Director, Employee Relations

Director, Employee Relations College Board - Global Strategy & Talent Location: This is a fully remote role. Candidates who live near CB offices have the option of being fully remote or hybrid (Tuesday and Wednesday in office). Type: This is a full-time position About the Team At College Board, the Talent team is the engine behind our people, who in turn power our mission to positively impact millions of students worldwide. We are a dynamic, close-knit group, as passionate about supporting our ~2,000 employees as we are about shaping the future of education. Our impact as a mission-driven organization is clear, yet in a rapidly changing world the challenges ahead are more complex than ever. That is why our work in Talent matters. We are not simply supporting employees; we are empowering them to rise to these challenges and do the most meaningful, high-impact work of their careers. Guided by a clear philosophy, we focus on the end user, use data to solve problems, innovate boldly, and communicate directly and honestly while having fun along the way. Our aim is to build high-performing teams, foster strong and accountable leadership, and create the conditions for every employee to thrive. Together, we help every employee do what matters most with clarity, consistency, and purpose. About the Opportunity As a Director, Employee Relations, you are a trusted expert and enterprise thought partner who ensures fairness, equity, and consistency in how the organization manages performance, conduct, and conflict. As the primary executor of Employee Relations (ER) work, you advise complex and sensitive workplace situations. You partner closely with Talent and Legal to investigate concerns, advise on performance and conduct issues, and ensure fair, consistent, and compliant outcomes. You serve as a trusted resource and a key advisor to internal partners, strengthening organizational health through effective issue resolution and clear communication. You bring deep expertise in investigations, performance accountability, mediation, and risk mitigation, and you elevate the function from simple case resolution to building healthy culture and recognizing patterns we should disrupt. In partnership with a team of Talent Business Partners, you will lead the ER agenda across the enterprise to enable high-performance, mitigate risk, and create strong cultures aligned with our Operating Principles and Manager Expectations. In this role, you will partner with Talent Business Partners and others to: Guide and Execute Organizational Approach to Employee Relations & Risk Management (60%) Serve as the enterprise owner of ER standards, ensuring consistency, fairness, and compliance across the organization. Assess and manage elevated employee relations risk across teams (e.g., performance, conduct, conflict, compliance). Lead improvement plan processes across the enterprise ensuring strong execution and manager development along the way Create standards for and guide managers through improvement plan processes and other performance documentation to ensure clarity, quality, and consistency. Hold managers accountable to strong execution of performance plans, including quality of feedback, documentation, and follow-through. Monitor active cases and plans, ensuring timely progress, appropriate escalation, and closure. Conduct thorough, objective, and timely investigations and resolution of complex ER matters, delivering actionable outcomes and monitoring follow-up. Draft high- quality investigation summaries and documentation in alignment with legal and executive standards Provide expert guidance on disciplinary decisions, policy interpretation, and fair applications across business units. Act as a neutral third-party mediator in complex interpersonal or team conflicts, ensuring objective assessment and clear, documented outcomes. ​ Support Infrastructure, Talent Systems & Continuous Improvement (20%) Design and implement standardized frameworks, templates, investigation tools, dashboards, and reporting mechanisms to ensure consistency, fairness, and compliance across the organization. Analyze case data, trends, and team-level metrics to surface patterns (e.g., repeat off-boarding causes, manager escalation hotspots, engagement dips) and present risks and recommendations to senior Talent leaders. Build manager pre-escalation coaching practices (e.g., “early-stage manager check-in” triggers) to reduce reactive case volume and embed stronger accountability. Provide input into performance management, onboarding/offboarding, and talent systems (e.g., Workday) to ensure consistency with ER strategy and mitigate emerging risks. Lead special projects to streamline ER case management processes (e.g., digital case tracking, manager self-service pre-escalation interventions). Stay current on employment law, regulatory developments, industry benchmarks, and best practices; translate these into Apply To This Job