St. Mary's is an independent school serving students from age 2 through grade 8 and is Orange County’s only International Baccalaureate and Design Thinking school. We are known for our warm community, innovative approach to learning, and commitment to educating the whole child.

We are seeking an experienced Director of Human Resources to begin in early June 2026. This individual will benefit from having worked in a school environment where relationships and culture are the framework of a healthy, strong community. 

JOB DESCRIPTION

DIRECTOR OF HUMAN RESOURCES

Reports to:     Head of School

Status:            Full-time, salaried, exempt, 12-month position

Purpose:         To plan, direct, and coordinate human resource management activities in order to maximize the strategic use of human resources and maintain functions such as recruitment, employee compensation and benefits, employee relations, personnel policies, regulatory compliance, workers’ compensation.

Essential Duties and Responsibilities:

Recruitment

• Plan and facilitate recruiting efforts for all areas of personnel.
• Post and maintain online advertisements.
• Coordinate efforts with third-party recruitment services.
• Distribute resumes to appropriate hiring managers for review.
• Maintain records of employment applicants.
• Schedule and coordinate individual and group interviews for all parties.
• Prepare and send offer letters, employment agreements, and regret letters to candidates.
• Conduct new employee orientations and process new hire paperwork.

Compensation

• Evaluate teaching staff credentials and qualifications and make salary recommendations to the Head of School.
• Create job descriptions in order to better evaluate administrative staff compensation.
• Collaborate with the CFO and Head of School to assist in preparation of the annual payroll budget to ensure that it correctly reflects faculty and staff employees and corresponding their compensation.
• Prepare, send, and track annual Employment Agreements for 10-month and 11-month employees.
• Prepare and send annual letters to 12-month employees with salary increases.
• Prepare and send Employment Agreements and stipend requests for Department Chairs and Lead Teachers.
• Prepare and provide Employment Agreements for faculty and staff working Summer Academic Prep.
• Serve as a liaison between management and employees by handling questions, interpreting, and administering Employment Agreements.

Benefits

• Coordinate employee benefit programs, including health and welfare insurance, vacation, personal and sick pay, and tuition assistance program.
• Coordinate all annual Open Enrollment activities including brokers meetings, database changes, printed materials, communications with the broker, carriers, and employees.
• Analyze and recommend changes to benefits practices to establish competitive programs.
• Provide personnel with health and welfare benefit packets upon eligibility.
• Process employee changes such as enrollments, status changes, additions and terminations with benefit broker and insurance carriers.
• Ensure proper employee contributions are in the payroll system on a timely basis.
• Process monthly benefit premiums for payment on a timely basis.
• Track employee vacation, personal and sick pay balances.
• Provide quarterly vacation accrual report to the CFO.
• Process requests for Tuition Assistance. Schedule committee meetings, submit requests, notify employees of the decision, collect transcripts, process check requests, track funding.

 Leaves of Absence

• Process requests for employee leaves of absence including FMLA, PDL, CFRA, Military, Workers’ Compensation and Personal leaves.
• Provide required documentation to employees, ensuring that all required forms are received, completed, returned, and processed on a timely basis.
• Secure and track employee contribution for health and welfare benefits during leaves of absence.
• Process disability and paid family leave claims from the EDD on a timely basis.
• Provide support to employees throughout their leaves of absence.

Workers’ Compensation

• Work in collaboration with the Director of Operations and Facilities to ensure that any safety concerns are immediately identified and corrected in order to avoid injuries.
• Coordinate with the School Nurse when an employee is ill or injured on the job.
• Provide assistance to the employee if they require treatment at a local clinic or hospital and arrange transportation when needed.
• Report, process, and investigate industrial accidents in a timely manner to ensure state compliance.
• Track workers’ comp claims and ensure that the communication between the employee, attending physician, workers’ comp. carrier and school is timely and productive.
• Coordinate the Return-to-Work Program for injured employees. Review restrictions from the attending physician, identify what, if any, accommodations can be made, identify work that can be done on campus that follows the restrictions.
• Attend quarterly Claims Review meetings with the workers’ comp. insurance carrier.

Employee Relations

• Develop and build relationships with faculty and staff to ensure that the Director of HR is a resource for all of their work-related needs.
• Identify and determine causes of personnel problems and assist in resolving matters.
• Develop recommendations to improve St. Mary's personnel policies and practices.
• Provide support and advice to management personnel and staff on employee relations issues.

 Policies & Procedures

• Continuously review and implement legal updates to ensure the School is compliant with federal, state and county regulations.
• Develop and implement HR policies and procedures that align with the School’s mission and goals.
• Advise management personnel on organizational policy matters such as discrimination, equal employment opportunity, harassment, labor law compliance and recommend needed changes.
• Review the school’s Employee Handbook to ensure that stated policies are consistent with current state and federal legislation. Update manual as needed.

Labor Law Compliance

• Maintain records for personnel-related data such as hires, transfers, performance appraisals, disciplinary actions, and terminations.
• Study legislation, arbitration, and decisions to assess industry trends.
• Ensure St. Mary’s compliance with state and federal employment laws.
• Represent organization at personnel-related hearings and investigations.
• Prepare and submit annual EEOC report to the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.

Employment Terminations

• Ensure legal justification and compliance for school-initiated terminations.
• Coordinate final payments with the Business Office.
• Prepare and provide final packets for the employee which includes checks for balance of time worked, unpaid vacation and personal time, EDD Change in Status Notice.
• Collect, secure, and distribute school-issued property to appropriate department managers.
• Conduct exit interviews for staff who voluntarily resign from St. Mary’s.
• Process claims for Unemployment benefits. Represent St. Mary’s School in EDD hearings.

Administrative

• Attend Leadership meetings as scheduled.
• Oversee the training and work product of the HR Assistant.
• Prepare and enter payroll changes into Paychex payroll system.
• Coordinate the distribution and collection of school keys and employee parking assignments.
• Prepare and enter employee data in the annual DASL report on a timely basis.
• Maintain faculty/staff rosters and phone lists.
• Assist the School in day-to-day operations as needed.
• Provide current and prospective employees with information about policies, job duties, working conditions, wages, benefits, and opportunities for promotion.
• Maintain personnel records. Pack, store and track personnel records in off-site storage.

Other

• Support the School and its leadership.
• Other duties as assigned by the Head of School.

Minimum Requirements:

1. Bachelor’s degree or equivalent experience
2. Minimum 5 years progressive experience covering all areas of Human Resources Management
3. Outstanding interpersonal skills with a strong customer service focus (internal and external)
4. Strong written and oral communication skills with an ability to effectively communicate with all stakeholders of the school.
5. Highly ethical and confidential team player
6. Strong computer skills with a proficiency in MS office suite
7. High energy, self-starter with ability to successfully prioritize and multi-task in an atmosphere in which time sensitive deadlines are the norm, as are interruptions

For more information about our wonderful school and community, please visit our website at www.smaa.org

For consideration, please submit your current resume and cover letter indicating your salary requirement. Please also mention that you found the listing on the NBOA website.

About St. Mary's School

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