About Zūm:

Zūm is a rapidly expanding Series E startup backed by industry leaders Sequoia Capital, SoftBank, Spark Capital, and GIC, with a bold mission to transform the stagnant school transportation industry. Operating in over 15 states across the United States—with flagship hubs in San Francisco, Los Angeles, and Seattle—we are actively extending our reach to the East Coast and Midwest regions. As a technology-driven company, we deploy cutting-edge solutions to manage and operate school district transportation systems while also launching our own charter platform and developing proprietary SaaS offerings. Additionally, we are spearheading a nationwide initiative to electrify school transportation fleets, simultaneously supporting local utilities by feeding much-needed energy back into the grid. We have been recognized as CNBC 50 disruptor, Financial Times 500 fastest growing companies, Fast Company World Changing Ideas.

Who You Are:

As Zūm's Human Resources Manager, you're excited about fostering an environment where employees feel great about where they work and what they do. You take pride in resolving conflicts, advising leaders, and developing programs that uplift and enable our employees to do their best work. Reporting to the Head of People - Field Operations, you have a get things done mindset and the desire to take on a broad range of People initiatives in support of our Field Operations organization.

This role is based remotely in the East or Mid-West of the United States and the candidate must reside a commutable distance to an international airport.

What You'll Do:

Own & Elevate Employee Relations & Performance Management:
- Serve as the front line support for our employees—investigating employee concerns, partnering with on-site leadership to resolve employee issues, and building our employees relations practice.
- Develop and maintain our repository of employee relations cases and performance management documentation.
- Develop and execute strategies that drive greater employee engagement and reduce overall employee concerns and performance challenges.
Ensure Compliance & Mitigate Risk
- Stay ahead of federal, state, and local employment laws, ensuring we are compliant in our practices and processes.
- Create training programs for managers on investigations, performance management and proper documentation.
- Maintain a working knowledge of our Collective Bargaining Agreements (CBAs) in relation to progressive discipline, leaves of absence, and termination processes.
- Support Leave of Absence and workplace accommodations requests, including intake of employee requests and partnering with outsourced support services as needed to create a positive employee experience.
- Partner with People Operations, Legal, and Payroll to ensure our processes and practices are aligned, understood, and known to our employees.
Educate & Empower Employees
- Help make our processes and policies easy to understand by working with front-line managers to develop clear, concise materials and lead informational sessions to help employees understand how we work at Zūm.
- Engage with employees on escalated, complex questions or issues, ensuring a positive experience.
Build & Execute People Programs
- Design, launch, and continuously improve people programs including onboarding, performance management, engagement, and retention ensuring they are practical and scalable for a distributed, field-based workforce
- Partner with operations and functional leaders to identify workforce needs and translate them into structured HR initiatives with clear timelines, ownership, and measurable outcomes
- Build manager capability through targeted training, toolkits, and micro-learning resources that equip frontline and field leaders to handle employee relations, performance, and people management with consistency
Build Strong Partnerships
- Build trusted advisor relationships with managers, staff, employees, and our internal partners; ensuring seamless administration and top-tier service.
- Collaborate with HR, Payroll, and Legal to streamline processes and ensure smooth operations.
- Act as the primary escalation point for complex employee relations cases, ensuring resolution and employee satisfaction.

What You Bring To Zūm:

8+ years of experience in an HR or employee relations related role.
You have independently led employee relations investigations from initial intake through investigation and case closure.
You are comfortable partnering with managers on performance management; advising on strategy, proper documentation and communication, and employment decisions.
A background in advising managers on employee misconduct, due process and progressive discipline, and recommending the appropriate corrective actions.
Experience doing all of the above for a multi-location unionized workforce.
Very comfortable serving as the first point of contact for employees and managers on all human resources related issues.
Experience supporting onboarding and offboarding of employees.
Understanding of basic employment law and a willingness to expand your knowledge on federal and state employment laws.
Strong analytical skills—you can interpret data, identify trends, and make informed recommendations.
Exceptional communication skills—you know how to explain policies and processes in a way that makes sense to employees at all levels.
Proficiency in HRIS systems.
Willingness to travel up to 25% of the time to our multiple field locations. NOTE: Travel during the summer startup season can be ~40% of the time.

Nice to Haves:

Project management skills—you can juggle multiple initiatives and drive them to completion.
Program management experience—you have developed, launched, and run people programs.
Bi-lingual (Spanish).

The targeted base salary range for this role is listed in the compensation section below. Actual salary may be above or below this range based on factors such as location, skills, and relevant experience. In addition, this position may include additional compensation in the form of equity or commissions. If you are a full-time salaried or hourly worker, we offer the following benefits: Medical, Dental, Vision, 401(k), Holidays, Wellness, Vacation, and more. The targeted pay range for this role in US CA is: $125,000 - $145,000.