Manager, Human Resources (Recruitment, Learning/Development & Engagement)

The Manager, Human Resources (Recruitment, L&D & Engagement) leads SEPA’s recruitment, onboarding, learning and development coordination, employee engagement initiatives, recognition programs, HR communications, and employee experience strategy. This role ensures SEPA attracts top talent, builds strong early-career pipelines, reinforces organizational values, and cultivates a connected, high-performing culture across a distributed workforce.

The Manager serves as the primary architect and editor of SEPA’s weekly employee newsletter, curating essential updates, milestones, learning opportunities, and HR insights to strengthen clarity and alignment across the organization. This role also maintains HR content on the intranet and partners with the CHRO and Benefits Manager to coordinate internal communications and publish cross-functional content.

This role leads the Employee Engagement Committee, manages recognition programs and staff appreciation events, and plays a central role in semi-annual retreat planning. The Manager coordinates all non-benefits aspects of onboarding, leads full-cycle recruitment for manager-level-and-below roles, and supports HR-led training and development programs. The position may supervise or mentor the HR Associate to support engagement, communications, and recruiting functions.

Responsibilities

Recruitment & Talent Acquisition

- Lead full-cycle recruitment for all non-executive vacancies at SEPA.

- Partner with the CHRO on recruitment strategy for director-level and executive roles (primarily managed via search firms).

- Develop and maintain strong talent pipelines by cultivating relationships with:

- - Undergraduate and graduate business schools

- University career centers

- Professional associations and networks

- Ensure consistent, high-quality candidate experience across screening, interviewing, and selection.

- Manage all recruiting logistics, including postings, sourcing support, scheduling, candidate communication, and reference checks.

- Oversee SEPA’s internship program, including recruitment, selection, onboarding, development experiences, and performance support.

Onboarding & New Hire Experience

- Coordinate all non-benefits onboarding logistics, ensuring seamless new hire integration.

- Partner with the CHRO and Operations on orientation programming, cultural onboarding, and new hire integration strategies.

- Collaborate with IT and hiring managers to ensure readiness for Day One.

- Maintain onboarding materials, intranet content, and templates to reflect SEPA’s organizational priorities and culture.

- Support non-benefits offboarding logistics by coordinating internal communications, system access updates, and transition activities to ensure a smooth and consistent employee departure experience.

Employee Engagement & Recognition

- Lead the Employee Engagement Committee, ensuring alignment with organizational values and a cohesive employee experience.

- Manage staff appreciation events, culture-building activities, and recognition programs—including Snappy Awards, milestones, and special acknowledgments.

- Play a key role in coordinating with the CHRO and other internal teams in planning semi-annual in-person retreats, supporting programming and logistical coordination.

- Oversee engagement initiatives that promote connection and belonging across SEPA’s remote workforce.

- Track engagement activities and feedback to inform improvements to the employee experience.

Employee Communication & Newsletter Leadership

- Serve as the primary architect, editor, and publisher of SEPA’s weekly employee newsletter.

- Curate and communicate organization-wide updates, milestones, program highlights, cultural moments, and HR insights.

- Maintain HR content on the intranet, ensuring accuracy, clarity, and accessibility.

- Collaborate with the CHRO and Benefits Manager to publish cross-functional content, including:

- - Benefits updates

- Training spotlights

- Policy changes

- Workflow updates

- Coordinate with the Benefits/HRIS Manager to incorporate HR updates, policy changes, and learning and development resources into the weekly employee newsletter.

- Support organization-wide internal communications initiatives to improve alignment and transparency.

Learning & Development (L&D)

- Coordinate logistics for all HR-led and SEPA-wide training programs, including scheduling, communications, and participation tracking.

- Support the design, facilitation, and delivery of training sessions in partnership with the CHRO and Benefits Manager.

- Promote a learning culture by surfacing and sharing development opportunities, training resources, and learning tools.

- Maintain and update L&D-related materials and content on the HR intranet.

Ensure that learning and development opportunities, tools, and resources are regularly highlighted through internal communication channels, including the newsletter and intranet.

- Support development and implementation of a technology-enabled, self-service onboarding and learning experience.

Employee Experience & Culture

- Lead initiatives that strengthen connection, belonging, and organizational cohesion across a fully remote workforce.

- Support culture-related communications and HR-led programming that reinforces SEPA’s values and behaviors.

- Foster a culture of clarity, collaboration, continuous learning, and employee well-being.

HR Operations & Cross-Functional Collaboration

- Provide timely, high-quality responses to employee inquiries submitted through the HR inbox (Freshdesk).

- Serve as a first-line HR resource for employee questions related to onboarding, engagement, HR policies, and employee experience processes.

- Maintain accurate HR documentation, onboarding materials, and program resources.

- Collaborate cross-functionally—especially with Communications, Events, Operations, IT, and Finance—to enhance the employee experience.

- Contribute to HR projects, People & Culture initiatives, and organizational change management efforts.

- Ensure timely and accurate processing of vendor invoicing related to engagement programs, learning and development activities, and HR initiatives.

# Shared Expectations Across HR Roles

All HR team members at SEPA will:

- Contribute to employee communications, including newsletter content, intranet updates, and staff announcements.

- Participate in and, when appropriate, facilitate employee trainings and development sessions.

- Model SEPA’s cultural behaviors—Responsiveness, Excellence, Ownership, Growth, Balance, Comradery, and Clarity—in every interaction.

- Collaborate cross-functionally to enhance the employee experience and reinforce a culture of connection, clarity, and continuous learning.

- 5+ years of HR experience with demonstrated depth in recruitment, employee engagement, and internal communication.

- Experience cultivating university and early-career talent pipelines strongly preferred.

- Strong writing and editing skills, with ability to craft compelling internal communications and employee-facing content.

- Experience coordinating learning and development programs and delivering training.

- Strong project management and organizational skills with ability to juggle multiple priorities.

- Excellent interpersonal skills and ability to manage sensitive and confidential information.

- HRIS experience preferred; comfort working with technology, data, and documentation required.

What’s Attractive to the Right Candidate?

- Your work will help accelerate our nation’s transformation to a carbon-free electricity system.

- You will enjoy working in a collaborative and highly-supportive work environment with a great team of trustworthy and approachable colleagues. You will experience a culture driven by these organizational behaviors:

- Adaptability - Be flexible and capable of change to achieve maximum impact.

- Innovation - Drive new understanding & methods to grow ambitiously as an organization and as individuals.

- Comradery - Work hard and have fun.

- Humility - Start with questions, rather than answers. Explore all sides of an issue.

- Ownership - Think and act like owners of SEPA. Hold ourselves and each other accountable for our shared success.

- Transparency - Communicate honestly, frequently and openly.

Our Culture

At SEPA, culture isn’t something we declare—it’s something we live. We are building a Culture for Everyone: a workplace where people from all backgrounds can thrive, grow, and contribute to a mission that matters. SEPA prioritizes diversity within its workforce and across the energy industry. We recognize that a diverse and inclusive workforce drives innovation, creativity, and better decision-making.

SEPA aims to create a welcoming and equitable environment for all individuals, regardless of their background, race, gender, age, sexual orientation, or ability.

ADA Requirements and Disclaimer

This position description generally indicates the nature and levels of work, knowledge, skills, abilities and other essential functions as covered under the Americans with Disabilities Act expected of an incumbent. This role requires the ability to use standard office equipment and learn new software applications as necessary. This is a largely sedentary role; however, some traveling may be required. This position description is not designed to cover a comprehensive listing of activities, duties or responsibilities required of an incumbent. An incumbent may be asked to perform other duties as required. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions of this position.