Director of Human Resources

JOB ANNOUNCEMENT

Internal and External Posting

Director of Human Resources

Any Legal Action Office

(Legal Action’s Milwaukee office is preferred but not required)

Date of Posting: November 9, 2025

Available Immediately

SUMMARY: Legal Action of Wisconsin (Legal Action) seeks a full-time Human Resources Director in our Administrative unit. The Human Resources Director is a management position that deals with private and confidential personnel information.

The Human Resources Director will bring comprehensive experience to provide high-level and broad strategic leadership for human resources, developing and implementing the strategies, policies, and programs that will strengthen Legal Action’s workplace culture and enable the delivery of high-quality legal aid to our clients.

This position is open because of a voluntary resignation.

LEGAL ACTION OF WISCONSIN: Legal Action is a large, vibrant non-profit law firm funded by the Legal Services Corporation, the Wisconsin Trust Account Foundation, and many other sources. Legal Action provides free, critical legal aid to about 10,000–12,000 low-income persons annually in the southern 39 counties of Wisconsin, with offices in Green Bay, La Crosse, Madison, Milwaukee, Oshkosh, and Racine. In addition, Legal Action operates a statewide farmworker project.

Legal Action’s 108 employees—most of whom are full-time—specialize in housing, public benefits, removing barriers to employment, consumer law, and family law. Staff maintain direct service caseloads and engage in structural change advocacy. Four collective bargaining units operate within two of our offices.

Legal Action believes that equal justice under law can only be achieved through the collaboration of a diverse staff. We strongly encourage applications from women, people of color, people who identify as LGBTQIA+, people with disabilities, and people whose life experiences or educational backgrounds add to the firm's diversity and our capacity to provide high-quality legal aid.

Legal Action believes that equal justice under law can only be achieved through the collaboration of a diverse staff. We strongly encourage applications from women, people of color, people who identify as LGBTQIA+, people with disabilities, and people with life experiences or educational backgrounds that add to the firm's diversity and our capacity to provide high-quality legal aid.

OFFICE LOCATION: The Human Resources Director may be housed in any Legal Action office, but we prefer for the Director to be housed in our Milwaukee office because most of our administrative staff are there.

ESSENTIAL DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES: Under the supervision of the Executive Director’s or the Director of Legal Services (to be determined), the Human Resources Director leads multiple human resource functions by performing the following essential duties and responsibilities or ensuring that others, under their supervision, are performing them. This list of duties and responsibilities is not all inclusive and we may change it as the organization develops, and we may expand it to include other duties and responsibilities from time to time. Working closely with the Executive Director, Director of Legal Services, Chief Financial Officer, the Directors of Diversity and Inclusion and External Affairs, outside counsel, and Managing Attorneys, Project Managers, and Supervisors, the Human Resources Director:

1. Develops the firm’s goals for supporting employees, ensuring they are aligned with our goals for workplace culture, and develops, implements, and evaluates the systems that will help us reach those goals, including but not limited to:

a. Ensuring that all HR functions operate smoothly, comply with applicable law, and align with best practices. (Note: Note: We will be focusing on implementing the firm’s performance management and feedback systems and contributing to ongoing efforts to define and strengthen workplace culture during 2026.);

b. Continually assessing the effectiveness of our compensation package, including salaries, insurance benefits, leave time, and retirement savings contributions in supporting the firm’s work and our employees;

c. Serving as the primary liaison and managing the relationship with our external brokers, third-party administrators, and others;

d. Continuously assess the firm’s pulse, workplace culture, and climate, and ensure that the firm is continuously responsive to the results of this assessment within our means; and

e. Ensuring that the Staff Manual, personnel policies, and other informational materials have accurate, updated, and understandable information that supports employees as they perform their duties.

2. Administers the firm’s compliance with Family and Medical Leave Acts (Wisconsin and Federal) and COBRA, including by working with our leave management company (Guardian) to produce, audit, and analyze FMLA and COBRA utilization reports and by ensuring that the electronic data feeds from the firm’s Human Resource Information System are accurately integrated with leave management and payroll functions.

