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HR Manager - Manufacturing

Growing Industrial Manufacturer — Chicago Northwest Suburbs

Location: Itasca, IL

Hours: Full-time; a realistic 40-hour week (this is not a burnout role)

Compensation: $70,000 to $85,000 base salary + benefits, based on experience and current title

Reports to: VP of Operations, HR & Safety for the first 60 to 90 days, transitioning to the Director of Operations for the company's enclosures division once onboarded

Required

• 3 to 5 years of HR experience in a generalist, coordinator, or HR management support role, with hands-on exposure to recruiting coordination and onboarding
• At least 2 years of people management experience; candidates who have been operating at a management level without the formal title, or who are ready to step into their first HR management role, are encouraged to apply
• A bachelor's degree in Human Resources, Business Administration, or a related field, or a professional HR certification such as SHRM-CP or PHR
• Genuine comfort with an hourly, blue-collar workforce; you should be someone who enjoys walking the shop floor, is happy to put on safety glasses and steel-toed shoes, and connects as easily with machine operators as with executives
• Strong organizational and documentation skills, with the ability to juggle multiple priorities and keep accurate, confidential records
• Comfort handling basic conflict resolution and lighter-touch discipline, such as attendance issues, directly with employees and managers
• Working knowledge of federal, state, and local employment law fundamentals
• Excellent interpersonal skills and sound judgment handling sensitive information
• A demonstrated commitment to longevity; this client promotes from within and values tenure, and any job movement in your history should have a clear story behind it

Nice to Have

• Previous HR experience in a manufacturing or industrial environment; candidates already recruiting for manufacturing roles will find that experience directly applicable, since recruiting and onboarding make up the majority of this role in its first two years
• Experience improving onboarding programs or coordinating and tracking employee training
• Familiarity with ADP or other payroll platforms (no HRIS expertise required; the company is evaluating platforms, and you could help shape that selection)
• High-volume hourly recruiting experience, or a background coordinating with external recruiters and staffing agencies
• SHRM-CP, PHR, or similar HR certification, if not already using one to satisfy the education requirement above

The Opportunity

Our client is a global industrial systems manufacturer headquartered in the northwest suburbs of Chicago, with two established business units serving distinct markets. The company has doubled in size and now supports roughly 160 full-time employees plus a contingent workforce of about 60 contractors, and that growth has created the need for a dedicated HR Manager.

This is a newly created role, and that matters. You will not be inheriting someone else's processes or cleaning up someone else's mess. You will start by working directly alongside the VP who currently handles HR alongside Operations and Safety, spending your first 60 to 90 days learning the company's systems, people, and culture. From there, you will transition to support the company's fastest-growing division, enclosures, reporting to the Director of Operations there. That division is where the bulk of the company's current hiring and onboarding activity lives, and this role is being built specifically to support that growth.

What You'll Do

• Own recruiting and onboarding, the core of this role: For at least the first two years, this will make up 60 to 70 percent of your work. The company already has strong recruiting resources, including external recruiting partners and staffing agencies for hourly augmentation, and you will coordinate that activity, run full-cycle recruiting for open roles, and own onboarding and orientation from start to finish.
• Be the go-to HR resource for your division: Serve as the primary point of contact for managers and employees on day-to-day HR matters as the enclosures division continues to scale.
• Handle lighter-touch employee relations directly: Basic conflict resolution and discipline issues, such as attendance, are yours to manage. Larger investigations, including harassment claims or other serious matters, stay with the VP of Operations, HR & Safety.
• Spearhead training coordination: Training programs are in place, and you will coordinate delivery, track completion, and flag gaps so employees get what they need to grow.
• Support benefits administration: Partner with the company's HR Assistant, who owns benefits and open enrollment, by helping employees with questions, enrollments, and changes.
• Keep the paperwork tight: Maintain accurate employee records and documentation, and prepare offer letters, employment verifications, and employee relations paperwork.
• Help ensure compliance: Support adherence to federal, state, and local employment laws and company policies, backed by the company's employer association membership, which provides deep HR and legal resources.

Why This Role Is Different

This role comes with a clear runway and a clear lane. You will not be dropped into a chaotic, undefined HR seat. The VP retains ownership of major investigations, legal matters, and workers' compensation. Benefits and open enrollment stay with an experienced HR Assistant. Payroll sits with Accounting. The company belongs to a major employer association with extensive HR and legal resources on call.

What that leaves you is real ownership over the two things this growing division needs most right now: recruiting and onboarding, plus the day-to-day employee relations work that comes with managing people, without inheriting the heaviest, highest-risk parts of HR. This is an ideal opportunity for someone who has been operating at a management level already, even without the title, or for someone ready to step into their first HR management role with real support behind them.

And despite what you might expect from a manufacturing environment, the schedule is a genuine 40-hour week.

The Culture

This is a company where people stay, and that is not an accident. Leadership has built a culture of strong retention and employee satisfaction, and they are protective of it. They are looking for someone who fits that environment: approachable, dependable, organized, and genuinely interested in being the person employees and managers trust. If you want a role with real ownership, a growing division that needs your leadership, and a company that rewards loyalty, this is that opportunity.