Human Resource Specialist

The Danbury Public Schools provides educational services to more than 12,000 students across a rich, diverse City. We employ nearly 2000 staff members, divided among certified teachers and noncertified staff, with the majority of staff working under Collective Bargaining Agreements. This Human Resources Specialist will join a small, collaborative team of Specialists to directly support the Director of Human Resources across all functions related to the employment of staff, including recruitment, onboarding, supervision, reporting and compliance, and separation.

Duties and Responsibilities:

• Primary responsibility for the oversight of personal and medical Leaves of Absence for all employees across the District. Duties include working with individual employees to establish eligibility for leaves, engaging in highly confidential and sensitive discussions with employees and health care providers to support the employee during the leave, explaining terms and conditions of the leave under collective bargaining agreements and the FMLA to employees, posting short term vacancies, coordinating with other Central Office personnel, and on-boarding returning employees following the leave.

• Coordinates on-boarding for new employees by making initial contact with the new hire, preparing and reviewing hiring paperwork, implementing background checks, insuring compliance with local, state, and federal document requirements, insuring compliance with State Department of Education and relevant agency certification or licensing requirements, liaising with hiring administrators across the District, and completing employee-specific data management with high degree of accuracy.

• May assist in proper, timely and accurate compliance with annual Connecticut State Department of Education and EEOC reporting requirements for certified and non-certified staff.

• May assist the HR Director in coordinating recruitment and hiring, including communications and marketing, analysis of recent hiring trends and assisting in the development of strategies to meet the Director's minority hiring and recruitment goals.

• May assist in preparing responses in administrative proceedings (Unemployment Compensation, CHRO or EEOC), investigations (OCR, DCF), and pending litigation, as experience permits.

• May assist the Human Resource Director and the Finance Director in the negotiation of collective bargaining agreement, by researching other municipal contracts and benefit programs, and participating in negotiations. Responsibilities may also include assisting in the investigation and resolution of grievances under a variety of collective bargaining agreements.

• Responsibility for oversight of special projects as directed by the Human Resources Director.

REQUIRED SKILLS:

• Two years of experience working in a Human Resources Department setting, with familiarity with federal, state and local hiring rules and procedures.

• Basic working knowledge of the federal Family and Medical Leave Act, its provisions, and requirements.

• Experience working in Human Resources in the Public Education Sector, including a working familiarity with State of Connecticut Department of Education data reporting structures, strongly preferred.

• Ability to work independently, without intensive supervision. Ability to identify problems, craft potential solutions and consult with the HR Director for resolution a definite plus.

• Must be a team player, with strong communication and collaboration skills, including ability to work in a fast paced environment, particularly at peak hiring times.

• Strict adherence to confidentiality and attention to detail required.

• Demonstrated aptitude with employee data systems, with hands on experience in Tyler Technologies/Infinite Visions and Frontline products strongly preferred. Must be able to use employee data systems with high degrees of accuracy and to implement redundancies to avoid errors.

• Basic literacy in a variety of software programs, including Microsoft Word, Excel and PowerPoint, to assist in correspondence, preparation of presentations, queries, analytical charts, etc., without assistance. Experience with updating websites also a plus.

• Excellent interpersonal skills, in addition to solid written and oral communication skills.

TERMS AND CONDITIONS:

• 12-month position.

• Full time schedule (35 hours/week).

• Annual salary starting at $55,000, negotiable commensurate with experience.

• Access to all health and welfare benefits is included.

• Immediate availability if possible.

Application Procedure:

Apply Online