Job Description

About Sara Lee Frozen Bakery

Sara Lee desserts have always stood for incredible flavor and superior value in the frozen food aisle and away from home markets.  For the first time in over 60 years, Sara Lee is operating independently as Sara Lee Frozen Bakery, a collection of top brands united in quality and innovation, including Sara Lee®, Chef Pierre®, Van’s®, Bistro Collection®, Superior on Main® and Cyrus O’Leary’s®.

Sara Lee Frozen Bakery is proud to take these iconic brands into a new era and to continue the evolution that transformed one small Chicago bakery into an American institution. Using carefully sourced ingredients and time-honored recipes, the company is committed to making life’s moments a little sweeter, putting its customers first and discovering new ways to make everyone’s favorite foods even better.

Working for Sara Lee

Our vision is to be the world’s most beloved bakery by creating irresistible foods, growing with our customers, and delivering value for all.  We believe that each of us has unique points of difference and experience to offer.   We will achieve success through collaboration and innovation in an environment where employees feel empowered to execute with speed. 

Summary

We are seeking a Human Resources Manager for our manufacturing facility in Traverse City, MI. Human Resources Managers at Sara Lee Frozen Bakery possess a strong business mindset and exceptional partnership skills--which they rely upon to develop strategies for an innovative, flexible, and dynamic organization. 

The HR Manager role owns all business partner accountabilities including organizational design, people development, performance management, and retention for employees. The HR Manager is responsible for leading the site's positive Employee Relations strategy and ensuring a culture of engaged employees. The HR Manager is a critical member of the site leadership team which drives the strategy and direction for the site.  Key HR priorities for the site include executing the workforce strategy, engaging and developing our team members, and building HR capability as a partner to the business. Our Traverse City bakery is a union facility with 7 production lines and over 400 employees leading the safe, high-quality production of a wide range of pies and cheesecakes for our foodservice, in-store bakery, and retail businesses. 

Key Accountabilities

In this role you will provide HR leadership to the site, including: 

• Serve as a member of the site leadership team, partnering with cross functional leaders to drive business performance using business acumen, strong HR knowledge, communications, and change management expertise.
• Manage the plant HR department with 3 direct reports (2 HR Generalists, 1 HR Coordinator). 
• Partner with the Operations Leadership Team to provide strategic Labor Relations expertise to achieve desired operational outcomes. In addition, responsible for advising and providing consultation to Operations and Union Leadership on the administration of collective bargaining agreements and contractual obligations.
• Responsible for developing and maintaining positive working relationship between Operations and Union Leadership. Provide guidance and support on all Labor Relations activities. This includes support and leadership of local Contract Negotiations with the Union.
• Serve as company representative for Grievance Administration in addition to partnering with Corporate Legal Counsel in preparation for arbitration hearings which may also include collaboration on drafting settlements agreements, etc.
• Lead culture change as part of a journey to increase manufacturing performance through process improvement. 
• Develop the capability of our plant operators through employee development, process improvement and work system evolution 
• Partner with the Plant Manager to develop a high performing site leadership team and engaging leaders at all levels 
• Lead key HR initiatives in partnership with the Director, HR Operations in support of the organization including positive employee relations, workforce planning, succession planning and staffing 
• Lead HR initiatives in partnership with the corporate HR team (Talent Management, Total Rewards, etc.)
• Provide individual coaching needs and identify training and development needs for teams
• Create a positive employee relations environment through close engagement and interaction with all employees across the site 

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree required
• 5 years of related work experience required 
• Experience leading and supporting strategic initiatives, influencing others, and driving results and significant change 
• Previous people management experience 
• Previous plant/manufacturing experience 
• Strong data & analytics orientation

Preferred Qualifications

• Masters in Human Resources/Industrial Relations or MBA 
• 3-5 years of direct experience as an organizational practitioner of Continuous Improvement methods & processes 

Personal Attributes:

The Sara Lee Leader is one who:

• Role Models Integrity - Creates a culture of respect and inclusion, where all team members are empowered to contribute.
• Hones their Craft - Continually develops their skills and expertise to drive self, team, and company forward. Is intellectually curious, asking questions to inspire a better way.
• Values Partnerships - Frames the tough issues and works productively through them. Paves the way for their team to build relationships and collaborate effectively.
• Behaves Like a Business Owner - Perseveres toward a goal, despite obstacles and distraction. 
• Always Looks for Better Ways - Leads the charge to build capabilities, processes and systems where gaps exist. Actively coaches and mentors others.

Sara Lee Frozen Bakery provides equal employment opportunities to all employees and applicants for employment and prohibits discrimination and harassment of any type without regard to race, color, religion, age, sex, national origin, disability status, genetics, protected veteran status, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, or any other characteristic protected by federal, state or local laws.

This policy applies to all terms and conditions of employment, including recruiting, hiring, placement, promotion, termination, layoff, recall, transfer, leaves of absence, compensation and training.