3. Actively coordinates the firm’s HR work with the firm’s DEIB efforts, led by the Director of Diversity and Inclusion to ensure consistency between HR and DEIB objectives.

4. Contributes to the management team that will bargain our collective bargaining agreements and work alongside the Madison and Milwaukee Office Managing Attorneys to build and maintain a productive relationship with the Unions.

5. Supervise and direct other Legal Action employees and external consultants or project managers who are contributing to the firm’s HR work to ensure that all contributors are working in tandem.

QUALIFICATIONS: To perform this job successfully, an individual must have the knowledge, skills, and abilities to perform each essential duty with excellence.

Required: The requirements that we list below are representative of a candidate’s required knowledge, skill, and/or ability required to perform the position’s essential duties:

1. Bachelor’s degree, preferably in Business Administration with an emphasis in Human Resources, and a minimum of 3 years work experience within any specific area of human resource work, or Associate’s degree in a relevant area of study and a minimum of 12 years of work in most areas of human resources work.

2. Demonstrated commitment to and enthusiasm for providing high-quality and responsive leadership and management of human resources and to working collaboratively and respectfully with others.

3. Strong planning, organizational, and project follow-through skills.

4. Demonstrated commitment to reading and accurately interpreting information and communications; expertly and independently writing reports and analyses with accuracy, completeness, and attention to tone and audience; and communicating effectively, clearly, and with confidence with external and internal audiences such as employees, managers and supervisors, and board members.

5. Experience with a UKG or similar human resources information system or demonstrated skills and abilities to manage a similar system; demonstrated proficiency with Microsoft products; and experience and proficiency with online benefits management platforms.

6. Excellent time management and organizational skills.

7. Demonstrated ability to maintain strict confidentiality and respect for privacy.

The requirements that we list below are representative of a candidate’s enhanced knowledge, skill, and/or ability required to perform the position’s essential duties:

1. JD

2. Leadership, management, and/or supervisory experience.

3. Experience in negotiating collective bargaining agreements and developing and maintaining the Union/Management relationship.

4. SPHR or PHR Certification.

5. Experience in a non-profit advocacy organization.

6. Proficiency in Spanish or Hmong. (These are the two most common languages, other than English, of our clients.)

WORK ENVIRONMENT & PHYSICAL DEMANDS: The physical demands and work environment characteristics described in this section are representative. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions of this position. This position involves sedentary work, including sitting and/or standing at a desk while working at a computer for an extended period. This position also exerts up to 10 pounds of force on a regular basis to lift, carry, push, or otherwise move objects. While performing the duties of this job, the employee is regularly required to stand, sit, talk, hear, and use hands and fingers to operate a computer and/or laptop keyboard and use a telephone. Specific vision abilities required for this job include close vision requirements due to computer work. Occasional reaching, bending, kneeling, and stooping involved to retrieve assorted items and materials are required. When performing in-person work, this position works in an environmentally controlled office environment with moderate noise from phones, printers, and light office traffic.

SALARY: Legal Action’s salaries are not negotiable: Our salary scales are based solely on years of experience with each step on the scale equivalent to one full year of experience. We strongly encourage applicants to include detail in their resume about the duties they performed and the months they worked at each employer and in each position so that we can accurately calculate experience and salary. If we make an offer to an applicant, we depend on the resume that the applicant submitted, and we do not allow for revisions after submission. The salary steps for this position range from:

• $85,522 (Step 4, or four years of experience)

• $98,351 (Step 10, or ten years of experience)

• $109,041 (Step 15, or fifteen years of experience)

• $119,304 (Step 20, or twenty years of experience)

The top step on this position’s salary scale is Step 36 and Step 36 has a salary of $150,092. All employees, including this position, move up one step on their respective salary scales on each anniversary date unless they are on a performance improvement plan. After step 36, employees on this position’s salary scale receive a flat-rate $2,000 stipend that does not compound and that we provide on the payroll following the employee’s anniversary date.

