Director of Labor Relations

Job Description

Syracuse University seeks an experienced labor relations leader to build the strategic capacity of the University’s Labor Relations function. Reporting to the Chief Human Resources Officer, the Director of Labor Relations leads the Labor Relations team and manages the planning, contract administration, analytics and campus engagement work that a multi-union, multi-contract environment demands. The University holds multiple agreements with several different international unions, with additional units recently certified and organizing ongoing.

This is a moment of consequential change at Syracuse University and across higher education. New leadership, shifting enrollment dynamics and an active organizing landscape place real weight on how the University conducts its labor relationships. The Director sets the strategy in motion ¿ the negotiations calendar and mandates, the data that informs decisions, and the cross-campus working group that administers contracts and keeps practice consistent. This is a builder’s role: someone who develops people, establishes structure on complex work, and creates the conditions for labor professionals to do their best work.

Education and Experience

• Bachelor’s degree required. JD or master’s degree in labor relations, industrial relations, business or public administration preferred; an equivalent combination of education and directly relevant experience considered.
• Minimum eight (8) years of progressively responsible labor relations experience in a unionized environment, with senior-level competency in collective bargaining, grievance and arbitration practice and mediation.
• Demonstrated experience supervising, developing and leading a professional team.
• Experience serving as lead or co-lead negotiator across multiple bargaining units.
• Higher education, healthcare or another environment with multiple international unions strongly preferred; experience bargaining with distinct internationals each with its own culture and pattern expectations is essential.

Skills and Knowledge

• Labor law and practice. Extensive knowledge of the NLRA, NLRB procedure, New York labor and employment law, contract interpretation, past practice and duty-to-bargain analysis; briefs leadership clearly and recognizes when a matter belongs with University Counsel.
• Team leadership. Builds effective teams, develops staff, delegates deliberately and holds a high standard of practice.
• Strategy and planning. Builds a multi-year negotiations plan, models contract costs, sequences bargaining across units and translates institutional priorities into achievable bargaining objectives.
• Data fluency. Establishes metrics and uses labor relations data to identify patterns, forecast risk and inform executive decisions, in a form decision-makers can act on.
• Collaboration and credibility. Builds trust across a decentralized campus ¿ union leadership, unit management, academic leaders, Finance and University Counsel ¿ and represents the University with candor and civility at the table.
• Communication and discretion. Produces clear contract language, briefing memoranda and training materials; handles confidential matters with tact and procedural precision under time pressure.

Responsibilities

• Leadership and Management of the Labor Relations Team

• Leads, manages and develops the Labor Relations team, setting priorities, distributing caseload, coaching staff and building the bench strength a growing portfolio of agreements and an active organizing environment require.

• Serves as the University’s senior labor relations leader, advising the Chief Human Resources Officer and the Executive Team, and holding the line so that operational demand does not displace long-range planning.

• Sets standards of practice, documentation discipline and service expectations for the team, consistent with an HR ethos that is present, professional and proudly Syracuse.

• Labor Relations Strategy and Negotiations Planning

• Owns the multi-year labor relations strategy: expiration calendar, sequencing of negotiations across multiple international unions, cost modeling and pattern analysis, bargaining objectives, and Board-level briefing materials.

• Builds and runs the negotiations planning cycle and logistics for each unit ¿ team composition, mandate development, financial review and approval, proposal drafting and after-action review; partners closely with the Office of University Counsel, lead negotiators and negotiating teams to provide operational insight and support productive sessions.

• Anticipates and responds to organizing activity in unrepresented units, including supervisor education, lawful communication planning and readiness assessment, coordinated with the Office of University Counsel.

• Decision Support and Campus Engagement

• Collects and reports critical data to support labor decisions and give insight into the labor environment, including grievance and arbitration volume and cycle time, discipline patterns, contract cost drivers, overtime and staffing trends; works with HR Systems & Data team as necessary to identify data sources and automate decision support tools. .

• Convenes and staffs a campus-wide labor relations working group across Facilities, Food Services, Athletics, Campus Safety, academic units and Finance to align practice and surface emerging issues.

• Translates labor relations data into insight for the Executive Team and unit leadership, connecting labor outcomes to employee experience and employer brand.

• Contract Administration, Grievances and Arbitration

• Works with partners (HR, Payroll, operational areas) to launch new and updated contracts, ensuring systems, processes and audits are in place for compliance and reliable administration; creates a contract administration calendar that drives accountability and accuracy in contract operations.

• Senior advisor on contract interpretation, past practice and management rights; oversees the grievance and arbitration process and may serve as University representative or lead negotiator.

• Coordinates proactively with the Office of University Counsel and outside counsel on arbitration, NLRB matters, information requests and settlement strategy.

• Develops and delivers manager and supervisor training on contract administration, progressive discipline and labor-management partnership.

• Other Duties

• Handles sensitive and confidential matters with discretion and procedural precision; other duties as assigned in support of the University’s HR strategy.

• Physical Requirements

• Not Applicable

• Tools/Equipment

• Not Applicable