Human Resources Generalist

Ford is looking for a versatile and proactive HR professional to join our team. This unique role blends the responsibilities of a HR Generalist/ junior HRBP with those of an HR Operations Specialist. You will serve as a critical bridge between our "People First" shared services and operational leaders, providing both high-touch consultation and technical process expertise. The ideal candidate will be a southern California-based HR professional who balances curiosity and a strong sense of accountability to navigate ambiguous inquiries and partner with others to resolve systemic process issues. You will be a go-to resource for California-specific policy inquiries and provide timely, high-quality support to employees and leaders. What you'll do... - HR Business Partnership & Consultation - Performance Management: Support the end-to-end performance management process, providing guidance to leaders on coaching, documentation, and the resolution of performance cases. - Employee Relations: Partner with the Employee Relations team and managers to resolve inquiries and escalations, ensuring fair and consistent application of company policies. - Leadership Coaching: Provide basic coaching to frontline leaders on matters related to employee morale, retention, and engagement. - Workforce Support: Support HRBP colleagues in executing workforce planning, annual people processes, and key moments of the employee life-cycle. HR Operations & Specialist Support - California Compliance: Act as the local subject matter expert on California-specific HR policies, including state-specific leaves of absence, final pay disbursement, and wage/hour regulations. - Complex Inquiry Resolution: Intake and strategically prioritize high-visibility HR inquiries (e.g., paycheck discrepancies, position changes, benefits escalations, etc.) that require deep-dive investigation. - Process Improvement: Proactively identify systemic process bottlenecks or "friction points" in the employee experience. Partner with People First and other SME teams (e.g. Payroll, HR Technology, Recruiting, etc.) on sustainable solutions, representing the voice of the employee and HRBP team. - Data Integrity & Analytics: Utilize Excel and HR systems (Oracle, Visier) to maintain HCM data integrity and perform data analysis to identify trends that drive HR decision-making. - Special Projects: Participate in the delivery of special projects and initiatives. Such projects include org. designs which require mass position changes / HCM data alignment, job architecture, position management, and other data clean-up, integrity maintenance exercises (e.g. work location alignment). These may require varied reporting needs that become nuanced by the organization. You'll have... - Education: Bachelor’s degree in Human Resources, Business Management, or a related field (or equivalent work experience). - Experience: 3–5 years of HR experience, with a demonstrated background in either HR Generalist/BP or Shared Services roles. - CA Expertise: Foundational knowledge of California labor laws and HR regulatory requirements. - Technical Skills: Advanced proficiency in Microsoft Excel (v-lookups, pivot tables) and experience with HR Information Systems (e.g., Oracle, Workday, or SAP). - Communication: Strong interpersonal skills with the ability to build relationships with both hourly employees and executive leadership. - Problem Solving: A "critical thinker" mindset with the ability to navigate ambiguous situations and move from identifying a problem to implementing a solution. Even better, you may have... - Professional HR certification (PHR, CA-PHR, or SHRM-CP). - Experience supporting highly technical client groups (Software Engineering, Design, or Manufacturing). - Prior experience in HR Shared Services. - Ability to tell a compelling story using data visualization. You may not check every box, or your experience may look a little different from what we've outlined, but if you think you can bring value…