The HR Operations Director serves as the operational anchor of the Human Resources department. This role is responsible for running the day-to-day HR operations team, owning the systems and compliance infrastructure that keep HR functioning, and providing the structure, standards, and professional development that the on-site HR Managers need to succeed. The HR Operations Director translates HR strategy into reliable, repeatable execution — ensuring that payroll is accurate, compliance obligations are met, data is trustworthy, and the team performs consistently across all sites.

Essential Job Functions:

This represents a list of essential job duties. Other duties or special projects may be assigned as needed.

Uphold the standards and values of LifeLine Animal Project:

Save Lives -- Build Community -- Be Exceptional Stewards -- Be Courageous --

Be Compassionate -- Take Responsibility -- Respect, Embrace and Celebrate Diversity

Team Leadership & Development:

• Directly manage on-site HR Managers and one HR Administrative Assistant, setting clear performance standards, expectations, and accountability structures.
• Strengthen and improve upon existing operational structure: refine standardized workflows, enhance checklists, reinforce recurring deadlines, and optimize the cadence of structured check-ins.
• Compassionately coach and develop HR Managers as HR professionals — expanding their expertise, judgment, and capacity over time.
• Serve as the primary escalation point for HR operational issues across all sites.
• Respect, embrace, and celebrate diversity by championing a positive, inclusive, and high-performance culture, always focused on LifeLine’s mission to save lives.
• Courageously help to build a community of animal welfare advocates by supporting and engaging volunteers who aid LifeLine’s mission.

Compliance & Risk Management:

• Maintain required certifications and ensure compliance with safety regulations and employment law across all organizational sites.
• Take responsibility to maintain a comprehensive, documented audit trail for all compliance activities — eliminating single-point-of-failure dependencies on any individual's institutional memory.
• Ensure background checks are completed and documented for every hire, including any additional checks required at specific sites.
• Monitor training completion toward the organization's goal of 40 hours per employee each year, and ensure county shelter staff meet the 40 hours required under county contracts.
• Monitor regulatory changes in employment law and proactively update practices and documentation accordingly.
• Respond to DOL unemployment compensation notifications and participate in administrative hearings.

Payroll Oversight:

• Own the end-to-end payroll process across all three payrolls, submitting payrolls in ADP and managing post-run reconciliation.
• Establish and enforce consistent payroll deadlines, with clear accountability expectations for supervisors across all three payrolls.
• Conduct a comprehensive audit of ADP payroll configuration early in tenure; implement validation rules that catch errors before payroll runs.
• Ensure payroll records, adjustments, and corrections are thoroughly documented and audit-ready at all times.

HRIS & Systems Administration (ADP):

• Serve as the organization's ADP system owner — responsible for configuration, data integrity, reporting, and user access management.
• Exhibit exceptional stewardship by conducting a full audit of ADP modules in use versus modules available but unused.
• Build and maintain standard HR reports and dashboards to support leadership decision-making and regulatory compliance.
• Partner with IT and vendors on any system updates, integrations, and troubleshooting.

Benefits Administration:

• Work with the broker to manage all aspects of employee benefits — including new-hire enrollment, qualifying life event changes, and the annual open enrollment process.
• Serve as the primary organizational contact for benefits vendors, brokers, and carriers.
• Act as the internal resource for employee benefits questions, resolving issues promptly and accurately.
• Track benefit plan performance and costs, and provide the CFO and CPO with the data and analysis needed for renewal negotiations and plan design.

Workers’ Compensation:

• Oversee the workers’ compensation process across all sites, ensuring claims, adjuster contact, and return-to-work are handled consistently by the on-site HR Managers.
• Ensure claim records are maintained accurately.
• Liaise with the organization’s workers’ comp carrier during escalated and complex matters, where applicable.
• Track claim trends and identify workplace risk patterns; collaborate with operations leadership to reduce injury exposure.

HR Policy Documentation:

• Own and maintain all core HR policy documents: the employee handbook, leave of absence policies, disciplinary procedures, and workplace safety protocols.
• Ensure policies are current, legally compliant, consistently applied, and clearly communicated across all sites and employee populations.
• Establish a regular review cycle for all HR policies.

Qualifications:

To perform this job successfully, an individual must be able to perform each essential duty satisfactorily.

• Compassion for animals and the people who love and care for them.
• Deep working knowledge of employment law, wage and hour regulations, and HR compliance requirements.
• Proven ability to build operational structure and standardize processes in environments where those systems are underdeveloped.
• Skilled at developing others — able to assess capability gaps and build practical development plans for direct reports.
• High degree of accuracy and attention to detail, particularly in payroll, data management, and compliance documentation.
• Strong project management and prioritization skills; comfortable managing multiple deadlines simultaneously.
• Clear, direct communicator who can translate HR requirements into actionable expectations for supervisors and managers.
• PHR, SPHR, SHRM-CP, or SHRM-SCP certification preferred.
• Must have a means of travel that ensures prompt arrival for work shifts.
• Must pass a background check.

Education and/or Experience:

Bachelor’s degree in Human Resources, Business Administration, or a related field; or equivalent combination of education and experience.

5+ years of progressive HR experience, with at least 3 years in a supervisory or leadership capacity.

Demonstrated experience running payroll in ADP Workforce Now, with fluency across the platform's full capabilities.

Experience in a multi-site organization is strongly preferred.

Background in nonprofit, social services, or healthcare sectors is a plus.

Work Environment:

This is a full-time, hybrid position. Regular travel between organizational sites is expected. Some evening or weekend availability may be required as needed.