Director, Employee Relations

GeneDx (Nasdaq: WGS) delivers personalized and actionable health insights to inform diagnosis, direct treatment, and improve drug discovery. The company is uniquely positioned to accelerate the use of genomic and large-scale clinical information to enable precision medicine as the standard of care. GeneDx is at the forefront of transforming healthcare through its industry-leading exome and genome testing and interpretation services, fueled by the world’s largest rare disease data sets. For more information, please visit www.genedx.com . This is a hybrid (2-3 days onsite) position in Gaithersburg, MD Summary GeneDx is hiring its first Director of Employee Relations — a foundational role that will build GeneDx’s ER function from the ground up, protect the organization, enable our leaders, and ensure every employee experience decision reflects our #1 Mindset: Own It. Move with urgency. Have courage. Drive impact. Reporting to the VP, People Experience, this role will own the entire employee relations lifecycle from intake to resolution while building the playbooks, tools, and manager capability that make the function scalable. The Director will manage approximately 130 annual ER touch points across workplace investigations, performance-based terminations, complex coaching situations, and policy interpretation — serving as the primary ER interface with Legal and driving the cultural shift from “HR handles it” to “leaders own performance.” This is not a role for someone who wants to inherit a playbook. It’s for someone who wants to write one. Job Responsibilities Build the Function: Design and stand up GeneDx’s first dedicated Employee Relations function, including investigation protocols, case management infrastructure, documentation standards, and escalation frameworks Establish the ER operating model that enables PBPs to focus on strategic business partnership while ER owns the employee relations lifecycle Create and deliver quarterly ER reporting — case trends, risk indicators, hotspot analysis, and recommendations — to VP, People Experience and senior leadership Own the Casework: Manage the full ER caseload (~130 annual touch points): workplace investigations, performance-based terminations, complex performance coaching situations, and policy interpretation Personally lead all workplace investigations, ensuring thorough, timely, and legally defensible processes and documentation Own termination recommendations and legal outcome discussions; escalate VP+ cases and precedent-setting situations to VP, People Experience Serve as the primary ER interface with Legal, partnering on high-risk matters (approximately 25% of caseload) and translating legal guidance into operational action Enable Leaders: Build manager-facing playbooks, toolkits, and training for performance management, progressive discipline, and difficult conversations Drive the cultural shift from “HR handles it” to “leaders own performance” — coaching and equipping managers to operate independently while knowing when to escalate Provide real-time guidance to managers and PBPs on employee relations matters, balancing speed with risk management Protect the Organization: Reduce legal exposure through consistent, high-quality case management and documentation practices Monitor and address ER hotspots — particularly in commercial production labs and sales teams — with targeted interventions Ensure compliance with federal, state, and local employment laws; stay ahead of regulatory changes that affect ER practices People Manager No — Individual Contributor (with future build potential) This is an individual contributor role. No direct reports at launch; future team build potential as the function scales. Education, Experience, and Skills Bachelor’s degree in Human Resources, Business, or related field (or equivalent experience) 8+ years of progressive HR experience with 5+ years focused on employee relations Demonstrated experience building or significantly maturing an ER f…