Note The job is a remote job and is open to candidates in USA. Vangst is the employer of record for several thousand W-2 hourly employees working at client sites across multiple states in a fast-paced, highly regulated environment. The Senior Director of Human Resources will build and lead people operations, compliance, and HR infrastructure, while overseeing employee relations, multi-state compliance, payroll and benefits partnerships, risk management, HR systems, and team development. Responsibilities Own the employee lifecycle for a high-volume W-2 hourly population onboarding, I-9 and E-Verify, state and industry badging, assignment changes, and offboarding Investigate and resolve employee relations issues, including client-site complaints, and drive corrective action to conclusion Build onboarding and offboarding that can absorb volume spikes with an emphasis on compliance Develop HR reporting and dashboards that provide leadership visibility into turnover, investigations, compliance risk, hiring trends, and workforce health Coach managers and other support and field employees through performance management, documentation, disciplinary action, terminations, accommodations, and difficult employee conversations Wage and hour compliance across all operating states, with California as a priority meal and rest period rules, premium pay, overtime and daily OT, reporting time page, wage statement accuracy, and final pay timing Manage and reduce all exposure; partner with counsel on all demand letters, claims, and settlements Paid sick leave, protective leave, and other accommodation administration across multiple states, including CA, CO FAMLI, NY and WA All required training and postings, including CA harassment prevention, Cal/OSHA obligations including IIPP and workplace violence prevention plan Annual filings and reportings Partner with Payroll and Finance on accurate, on-time, compliant multi-state payroll Own relationships with HR vendors including benefits, payroll, workers’ compensation, leave administration, background screening and compliance partners Manage worker’ compensation claims and carrier relationship across states, including return-to-work and audit support Work with Operations to identify workplace safety trends, reduce injury frequency, and improve return-to-work outcomes Own unemployment claims and hearings Work with Legal to own the employee handbook; keep it accurate, state-specific, and free of contradictions Design and oversee consistent performance management processes, corrective action procedures and documentation standards Improve HR systems and data hygiene across payroll and all other systems of record Build and lead the HR team’ establish clear SLAs and escalation paths for onsite and offsite support Partner with Operations to forecast workforce needs, support expansions into new markets, and ensure HR processes scale with business growth Advise the Leadership team with practical, risk-weighted recommendations Skills 8+ years in Human Resources with at least 3 in a leadership role Demonstrated current California employment compliance experience as a practitioner, not just awareness. You will have handled CA wage and hour issues in a live operating environment and speak to specific situations you resolved Experience supporting a large, hourly, non-exempt, or field-based workforce Multi-state HR experience with real ownership of compliance issues in multiple states Track record of managing employee relations and investigation end to end Comfort with ambiguity and volume. You can prioritize when everything is urgent Excellent judgement on when to escalate to counsel and when to just decide Staffing, PEO, EOR, or temp agency experience, with a working understanding of co-employment and joint employer risk Experience in a highly regulated industry Hands-on experience working with modern payroll and HRIS platforms, comfort building reports and working with AI tool Experience defending and preventing PAGA claims or wage and hour class actions Experience working with Farm Labor Contractors or agricultural companies SHRM-SCP, SPHR or equivalent Benefits Competitive compensation package including equity Comprehensive medical, dental, vision insurance and 401(k) Unlimited PTO and paid company holidays Opportunity to build and shape the HR function at a fast-growing company Direct partnership with the executive team and meaningful influence on how the company grows The chance to make a measurable impact at a company where decisions are made quickly and great ideas become reality Company Overview Vangst is a recruiting platform that connects job seekers with opportunities in the cannabis industry. It was founded in 2016, and is headquartered in Denver, Colorado, USA, with a workforce of 51-200 employees. Its website is https//vangst.com.