Job Description
Job Title
Position Title: Senior Director – Labor Relations
Location: Office of Labor Relations - 3011 W. Grand Blvd., Detroit, MI 48202
Salary Details: $92,873 - $125,652
Reports to: Assistant Superintendent, Human Resources
Bargaining Unit: N/A
Benefits Eligible: Yes
Telecommuting Eligibility: Hybrid. Eligible for telecommuting up to 40% (2 days per week) in accordance with District guidelines and upon successful completion of onboarding and probationary/trial period.
Position Summary
The Senior Director of Labor Relations leads the collaborative work between the District and employee union leaders to support employees, problem solve challenges, and negotiate agreements as needed. The Senior Director ensures that inquiries, grievances and negotiations are received and managed in an orderly and timely fashion, in accordance with each collective bargaining agreement and Michigan employment law. The Senior Director ensures that bargaining proposals are vetted with the relevant internal subject matter experts and financial implications are accounted for. The Senior Director maintains accurate electronic records (including historical records), ensures bargaining materials are maintained in an orderly fashion, materials been thoroughly reviewed for clarity and accuracy, and are formatted properly. The Senior Director provides guidance, support and training to District leaders related to the implementation of collective bargaining agreements and other associated letters of agreement (LOAs). As needed, the Senior Director will collaborate with internal and outside legal counsel on labor matters.
Minimum Qualifications
Education:
- Candidate must possess a Bachelor’s degree; advanced degree (Master’s or Juris Doctor) in a field related to Labor Relations strongly preferred
Experience:
- Minimum of five (5) years progressive experience in labor relations and/or the practice of human resources and/or labor law with demonstrated experience in analyzing, drafting, implementing and negotiating collective bargaining agreements.
- Demonstrated experience with collective bargaining and labor law specifically in a K-12 setting strongly preferred.
- Recent experience managing and evaluating staff strongly preferred.
- Demonstrated experience cultivating and managing productive relationships between labor and management representatives.
- Must have excellent written and verbal communication skills, with a strong attention to detail.
- Demonstrated experience maintaining clear systems and procedures to manage complex workloads.
- Demonstrated proficiency with Office365 applications including Outlook, SharePoint, Teams, Excel, PowerPoint.
Essential Functions
Collaboration and Communication
- Form collaborative, productive relationships with labor leaders
- Establish a cadence of regular communication with labor leaders to proactively address challenges and problem solve solutions
- Act as a lead representative of the Labor Relations team by receiving and responding to questions, concerns, grievances.
- Follow up on concerns in a timely manner and ensure issues are researched thoroughly
- Collaborate regularly with internal District departments, especially key leaders in Human Resources and Finance.
- Provide regular briefings to the Assistant Superintendent of Human Resources and District leaders on labor matters.
Knowledge Management:
- Become expert in the details of existing DPSCD employment information, including job codes, standard hours, benefit eligibility, pay rates, special pay/stipends and other relevant information.
- Maintain both an internal and external-facing library with copies of up-to-date collective bargaining agreements, letters of agreement, and memoranda.
- Share updates, answer questions, design and deliver training on changes/updates to collective bargaining agreements.
- Collaborate with District departments to collect, prepare and present data and information necessary to respond to requests from employee unions.
- Oversee the preparation of reports and questionnaires when specific information has been requested by outside agencies.
- Maintain a current understanding of Board policies, collective bargaining agreements, LOAs, and changes to Michigan employment law.
- Prepare and provide training to District staff relative to the interpretation and implementation of Agreements along with past practice and arbitration rulings.
Managing Grievances and Disputes:
- Establish systems and procedures to track the intake and resolution of grievances and disputes.
- Support the District’s attorney(s) with the collection of relevant materials related to grievances, wage and hour claims, and Michigan Employment Relations Commission filings.
- Conduct grievance hearings and provide responses to grievances.
- Identify and prepare witnesses for grievance hearings.
- Prepare documents related to grievance hearings
- Respond to grievances filed by the various collective bargaining units.
- Monitor the facilitation and the implementation of decisions arising out of grievances, arbitration decisions or court determinations.
- When necessary, issue memos to District departments outlining the resolution of disputes and requesting specific department action (e.g. payroll or Human Resources).
Negotiation Support:
- Collaborate with the Assistant Superintendent and assigned attorneys to draft and revise bargaining proposals.
- Review proposals to identify alignment with existing agreements and/or practice
- Develop and implement clear electronic systems to track the status of proposals, counter-proposals, questions, and outstanding issues.
- Ensure District proposals are prepared, vetted and ready to be shared with employee unions.
- When necessary, engage in direct negotiation with union leaders on specific issues.
General:
- Lead internal department meetings; attend Board meetings and Board committee meetings, as needed.
- Craft written summaries and prepare PowerPoint presentations highlighting key information.
- Fulfill other duties and responsibilities as assigned.
Security Clearance:
Internal Applicants
If you are a current Detroit Public Schools Community District employee, you do not have to submit to a new security clearance, unless your new role requires a different type of criminal background check.
External Applicants
In alignment with Michigan law, if you are hired to fill a position, you will be required to submit to a Detroit Public Schools Community District criminal background check. Information regarding required background checks will be shared at point of hire.
Method of Application:
Applicants must apply through the online application system. Only applications submitted through the online application system will be considered for any posted position and all applications require a resume to be considered.
Successful candidates are required to submit official transcript(s) at point of offer to hire. Teaching service outside of the Detroit Public Schools Community District must be verified by the applicant's prior employer(s) prior to hire. It is the applicant's responsibility to provide all documentation (including copies) as requested.
Applicants requesting assistance during the application process should contact the Office of Human Resources via email at [email protected] or phone at (313) 873-6897.
DPSCD does not discriminate based on race, color, national origin, sex, disability and/or religion. Contact the Civil Rights Coordinator for more information at (313) 240-4377 or detroitk12.org/compliance.