SPANISH OR HMONG LANGUAGE FLUENCY PREMIUM: Employees who are proficient in Spanish or Hmong receive additional pay of either $2,400 or $4,800, depending on demands for the language in the position.

FRINGE BENEFITS: Legal Action offers a generous fringe benefits package including:

• Employer-paid premiums of health insurance (with an HRA that offsets deductibles and co-insurance) and dental insurance for employees, eligible spouses, and dependents, and life and long-term disability insurance;

• A profit-sharing retirement plan;

• Low-cost employee paid vision and short-term disability insurance.

• Paid time off: 20 vacation days, four personal days, and one sick day per month (accruals increase with tenure); 40 hours of paid service leave every five years; and four weeks of paid parental leave for eligible employees.

MOVING EXPENSES: Up to $1,200 in relocation expenses may be available for reimbursement.

GOVERNANCE: Legal Action’s personnel policies and other operating policies and procedures (which are subject to unilateral change by our Board of Directors) govern this position. This position is exempt from the FLSA and is not represented for the purposes of collective bargaining. This is a management position. The HR Director handles confidential employee and programmatic information. This position is exempt under the FLSA.

AUTHORITY: This position has authority to assign tasks, monitor performance, and supervise performance of HR Department employees, including issuing possible discipline and corrective action and performance improvement plans within Legal Action’s policies and procedures and collective bargaining agreements; set goals for and make day-to-day operational decisions for the HR Department; and translate and execute top-level strategies into actionable daily operations and ensuring that the firm’s policies are followed.

PROBATIONARY PERIOD: This position is subject to a probationary period of six months.

SUPERVISION: This position will be supervised by Deedee Peterson, Executive Director, or by Nicole Zimmer, Director of Legal Services.

HOW TO APPLY: Applicants must submit the following application materials at xxxx (Orbit link):

1. Cover letter summarizing experience and education, qualifications, and interest in the position;

2. Resume; and

3. Original writing sample (at least one.)

We require applicants to submit all three items.

Note about resumes: As we describe above, we strongly encourage applicants to include detail in their resume about the duties they performed and the months they worked at each employer and in each position so that we can accurately calculate experience and salary. If we make an offer to an applicant, we depend on the resume that the applicant submitted, and we do not allow for revisions after submission.

DEADLINE FOR APPLICATIONS: We will review applicants on a rolling basis. This position will be open until at least November 20th.

Legal Action of Wisconsin, Inc. is an Equal Opportunity Employer

JOB ANNOUNCEMENT

Internal and External Posting

Director of Human Resources

Any Legal Action Office

(Legal Action’s Milwaukee office is preferred but not required)

Date of Posting: November 9, 2025

Available Immediately

SUMMARY: Legal Action of Wisconsin (Legal Action) seeks a full-time Human Resources Director in our Administrative unit. The Human Resources Director is a management position that deals with private and confidential personnel information.

The Human Resources Director will bring comprehensive experience to provide high-level and broad strategic leadership for human resources, developing and implementing the strategies, policies, and programs that will strengthen Legal Action’s workplace culture and enable the delivery of high-quality legal aid to our clients.

This position is open because of a voluntary resignation.

LEGAL ACTION OF WISCONSIN: Legal Action is a large, vibrant non-profit law firm funded by the Legal Services Corporation, the Wisconsin Trust Account Foundation, and many other sources. Legal Action provides free, critical legal aid to about 10,000–12,000 low-income persons annually in the southern 39 counties of Wisconsin, with offices in Green Bay, La Crosse, Madison, Milwaukee, Oshkosh, and Racine. In addition, Legal Action operates a statewide farmworker project.

Legal Action’s 108 employees—most of whom are full-time—specialize in housing, public benefits, removing barriers to employment, consumer law, and family law. Staff maintain direct service caseloads and engage in structural change advocacy. Four collective bargaining units operate within two of our offices.

Legal Action believes that equal justice under law can only be achieved through the collaboration of a diverse staff. We strongly encourage applications from women, people of color, people who identify as LGBTQIA+, people with disabilities, and people whose life experiences or educational backgrounds add to the firm's diversity and our capacity to provide high-quality legal aid.

