Microsoft is establishing an Employee Relations Team that will guide the evolution of our employee relations and investigations model to align the lived experiences of our employees and our culture. This team will serve as a steward of Microsoft philosophy, policies, and practices in handling employee sensitive matters. This "center of excellence" team will work in close partnership with Legal and HR teams to build and operate an engagement model for employees involved in sensitive matters.

We are looking for a Senior Employee Relations Manager with deep experience influencing and impacting dynamic businesses through effective management (both proactive and reactive) of a wide range of employee relations and issues. This person will be accountable for providing regional support, working with employees across organizations at Microsoft, building trusted relationships quickly, and leading with warmth, empathy, compassion, and creativity to think inside of and outside of the box to drive the right solutions.

This role could be based across any location in the LATAM region. Preferred locations would be Brazil, Mexico, Argentina or Fort Lauderdale.

Responsibilities

The work of the successful candidate will include:

• Develop and regionally implement various policies and programs including employee counseling and engagement, policy interpretation, and sensitive work-related issues.
• Partner with Microsoft’ legal department and HR stakeholders across the region to effectively support investigative processes of employee complaints and resolve conflicts, compliance, and sensitive work-related issues.
• Leverage insights to influence all levels of the organization and effectively handle complex employee situations.
• Develop a thorough understanding of the local/regional ER needs and approaches, connect the local/regional HR teams, plan for change management and provide support, feedback, and scale learnings.
• Utilize excellent judgement to coach and counsel managers and employees on issues related to workplace dynamics.
• Partner and coach across HR on interventions required for individuals, managers, and teams on preventing employee relations issues, effectively managing performance cases, giving performance feedback, employee engagement and retention, inclusion, and other topics related to manager effectiveness.
• Utilize consulting skills and strong active listening on what is said and unsaid to effectively support employees when reintegrating back into work following one of these experiences.
• Excellent judgment and follow-up

Qualifications

Skills and Qualifications:

Qualifications include a minimum of 8-10 combined years of directly applicable HR and Employee Relations experience or an equivalent combination of advanced training and education. Other skills include but are not limited to:

• Ability to partner with HR and legal teams to effectively manage and all types of employee relations cases across many regulatory environments
• Excellent coaching, facilitation, and conflict resolution skills, including stellar communication, collaboration, case handling and project management
• Analytical skills with ability to use data to form hypothesizes, draw insights, form narratives, prioritize, and influence decisions
• Curiosity to obtain working knowledge of employment laws and regulations across multiple countries and the ability to appropriately spot employment risk issues
• Knowledge and experience with Performance & Development processes
• Experience with a variety of issues such as harassment, discrimination, workplace violence, ethical issues, etc.
• Ability to recognize trends and identify systemic approaches to solving problems
• Business and people acumen, knowledge of consulting frameworks and models, and ability to influence employees and managers at all levels
• Ability to use experience and judgment to make decisions that may be based on partial information
• Ability to be highly empathetic and comfort and experience dealing with ambiguity, change, and challenging problems
• Strong diversity and inclusion acumen and commitment

Education and Experience:

• A minimum of 8-10 years of experience in HR, with a focus on employee relations is critical.
• BS/BA degree is required. MBA or MA in HR-related field, along with a PHR/SPHR certification, is preferred.

Microsoft is an equal opportunity employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to age, ancestry, color, family or medical care leave, gender identity or expression, genetic information, marital status, medical condition, national origin, physical or mental disability, political affiliation, protected veteran status, race, religion, sex (including pregnancy), sexual orientation, or any other characteristic protected by applicable laws, regulations and ordinances.  We also consider qualified applicants regardless of criminal histories, consistent with legal requirements. If you need assistance and/or a reasonable accommodation due to a disability during the application or the recruiting process, please send a request via the Accommodation request form.

Benefits/perks listed below may vary depending on the nature of your employment with Microsoft and the country where you work.