VP of HR Operations and Labor

Position Description

Aspirus is one of only a few healthcare systems in the country that continues to grow, both organically and through acquisition. Over the past three years, the organization has doubled in size to become a three-state health care system focused on serving rural communities. Through this growth, Aspirus has continued to systematize and integrate as a unified health system and is creating a more mature and contemporary HR function to better reflect and support the expanded size and sophistication of the company. Although only a handful of unions operate within Aspirus today, the agreement with St. Luke’s in Duluth brings additional unions and labor considerations into the system and the large population of existing unrepresented employees bring potential for additional organizing. Reporting to the SVP of HR, Aspirus has created a new position for a Vice President, HR Operations and Labor to lead all HR operations and labor relations with the regional HR Vice Presidents reporting directly to this role.

In this newly created leadership role, you will serve as the organizational point person for all field facing HR, including the newly created HR solutions center and regional leaders in market, working to standardize processes and improve employee experience across each region. In partnership with outside counsel and the internal legal team, you will serve as a key advisor on labor relations across multiple unions representing various segments of Aspirus’ workforce. Stepping into the role, you will build relationships with key stakeholders and develop a deep understanding of the history and existing strategy behind the organization’s labor relations and HR operations approach. Upon which, you will then assess and determine areas of improvement, streamlining existing processes across the system to continue successful negotiations while also educating leaders on union avoidance strategies.

The ideal candidate for this role will be knowledgeable within labor relations, across concepts, practices and procedures. You should have the ability to implement and improve an overall strategy over time, aligning previously disparate pieces into one coherent and unified strategy. You should also have experience with field HR, especially in complex, distributed organizations. You should be a proactive, fast-paced leader who is excited to build and hungry to drive the organization forward.