Human Resource Manager (Six-month temporary full-time position)

The American Physical Society (APS) is a nonprofit membership organization devoted to advancing and diffusing the knowledge of physics through its outstanding research journals and scientific meetings, as well as its education, outreach, advocacy, and international activities. APS represents 50,000 members, including physicists in academia, national laboratories, and industry in the United States and throughout the world.

Position Summary:
The HR Manager/HR Business Partner serves as a strategic and operational partner to APS leaders. This role leads employee relations and performance processes with clarity, consistency, and care – balancing empathy with accountability.  The HR Manager/HR Business Partner ensures performance, documentation, and separation processes are executed with discipline, consistency, and integrity.

We are looking for a hands-on HR Business Partner with a project management and consulting mindset to make an immediate impact on our HR operations. This position will be both tactical and strategic in its work. This is a six-month temporary full-time position.

Responsibilities:

HR Business Partnership

• Serve as HRBP for assigned directorates.
• Establish and maintain regular meetings with directors.
• Coach leaders on performance management, feedback, and employee development.
• Support continued transformation of APS’s performance culture toward clarity, accountability, and growth.

Employee Relations & Performance Management

• Provide guidance on next steps for behavior or performance concerns.
• Lead investigations and maintain organized documentation and case files.
• Draft and finalize Performance Improvement Plans (PIPs).
• Serve as final approver of all PIPs in alignment with established internal review timelines.
• Assemble documentation packages for legal counsel as needed, including summaries and separation recommendations.
• Ensure all documentation is complete and properly filed in ADP.
• Ensure separation processes are executed accurately and consistently.

Annual Performance Management & Salary Administration Cycle Support

• Assist with performance cycle communications and Slack campaigns.
• Drive for successful completion of all steps on time.
• Support next level approver (NLA) and calibration processes in partnership with HR leadership.
• Support communication around Salary Administration.

HR Operations Support

• Monitor inbox (as assigned) and ensure timely responses.
• Maintain organized HRBP files, including investigation and meeting documentation.
• Collaborate on updates to the HR Manual and related policies.

Audit Readiness

• Advise leaders on immigration and leave compliance and policy.
• Mitigate risk related to visa, FMLA, and ADA matters.
• Partner with HR Operations and counsel on case coordination and return-to-work planning.

Scope and Relationships:

• Individual Contributor
• Internal: Consults and acts as HR advisor to all leadership and staff
• External: Vendors

Education:

• Bachelor’s degree or equivalent experience preferred.

Experience and qualifications:

• 7+ years of experience in human resources, including HR Manager or HR Business Partner responsibility.
• Demonstrated experience leading employee relations matters, investigations, and performance management processes.
• Experience drafting and managing Performance Improvement Plans (PIPs) and separation documentation.
• Strong working knowledge of multi-state employment law and compliance requirements.
• Experience supporting remote and geographically dispersed teams.
• Experience partnering with legal counsel and assembling documentation for employment matters.
• Demonstrated ability to support and influence a tenured and specialized workforce.
• Experience contributing to performance culture transformation initiatives.
• Strong documentation discipline and ability to maintain organized HR files and case records.
• Strong attention to detail and documentation discipline.

Technical & Systems Experience

• Experience working in ADP or comparable HRIS.
• Proficiency in Google Suite.
• Familiarity with Pay Factors/Payscale (Compensation Management System), Cornerstone (Learning Management System), Culture Amp (Employee Experience Platform), and Applicant tracking systems preferred.
• Experience managing or supporting HR-related project implementations.
• Experience with project management tools (Asana) preferred.
• Technologically proficient in HR systems and AI tools to automate workflows, improve data accuracy, and increase efficiency.

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience in immigration sponsorship processes.
• Experience administering or advising on leave programs.
• Project management experience or certification.
• SHRM-CP, SHRM-SCP, PHR, or SPHR certification preferred.
• Experience applying a strategic compensation philosophy.

Location of work:

• APS follows a “remote first” work model. The HR Manager is a “remote first” position that will be associated with the APS offices in the Washington, DC metro area. The position may require travel to meet – in person – with staff in the College Park, Maryland; Hauppauge, New York; and Washington, DC, offices.

Travel:

• The position may require up to 5% travel to business meetings and industry events, and may include international travel.

Salary:

The salary range for this position takes into account various factors influencing compensation decisions, such as skill sets, experience, training, and other business and organizational requirements. The salary listed within the specified ranges considers relevant experience. Our compensation philosophy at APS aims to maintain salaries at the midpoint of the market.

Hiring Range: $48,800.00-$67,100.00 (for a six-month temporary full-time position)

This is us:

Help us achieve our mission of advancing and diffusing the knowledge of physics for the benefit of humanity, promote physics, and serve the broader physics community.

Our Core Values:

Core values are essential to shaping the culture of an organization. They provide the structure and guidance for how we conduct ourselves in daily interactions. Every employee has a responsibility for upholding these values.

• Scientific Method
• Trust, Integrity, and Ethical Conduct
• Equity, Diversity, and Respect
• Collaboration
• Education and Learning
• Speaking Out

Benefit Offerings:

• APS offers health coverage for this position.

The American Physical Society is an affirmative action and equal opportunity employer. It is the policy of American Physical Society not to discriminate or allow the harassment of employees or applicants on the basis of race, religious creed, immigration status, alienage or citizenship, religion, color, ethnicity, sex, national origin, age, disability, marital status, familial status, protected veteran status, protected military status, physical or mental disability, sexual orientation, gender identity, genetic information, predisposing genetic characteristics, ancestry, domestic violence victim status or any other characteristic protected by law with regard to any employment practices, including recruitment, advertising, job application procedures, hiring, upgrading, training, promotion, transfer, compensation, job assignments, benefits and/or other terms, conditions, or privileges of employment, provided the individual is qualified, with or without reasonable accommodations, to perform the essential functions of the job. This policy applies to all jobs at APS. The American Physical Society is committed to providing access, equal opportunity and reasonable accommodation for individuals with disabilities in employment, its services, programs, and activities. To request a reasonable accommodation, please contact APS Human Resources at hr@aps.org. The “Know Your Rights: Workplace Discrimination is Illegal'' poster, prepared by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), provides an overview of several laws that protect you from discrimination on the job, and several rights are afforded to you by these laws. The “Pay Transparency Non Discrimination Provision,” prepared by the U.S. Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs (OFCCP), provides an overview of several protections implemented to protect individuals working under federal contracts from discrimination when inquiring about or discussing compensation; these protections apply to all employees and applicants. The APS has a "remote first" concept that promotes equal treatment and equal access, independent of physical work location, with a majority of staff working primarily from remote work locations.