Instacart
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Employee Relations Lead
Location
California + 18 moreAll locations: California, Colorado, Connecticut, District of Columbia, Hawaii, Illinois, Maine, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Oregon, Maryland, Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Texas, Vermont, Virginia, Washington
Posted
1 day ago
Salary
$172K - $217.5K / year
Bachelor Degree8 yrs expEnglish
Job Description
• Develop and implement Instacart’s holistic Employee Relations strategy in partnership with HRBPs and Legal.
• Build clear frameworks and standards for managing performance concerns, conduct issues, investigations, and terminations.
• Establish consistent decision-making principles that balance fairness, business impact, and appropriate risk awareness.
• Identify trends and systemic risks in employee matters and proactively recommend policy, training, and process improvements.
• Lead and advise on complex involuntary terminations across the organization.
• Partner with Legal and People COEs on structuring exit packages within established guidelines and approval frameworks.
• In consultation with Legal, manage post-separation communications with departing employees, including structured severance discussions conducted within defined parameters.
• Identify matters requiring Legal escalation and ensure timely coordination.
• Ensure consistency, documentation quality, and compliance across exit practices.
• Oversee and conduct workplace investigations involving performance concerns, conduct issues, and policy violations.
• Partner with Legal to structure investigations involving heightened risk or potential legal exposure.
• Ensure investigations are thorough, objective, and well-documented.
• Support HRBPs and business leaders in determining appropriate outcomes based on investigation findings.
• Establish clear governance and standards for how investigations are initiated, conducted, and resolved across the organization.
• Act as a trusted thought partner to HRBPs and business leaders on complex employee matters.
• Coach HRBPs on documentation, consistency, and structured decision-making.
• Elevate the ER capability of the HRBP team through training, playbooks, and case reviews.
• Build scalable ER processes, documentation templates, and intake systems.
• Define clear governance around investigations and disciplinary actions.
• Develop dashboards and reporting mechanisms to identify trends and reduce organizational risk.
• Ensure global and multi-state compliance as the organization evolves.
Job Requirements
- 8+ years of experience in Employee Relations, Employment Law, Human Resources, or a related function.
- Strong knowledge of U.S. employment law and contemporary workplace practices.
- Significant experience managing complex terminations and structured employee exit discussions.
- Experience partnering closely with Legal teams on employment matters.
- Former employment attorney preferred or Senior HRBP with substantial ER depth and strong legal fluency.
- Exceptional judgment and ability to navigate ambiguity and gray areas.
- Strong risk awareness and decision-making skills.
- Ability to influence senior leaders while maintaining objectivity.
- High emotional intelligence and discretion.
- Clear, concise communicator — especially in high-stakes situations.
- Systems thinker who can move from individual cases to scalable strategy.
Benefits
- highly market-competitive compensation and benefits