Niron Magnetics is a venture-backed start-up developing the only known magnetic material with the potential to displace widely used rare earth permanent magnets. These rare earth permanent magnets are found in electric motors, generators, sensors, actuators, and a variety of everyday machines. Unfortunately, the mining and refining of these materials incur harsh social and environmental costs.

Niron Magnetics has developed a magnetic material that is free of critical materials (including rare earth elements), which eliminates the environmental damage caused by their use. Niron is comprised of a team of engineers and scientists with a desire to make a positive impact in our community.

About the role

We are looking to hire our first Chief People Officer, to develop and execute our HR strategy and manage all People Operations. As the first dedicated People hire, this position will lead the charge in improving existing functions for payroll, benefits, employee onboarding and retention, recruiting, and building new functional capacity as the company grows. This role will function as a strategic business advisor to the executive/senior leadership team regarding key organizational decisions and topics.

Additionally, the role will have a heavy emphasis on EH&S (Environmental Health and Safety). The Chief People Officer will collaborate with cross-functional teams to conduct regular audits and inspections to identify potential safety hazards, assess risks, and implement corrective actions to maintain a safe working environment for employees in a round-the-clock operational model.

Responsibilities

Human Resources

• Develop and manage HR strategy and policies to align with the company’s business strategy and goals.
• Implement organizational and staff development strategy to keep pace with growth plans of the company, including multi-site operations within two years.
• Lead workforce planning initiatives including succession planning, talent management, change management and performance management processes.
• Coordinate the preparation of programs and tools (policies & procedures, SOPs, manuals, management guidelines, and other HR infrastructure).Proactively identify opportunities to improve the employee experience and build an engaged and motivated workforce.
• Build and implement a learning and development system across the company to support both talent management and compliance related training objectives.
• Support visa applications and USCIS I-9 administration.

Compliance

• Work closely with our EH&S team to enable a faultless commitment to training and safety across the facilities, ensuring compliance with industry standards, regulations, and best practices of a multiple shift, industrial/manufacturing environment.
• Coordinate and facilitate extensive employee training initiatives focused on safety protocols, hazard identification, emergency procedures, and the proper use of protective equipment to foster a culture of safety consciousness and mitigate workplace risks.
• Ensure HR processes, policies, and record-keeping practices adhere to federal and state regulations, labor laws, and industry guidelines.
• Oversee the documentation of policies, processes, and procedures to maintain compliance standards consistent with our government contracts.

Compensation, Payroll & Benefits Administration

• Oversee payroll, taxes, and implementation of a more sophisticated HRIS as the company grows from a salaried employee base to the addition of a large hourly workforce.
• Manage company benefits program ensuring offerings are competitive and cost-effective for the company and of good value to employees.
• Create a compensation program inclusive of a documented compensation philosophy, compensation review procedure and job leveling system to ensure there are fair and equitable compensation practices across the company. Leverage salary surveys and compensation analysis tools to make salary recommendations.

Recruitment

• Develop and implement strategic recruitment strategies to attract top-tier talent to the organization.
• Oversee the end-to-end hiring process, including job postings, interviewing, and seamless onboarding experiences.
• Collaborate closely with senior management and hiring managers to drive successful recruitment and retention efforts across technical and support staff.
• Partner with external recruiting firms as needed to fulfill talent acquisition needs effectively.

Qualifications

• 10+ years’ experience leading or managing an HR function, including benefits administration, compliance, onboarding, immigration, and performance management.
• BA/BS required; advanced degree preferred.
• Experience within a manufacturing organization preferred.
• Experience developing and implementing HR processes, policies, and procedures for a high growth company.
• Strategic and analytical thinker with the ability to translate business needs into actionable HR plans and initiatives.
• Ability to counsel and influence leaders to make decisions swiftly and appropriately based on the needs of the business.
• Passion for fostering a positive and inclusive workplace culture that values diversity and collaboration.
• Knowledge of and experience with human resource information systems, including payroll and benefits administration tools Experience implementing a new HRIS tool a plus.
• Applied knowledge of federal, state and local employment related laws and statutes.
• Strong demonstrated professionalism and an ability to manage expectations and personalities of a diverse group of executives.
• Detail oriented, organized, and self-directed with ability to act in an autonomous capacity.
• Prior experience with H1 and J1 visas processes a plus.