Senior HR Generalist

What you’ll do:

The Senior HR Generalist will provide strategic and hands-on Human Resources support to the Eaton Horseheads facility by partnering with plant leadership and employees to strengthen organizational effectiveness, employee engagement, and a positive labor environment. This role will ensure consistent application of HR policies, practices, and the Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) across union and non-union populations while aligning HR initiatives with business objectives and Eaton values.
 

Key Responsibilities:

• Employee Relations: Serve as a strategic HR partner to plant leadership on employee relations, performance management, engagement, and organizational effectiveness. Interpret and administer the Collective Bargaining Agreement, including grievance management and arbitration preparation. Lead employee relations efforts such as investigations, conflict resolution, and leader coaching to mitigate risk. Drive employee engagement and culture initiatives, including surveys, action planning, recognition, and site-level programs.

• Talent Management: Support full-cycle recruitment and onboarding in partnership with hiring managers to enhance quality of hire, retention, and time-to-fill. Coach supervisors and managers on leadership effectiveness, employee development, and performance management.

• HR Operations: Oversee HR operational processes including timekeeping (Kronos), payroll coordination, job changes, wage administration, and leave management. Support continuous improvement initiatives through Eaton Business Excellence and other process improvement methodologies. Ensure compliance with employment laws, company policies, and internal procedures.

• Analytics: Analyze HR metrics (e.g., turnover, absenteeism, engagement) to identify trends and provide actionable insights.

What will make you successful? 
The ideal candidate brings a well-rounded core HR background with strong expertise in labor relations, including CBA administration, grievance management, and employee relations within a manufacturing environment. You demonstrate exceptional communication skills, professionalism, and discretion, building credibility across the organization. You provide coaching to front-line leaders on performance management, workplace issues, and compliance with federal and state employment laws while balancing both business and employee needs effectively in a fast-paced setting. You also leverage tools such as Excel to support reporting and analysis of HR metrics and trends, translating data into actionable recommendations. We are looking for candidates who are diverse in their backgrounds, perspectives, and experiences, and who can bring fresh and innovative ideas to our team.

Qualifications:

Required (Basic) Qualifications: 

• Bachelor’s degree from an accredited institution
• Minimum 2 years of experience in human resources
• Eaton will not consider applicants for employment immigration sponsorship or support for this position. This means that Eaton will not support any CPT, OPT, or STEM OPT plans, F-1 to H-1B, H-1B cap registration, O-1, E-3, TN status, I-485 job portability, etc.
• No relocation benefit is being offered for this position.  Only candidates within a 50-mile radius of Horseheads, NY will be considered.  Active-Duty Military Service member candidates are exempt from the geographical area limitation.
   

Preferred Qualifications: 

• Master’s degree in Human Resources, Labor relations, Industrial/Organization Psychology and/or HR certification
• Prior labor relations experience
• Experience in manufacturing and/or union environment
• Prior experience with talent management and organization effectiveness tools with a professional salaried workforce
• Experience working with HR systems and data management tools (e.g., HRIS/HRMS such as Oracle, Workday, or similar systems); ability to maintain data accuracy and confidentiality