Senior Director, HR Business Partnership

Build the future, spark innovation and align your career with purpose.

McKinstry is innovating the waste and climate harm out of the built environment and creating lasting impact. Together, we're building a thriving planet.

Buildings are a leading contributor to the climate crisis, generating nearly 40% of total global energy-related carbon emissions. We're making a lasting impact on our industry and within our communities by addressing the climate, affordability and equity crises through:

• renewables and energy services
• engineering and design
• construction and facility services

To get where we're going, we need big thinkers, problem solvers and collaborative mindsets. Does that sound like you?

The Opportunity with McKinstry

We are currently seeking a Senior Director, HR Business Partnership. The Senior Director, HR Business Partnership is a senior people strategy leader who serves as a trusted advisor to McKinstry's most complex business units and senior leaders. Reporting into the People Team, this leader operates at the intersection of business performance and organizational health - translating enterprise strategy into the leadership, talent, and organizational decisions that drive results.

This is not an HR support role. It is a senior leadership level function requiring credibility, judgment, and influence to shape how the business thinks about its people and its future. It is a role that can feed into a VP of HR role.

The role is accountable for three things

1. Strategic Partnership at the Senior Leadership Level Advising senior and executive leaders on organizational design, workforce planning, leadership effectiveness, and change - before decisions are made, not after. The measure of success is whether business leaders seek this leader's counsel proactively, and whether that counsel moves the business forward. This is in close partnership with Sr. HRBP Consultants.

2. An Integrated, High-Performing HRBP Function Leading, developing, and elevating a team of HR Business Partners to operate as true strategic consultants - not just HR generalists. This means building consistent partnership standards, reducing transactional work, and ensuring the team delivers measurable impact across each business unit they serve.

3. People Strategy That Drives Business Outcomes Connecting the dots between where the business is going and what the organization needs to get there - capability, structure, talent, and culture. This leader ensures McKinstry's people strategy is not a parallel workstream but is embedded in how the business plans and executes.

The ideal candidate is an experienced HR executive with deep expertise in organizational design and workforce planning and succession, a strong track record of influencing at the most senior level, and the presence and credibility to lead through complexity and change, while also engaging and enabling a senior level HRBP professional and experienced team.

Reporting to the Chief People Officer and part of People Senior Leadership Team, People strategic COEs, and other committees/teams as needed. The scope of this role oversees very large complex lines of businesses or large enterprise business units. Company size is 3,000+ to include staff and union. Feeder role to VP of HR.

Key Responsibilities

Strategic Business Partnership

• Serve as a trusted advisor and thought partner to senior and executive leaders on organizational strategy, workforce planning, leadership excellence, and people-related business challenges.
• Develop and lead the execution of various strategic initiatives supporting McKinstry's Action for Impact People Plan and strategies that are directly aligned to business unit goals, operating plans, and long-range organizational priorities.
• Translate complex business needs into actionable HR solutions across the talent lifecycle - from structure and workforce planning to leadership effectiveness and change management.
• Partner with HRBP consultants, HR SMEs, and business leaders to interpret data, people analytics, and market intelligence to inform strategic decisions.

Organizational Design & Effectiveness

• Lead organizational design efforts, in close partnerships with senior HRBP leadership, for large, matrixed business units - including spans and layers analysis, role clarity, and structural alignment to strategy.
• Advise on change management strategies to support significant organizational shifts, including restructuring, M&A integration, and growth transformations.
• Assess organizational health and drive initiatives that improve effectiveness, reduce friction, and position teams for scalable growth.

Team Leadership

• Lead, develop, and elevate a team of HR Business Partners, building capability in strategic consulting, business acumen, and senior level influence.
• Establish team operating rhythms, standards, and a culture of excellence, collaboration, and accountability.
• Serve as a talent champion within HR - identifying and growing future HRBP and other COE leaders.
• Drive department excellence through data driven analysis balanced with a people first culture
• Be a champion of change, growth mindset, partnership, scalability and efficiency
• Drive talent and succession planning and continuity through implementation of HR programs and offerings in partnership with talent management team.

Cross-Functional HR Integration

• Act as a bridge between business leaders and HR Centers of Excellence (Talent Acquisition, Total Rewards, Talent Development/Mgt., HR Operations, HR Technologies, etc.) to ensure integrated, seamless HR delivery.
• Influence the design of enterprise-wide programs and policies by bringing forward the voice of the business.
• Partner with Finance and business operations on headcount planning, workforce modeling, and restructuring financial impacts.
• Partner closely with Talent Management in relations to organization-wide workforce planning, design, development and delivery.

Senior/Exec Relationship Management

• In close partnership with senior leader HR business partners/consultants, build trusted, long-term relationships with senior stakeholders by demonstrating business credibility, sound judgment, and proactive partnership.
• Navigate sensitive organizational and leadership dynamics with discretion, integrity, and a solutions-oriented mindset.
• Facilitate executive team effectiveness sessions, leadership offsites, and organizational assessments.

What You Need To Succeed at McKinstry

Required

• 15+ years of progressive HR experience, with a significant portion in business partnership roles supporting large, complex organizations.
• 8+ years of people leadership experience, including managing senior-level HR professionals.
• Senior leader level relationship consulting and navigation
• Demonstrated expertise in organizational design, workforce strategy, thriving in a matrixed environment
• Proven ability to influence and drive decisions at the senior leadership levels.
• Strong business acumen with the ability to connect HR strategy to financial and operational outcomes.
• Experience leading HR through significant organizational change (restructuring, rapid growth, M&A, transformation) highly desired.
• Bachelor's degree: in Human Resources, Business, Organizational Psychology, or a related field.
• Experience operating within an enterprise environment with 1,000+ employees (staff/union).

Desired (not required)

• HR certification (SHRM-SCP, SPHR) or organizational development/design credentials a plus.
• Familiarity with people analytics platforms and the ability to translate data into leadership-level insights.

PeopleFirst Benefits

When it comes to the basics, we have you covered:

Skills

Alliance/Partner Management, Alternative Energy, Analysis Skills, Business Operations, Business Plan, Business Skills, Business Strategy, Change Management, Competitive Analysis/Strategy, Construction, Consulting, Cross-Functional, Data Analysis, Embedded Systems, Executive Relationships, Financial Modeling, Financial Operations, Human Resources, Human Resources Certification, Human Resources Strategy, Leadership, Management Strategy, Mergers and Acquisitions, Operations Planning, Organizational Development/Management, Organizational Psychology, Problem Solving Skills, Process Improvement, Relationship Management, SPHR (Senior Professional in Human Resources), Sales Management, Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM), Strategic Planning, Succession Planning, Talent Management, Team Building, Team Lead/Manager, Team Player, Workforce Planning

About the Company

McKinstry