Human Resources (HR) — M5

HUMANR1.HUMANRES9EED.M5

M5M5 — Senior Directorhigh0.90approvedglobalv1

Generalist HR management track responsible for the full employee lifecycle — recruitment, employee relations, benefits, training, policy, and compliance. Distinct from specialist Compensation, Benefits, or Talent Acquisition focuses; this focus oversees broad people-operations delivery and the HR staff who run it, scaling from supervising a single HR unit to directing company-wide HR strategy.

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Level

M5 · M5 — Senior Director · 12–18 yrs

Function · Focus

Human Resources (HR) · Human Resources (HR)

Market pay (median)

$185k ($145k–$235k)

Pay basis

function-anchored · wide bars

Focus — Human Resources (HR)

Responsibilities by level

What this person actually does at each level on the management track — escalating scope, not one generic blob. Your level is highlighted.

Oversees the daily operations of an HR unit — interview scheduling, new-hire paperwork, employee records, and benefits enrollment — keeping HR operations running smoothly within established practices.
Directly supervises HR coordinators and assistants, assigning day-to-day work and ensuring records and onboarding steps are completed accurately and on time.
Ensures compliance with established HR procedures and resolves routine employee questions on benefits enrollment and onboarding within set policy.
Compiles statistical reports on hires, transfers, and absenteeism from HRIS for review by senior HR staff.
Trains new HR coordinators on ATS, HRIS data entry, and pre-employment check processes.

Leads a skilled team of HR generalists and specialists handling employee relations, benefits administration, training coordination, and day-to-day policy questions.
Manages tactical HR outcomes for an assigned population — partnering with line managers and employees to resolve people issues within known HR practices and policy frameworks.
Coordinates the end-to-end recruitment cycle for the team — job description posting, sourcing, screening, offers, and pre-employment checks — and owns the team's hiring throughput.
Cooperates cross-functionally with payroll, finance, and managers to ensure consistent, fair application of HR policies.
Recommends process improvements to onboarding and employee-records workflows and configures HRIS reporting to track team performance.

Manages all HR activities for a department or site — employee relations, benefits, training, recruitment, and policy — supervising HR staff and generalists and owning operational outcomes.
Prepares and follows the personnel-operations budget for the unit, forecasting staffing needs and tracking recruitment metrics against targets.
Advises managers and employees on legal and regulatory compliance matters, and evaluates trends in turnover, absenteeism, and performance-appraisal data to recommend interventions.
Negotiates and resolves employee-relations cases and labor disputes, and conducts exit interviews to identify and act on reasons for termination.
Develops the recruitment strategy for the department aligned to business goals, managing the ATS and employer-brand efforts and analyzing recruitment metrics.

Manages multiple HR sections or a critical HR function across departments, ensuring HR policies are consistent, fair, and aligned to business objectives where missteps could jeopardize business activities.
Sets the annual hiring budget and overall recruitment strategy, forecasting workforce needs across teams and aligning HR plans with strategic business policies.
Engages senior leaders on functional HR strategy — workforce planning, employee-relations risk, and policy changes — and recommends organizational process or policy changes.
Oversees the HR budget for personnel operations across teams and directs HR managers in resolving complex employee-relations and compliance matters.
Builds and analyzes HR analytics (HRIS reporting, recruitment metrics, retention trends) to inform strategic workforce decisions for the function.

M5this profile

Develops and oversees company-wide HR strategy, policies, and programs, aligning all people operations with business objectives and legal compliance across the division or company.
Leads the HR function through department managers, directing strategic areas — talent acquisition, employee relations, benefits, and compliance — with business-wide implications.
Owns and manages the HR budget at the division/company level, defining methods and standards for personnel operations and workforce planning.
Conducts workforce planning, compensation discussions, and succession planning, and influences executives and major stakeholders on key people decisions.
Defines HR methods and policies to resolve complex, organization-wide people issues and connects HR decisions to broader business strategy and risk.

