Employee Relations Lead

What You'll Do

The Global Employee Relations (ER) Lead is the owner for a globally consistent, AI-enabled Employee Relations framework that protects trust, reduces risk, and strengthens our Winning Culture. This role combines Employee Relations expertise, systems thinking, and data-driven decision-making with strong judgment.

This role designs and governs global Employee Relations processes and SOPs, and partners with Legal, People Partners, HR Ops, and regional Employee Relations (ER) teams to deliver a fair, timely, and defensible employee experience worldwide.

As an AI-first company, Avalara expects this role to embed AI and automation into Employee Relations (ER) workflows to materially improve quality, speed, and insight generation.

What Your Responsibilities Will Be

ER Point of contact

• Be the main point of contact to lead all Employee relations investigations in India and also be part of the POSH IC committee.
• Be involved in high risk, sensitive, or executive level investigations, globally in partnership with Legal (and outside counsel where required).
  
  

Global ER Framework & Governance

• Design, implement and maintain a single global ER framework covering intake, triage, investigation, documentation, decisioning, closure, and reporting.
• Define and govern global ER SOPs and standards with Legal and regional P&C, balancing global consistency with local legal requirements.
  
  

Case Management Excellence

• Ensure all ER matters are logged in a common global tool within agreed SLAs, consistently
• Set and monitor SLAs for intake, assessment, investigation, and closure, and improve case cycle time and aging across regions.
• Drive consistent use of investigation templates, scripts, and framework to ensure neutrality, fairness, and defensibility.
• Maintain audit ready documentation and compliance with SOPs and lead periodic audits of ER data quality and timeliness.
  
  

AI, Technology & Automation (AI‑First ER)

• Serve as business/functional owner for ER technology and AI capabilities, including ServiceNow ER workflows and the AI Investigation Builder.
• Translate ER workflows into AI and automation use cases, define requirements, and partner with People Tech, AI & Automation, and HR Ops on design and rollout.
• Track success metrics such as alignment of AI generated vs manual reports, reduction in report creation time, and adoption/quality thresholds (e.g., ≥80% alignment, ≥50% time reduction, ≤5% major rework).
• Ensure human in the loop controls, privacy, and legal defensibility in all AI enabled ER processes.
  
  

Data, Insights & Predictive Analytics

• Define and maintain global ER dashboards and KPIs (volume, type, severity, cycle time, outcomes, hotspots, tool usage, documentation quality).
• Lead a regular ER insights rhythm with P&C LT and Legal, providing concise narratives on risk, trends, and actions.
  
  

Stakeholder Partnership & Leadership Enablement

• Build strong partnerships with regional ER leads, People Partners, Legal, HR Ops, and business leaders; act as a trusted advisor on complex cases and culture issues.
• Coach leaders to address concerns early and appropriately, document decisions, and role model behaviours consistent with Avalara’s values and policies.
• Drive policy and process awareness so employees and managers clearly understand expectations and how to raise concerns.
• Use ER insights to highlight culture gaps and partner with People Partners, the Winning Culture Council, and leaders on targeted actions.
  
  

What You’ll Need To Be Successful

What “Great” Looks Like for a Global Employee Relations Lead at Avalara:

• Leads with systems thinking – designs end-to-end, durable Employee Relations processes rooted in the intended employee and manager experience, not point fixes.
• Uses metrics, not anecdotes – defines problems and success with data; tracks Employee Relations KPIs and uses them to drive improvements and tradeoff decisions.
• Executes the basics exceptionally well – intake, investigation, documentation, and closure are timely, complete, and audit ready, every time.
• Owns feedback and acts – responds to feedback from regions, Legal, and audits with tangible process, SOP, and tooling changes.
• Looks around corners – spots hotspots and culture risks early by integrating Employee Relations, engagement, attrition, and performance data.
• Tells the story – explains Employee Relations data, AI tools, and decisions clearly to leaders, connecting them to risk reduction and better outcomes.
• Practices radical, respectful Candor – gives direct, fact-based guidance on tough ER issues while maintaining trust.
• Demands excellence – maintains a high bar for quality and consistency, escalates trade-offs rather than silently lowering standards.
  
  

Avalara is an AI-first Company

AI is embedded in our workflows, decision-making, and products. Success here requires embracing AI as an essential capability.

• You’ll bring experience using AI and AI-related technologies, ready to thrive here.
• You’ll apply AI every day to business challenges - improving efficiency, contributing solutions, and driving results for your team, our company, and our customers.
• You’ll grow with AI by staying curious about new trends and best practices, and by sharing what you learn so others can benefit too.
  
  

How We’ll Take Care Of You

Total Rewards

In addition to a great compensation package, paid time off, and paid parental leave, many Avalara employees are eligible for bonuses.

Health & Wellness

Benefits vary by location but generally include private medical, life, and disability insurance.

Inclusive culture and diversity

Avalara strongly supports diversity, equity, and inclusion, and is committed to integrating them into our business practices and our organizational culture. We also have a total of 8 employee-run resource groups, each with senior leadership and exec sponsorship.

What You Need To Know About Avalara

We’re defining the relationship between tax and tech.

We’ve already built an industry-leading cloud compliance platform, processing over 54 billion customer API calls and over 6.6 million tax returns a year. Our growth is real - we're a billion dollar business - and we’re not slowing down until we’ve achieved our mission - to be part of every transaction in the world.

We’re bright, innovative, and disruptive, like the orange we love to wear. It captures our quirky spirit and optimistic mindset. It shows off the culture we’ve designed, that empowers our people to win. We’ve been different from day one. Join us, and your career will be too.

We’re An Equal Opportunity Employer

Supporting diversity and inclusion is a cornerstone of our company — we don’t want people to fit into our culture, but to enrich it. All qualified candidates will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, creed, religion, age, gender, national orientation, disability, sexual orientation, US Veteran status, or any other factor protected by law. If you require any reasonable adjustments during the recruitment process, please let us know.