Human Resources Generalist

Ford Ford · Auto · Long Beach, CA +1 · HR Business Partner

Ford is seeking a HR professional to join their team as a Human Resources Generalist/junior HRBP and HR Operations Specialist. This role will serve as a bridge between shared services and operational leaders, providing consultation and process expertise. The position requires a strong understanding of California-specific HR policies and regulations, experience with HR systems, and the ability to resolve complex inquiries and improve processes. The role also involves supporting performance management, employee relations, and workforce planning.

What you'd actually do

  1. Performance Management: Support the end-to-end performance management process, providing guidance to leaders on coaching, documentation, and the resolution of performance cases.
  2. Employee Relations: Partner with the Employee Relations team and managers to resolve inquiries and escalations, ensuring fair and consistent application of company policies.
  3. Leadership Coaching: Provide basic coaching to frontline leaders on matters related to employee morale, retention, and engagement.
  4. Workforce Support: Support HRBP colleagues in executing workforce planning, annual people processes, and key moments of the employee life-cycle.
  5. California Compliance: Act as the local subject matter expert on California-specific HR policies, including state-specific leaves of absence, final pay disbursement, and wage/hour regulations.
  6. Complex Inquiry Resolution: Intake and strategically prioritize high-visibility HR inquiries (e.g., paycheck discrepancies, position changes, benefits escalations, etc.) that require deep-dive investigation.
  7. Process Improvement: Proactively identify systemic process bottlenecks or "friction points" in the employee experience. Partner with People First and other SME teams (e.g. Payroll, HR Technology, Recruiting, etc.) on sustainable solutions, representing the voice of the employee and HRBP team.
  8. Data Integrity & Analytics: Utilize Excel and HR systems (Oracle, Visier) to maintain HCM data integrity and perform data analysis to identify trends that drive HR decision-making.
  9. Special Projects: Participate in the delivery of special projects and initiatives. Such projects include org. designs which require mass position changes / HCM data alignment, job architecture, position management, and other data clean-up, integrity maintenance exercises (e.g. work location alignment). These may require varied reporting needs that become nuanced by the organization.

Skills

Required

  • Bachelor’s degree in Human Resources, Business Management, or a related field (or equivalent work experience).
  • 3–5 years of HR experience, with a demonstrated background in either HR Generalist/BP or Shared Services roles.
  • Foundational knowledge of California labor laws and HR regulatory requirements.
  • Advanced proficiency in Microsoft Excel (v-lookups, pivot tables) and experience with HR Information Systems (e.g., Oracle, Workday, or SAP).
  • Strong interpersonal skills with the ability to build relationships with both hourly employees and executive leadership.
  • A "critical thinker" mindset with the ability to navigate ambiguous situations and move from identifying a problem to implementing a solution.

Nice to have

  • Professional HR certification (PHR, CA-PHR, or SHRM-CP).
  • Experience supporting highly technical client groups (Software Engineering, Design, or Manufacturing).
  • Prior experience in HR Shared Services.
  • Ability to tell a compelling story using data visualization.

What the JD emphasized

  • California-specific HR policies
  • California labor laws and HR regulatory requirements