Level guidelines

The universal leveling rubric applied to this function — how scope, complexity, collaboration, and experience step up across levels.

Level	Knowledge & Application	Complexity & Problem Solving	Collaboration & Interaction	Typical Degree & Years
M1	Functional HR expert with some leadership exposure; applies established HR practices and procedures for recruitment coordination, records, and benefits enrollment to run a single unit.	Limited scope; resolves routine HR operational issues using established practices and defined procedures.	Daily interactions with HR staff and peers; answers routine employee questions within set policy.	Functional HR expertise plus initial supervisory exposure; typically 0-2 yrs leading a unit after generalist/coordinator experience.
M2	Applies judgment within known HR factors across employee relations, benefits, training, and recruitment to lead a skilled team and own tactical outcomes.	Makes judgments within known factors; resolves people issues and recruitment bottlenecks using established HR frameworks.	Cross-functional cooperation with payroll, finance, and line managers; partners with managers and employees on day-to-day HR operations.	2-5 yrs in HR team leadership or specialist generalist roles.
M3	Manages diverse HR issues for a department, evaluating turnover/absenteeism/performance trends and owning operations, budget, and recruitment strategy.	Addresses diverse HR issues; evaluates trends in HR metrics and advises on compliance and policy interventions.	Leads functional HR or customer/manager teams; negotiates employee-relations cases and advises managers on compliance.	5-7+ yrs managing HR professionals and personnel-operations budgets.
M4	Sets strategic HR policies aligned with business objectives across multiple sections or a critical function; missteps could jeopardize business activities.	Develops strategic HR policies and resolves complex workforce, employee-relations, and compliance issues spanning multiple teams.	Engages senior leaders on functional HR strategy; directs HR managers and recommends organizational process or policy changes.	8-10+ yrs in complex HR team/organization leadership.
M5	Defines company-wide HR methods, policies, and programs; impacts overall division or company operations through workforce, succession, and compensation strategy.	Resolves complex organization-wide people issues and defines the methods and standards used across the HR function.	Influences executives and major stakeholders on key people issues; leads through HR department managers.	10-12+ yrs including second-level HR management and strategy work.

Skills

Focus-specific skills the role applies — the relevance layer beyond the occupational base.

Personnel and Human Resources: Knowledge of principles and procedures for personnel recruitment, selection, training, compensation and benefits, labor relations and negotiation, and personnel information systems.
Administration and Management: Knowledge of business and management principles involved in strategic planning, resource allocation, human resources modeling, leadership technique, and coordination of people and resources.
Strategic judgment: The ability to show strategic judgment, leadership influence, and connect HR decisions to broader business goals.
Employee relations: Handling employee relations and resolving day-to-day people issues, including negotiating and de-escalating labor disputes.
Recruitment and selection: Sourcing, screening, interviewing, extending offers, and managing the recruitment process and overall hiring strategy.
Compliance: Ensuring HR policies and operations meet legal and regulatory requirements and advising managers on compliance matters.
HRIS Configuration & Analytics: Configuring, maintaining, troubleshooting, and optimizing human resource information systems, plus reporting and data analysis on HR metrics.
Microsoft Excel: Used to analyze employee data and as a tracking tool; HR managers should know its functions and formulas to compile statistical reports on hires, transfers, and absenteeism.
SQL: Basic SQL is important for reporting and pulling HR data from HRIS platforms.

Provenance

The evidence base behind this profile — every layer is sourced; quality is scored by an adversarial review panel (1–5; passes at ≥4 on the minimum dimension).

Level differentiation4.5Focus specificity5.0Concreteness4.5Factual accuracy5.0Real-world coverage4.5

5 sources

Level — M5 — Senior Director

Leads multiple functions or a large department; drives multi-year strategy.

Scope: Multiple functions or a large department
Autonomy: Owns multi-year strategy for the area
Complexity: Org-level trade-offs and investment
Impact: Multi-function results
Decision rights: Owns investment and org design across functions
Leadership: Leads directors and managers
Typical experience: 12–18 yrs

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