Director of Human Resources

About Harbor IT Harbor IT is an investment-backed IT services platform with approximately 400 employees across the United States. Built for aggressive organic and inorganic growth, the company is scaling through acquisition while continuing to professionalize core systems, processes, and leadership capability. Role Summary The Director of Human Resources is a hands-on, player-coach leader responsible for building an HR function that can keep pace with Harbor IT's growth. This role oversees compliance, benefits, talent acquisition, succession planning, training, performance management, and a growing team of 4 to 5 - HR Manager and Recruiters. The successful leader will balance strategic build-out with urgent day-to-day execution across a fast-paced, fluid, and often chaotic operating environment. Key Responsibilities M&A Integration and Change Leadership: Lead HR integration for acquired companies, including employee assimilation, policy alignment, org transition support, and execution of a standard 30-60-90 day integration playbook. Compliance and Risk Management: Audit and remediate multi-state employment-law exposure, maintain documentation rigor, and ensure HR practices hold up under scrutiny across all operating entities. RIF, Performance, and Manager Coaching: Plan and execute workforce reductions compliantly when required. Standardize warnings, performance improvement plans, and manager coaching to reinforce accountability and work ethic. Scalable HR Operations and Analytics: Drive unification of HRIS, policies, benefits, onboarding, recruiting workflows, succession planning, training frameworks, and executive HR dashboards. Team Leadership and Business Partnership: Lead and develop a distributed HR team while serving as a trusted advisor to executives and operating leaders on headcount planning, organization design, and workforce productivity. Success Measures Unified infrastructure: 100% of employees migrated to a single HRIS and unified policy handbook. Compliance: Completion of multi-state compliance audit and remediation with zero major compliance fines. Integration: A repeatable 30-60-90 day HR integration playbook used for every acquisition. RIF and performance discipline: Smooth execution of reductions in force with strong legal-risk controls; 90%+ compliance with standard PIP documentation. Talent acquisition and workforce planning: Time-to-fill improvement, cost discipline, and monthly headcount-to-budget variance kept within acceptable range. Leadership visibility: Monthly HR scorecard delivered to executives by the fifth business day, covering turnover, eNPS, headcount, and cost. Training and engagement: Standard onboarding completion, lower 90-day turnover, stronger manager capability, and improving employee engagement across a distributed workforce. Coverage and responsiveness: HR support model capable of serving East and West Coast teams across an extended daily response window. Requirements & What You Bring Leadership experience: Demonstrated HR leadership in a multi-state growth environment with responsibility for compliance, benefits, recruiting, succession planning, training, and team leadership. Transaction experience: Direct involvement in M&A integration, change management, and workforce consolidation within acquisitive businesses. Execution capability: Hands-on experience with reductions in force, performance management systems, manager coaching, and sensitive employee matters. Operational discipline: Strong systems orientation, documentation quality, metrics fluency, and attention to detail across complex HR processes. Leadership style: Executive presence, resilience, healthy skepticism, pragmatic judgment, and willingness to support urgent issues beyond standard business hours when needed. Bachelor’s degree in Human Resources, Business Administration, or related field; JD or master’s degree preferred. 10+ years of progressive HR experience, including 3+ years in a leadership or director-level role. Deep understanding of U.S. labor laws, HR compliance standards, and benefits administration. Strong analytical, organizational, and interpersonal skills. Demonstrated success managing direct reports and working cross-functionally with executive teams. HR certification (e.g., SHRM-SCP, SPHR) strongly preferred. Experience with Rippling preferred Must-Have Attributes M&A Integration and Change Leadership: You know how to absorb acquired teams quickly while preserving control, clarity, and cultural alignment. Multi-State Compliance and HR Risk Management: You anticipate employment risk and build defensible, scalable HR practices across jurisdictions. RIF, Performance Management, and Manager Coaching Capability: You can lead hard people decisions with rigor, fairness, and strong manager accountability. Scalable HR Operations, Metrics, and Process Discipline: You build systems, dashboards, and repeatable workflows that hold