Legal Action believes that equal justice under law can only be achieved through the collaboration of a diverse staff. We strongly encourage applications from women, people of color, people who identify as LGBTQIA+, people with disabilities, and people with life experiences or educational backgrounds that add to the firm's diversity and our capacity to provide high-quality legal aid.

OFFICE LOCATION: The Human Resources Director may be housed in any Legal Action office, but we prefer for the Director to be housed in our Milwaukee office because most of our administrative staff are there.

ESSENTIAL DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES: Under the supervision of the Executive Director’s or the Director of Legal Services (to be determined), the Human Resources Director leads multiple human resource functions by performing the following essential duties and responsibilities or ensuring that others, under their supervision, are performing them. This list of duties and responsibilities is not all inclusive and we may change it as the organization develops, and we may expand it to include other duties and responsibilities from time to time. Working closely with the Executive Director, Director of Legal Services, Chief Financial Officer, the Directors of Diversity and Inclusion and External Affairs, outside counsel, and Managing Attorneys, Project Managers, and Supervisors, the Human Resources Director:

1. Develops the firm’s goals for supporting employees, ensuring they are aligned with our goals for workplace culture, and develops, implements, and evaluates the systems that will help us reach those goals, including but not limited to:

a. Ensuring that all HR functions operate smoothly, comply with applicable law, and align with best practices. (Note: Note: We will be focusing on implementing the firm’s performance management and feedback systems and contributing to ongoing efforts to define and strengthen workplace culture during 2026.);

b. Continually assessing the effectiveness of our compensation package, including salaries, insurance benefits, leave time, and retirement savings contributions in supporting the firm’s work and our employees;

c. Serving as the primary liaison and managing the relationship with our external brokers, third-party administrators, and others;

d. Continuously assess the firm’s pulse, workplace culture, and climate, and ensure that the firm is continuously responsive to the results of this assessment within our means; and

e. Ensuring that the Staff Manual, personnel policies, and other informational materials have accurate, updated, and understandable information that supports employees as they perform their duties.

2. Administers the firm’s compliance with Family and Medical Leave Acts (Wisconsin and Federal) and COBRA, including by working with our leave management company (Guardian) to produce, audit, and analyze FMLA and COBRA utilization reports and by ensuring that the electronic data feeds from the firm’s Human Resource Information System are accurately integrated with leave management and payroll functions.

3. Actively coordinates the firm’s HR work with the firm’s DEIB efforts, led by the Director of Diversity and Inclusion to ensure consistency between HR and DEIB objectives.

4. Contributes to the management team that will bargain our collective bargaining agreements and work alongside the Madison and Milwaukee Office Managing Attorneys to build and maintain a productive relationship with the Unions.

5. Supervise and direct other Legal Action employees and external consultants or project managers who are contributing to the firm’s HR work to ensure that all contributors are working in tandem.

QUALIFICATIONS: To perform this job successfully, an individual must have the knowledge, skills, and abilities to perform each essential duty with excellence.

Required: The requirements that we list below are representative of a candidate’s required knowledge, skill, and/or ability required to perform the position’s essential duties:

1. Bachelor’s degree, preferably in Business Administration with an emphasis in Human Resources, and a minimum of 3 years work experience within any specific area of human resource work, or Associate’s degree in a relevant area of study and a minimum of 12 years of work in most areas of human resources work.

2. Demonstrated commitment to and enthusiasm for providing high-quality and responsive leadership and management of human resources and to working collaboratively and respectfully with others.

3. Strong planning, organizational, and project follow-through skills.

4. Demonstrated commitment to reading and accurately interpreting information and communications; expertly and independently writing reports and analyses with accuracy, completeness, and attention to tone and audience; and communicating effectively, clearly, and with confidence with external and internal audiences such as employees, managers and supervisors, and board members.

5. Experience with a UKG or similar human resources information system or demonstrated skills and abilities to manage a similar system; demonstrated proficiency with Microsoft products; and experience and proficiency with online benefits management platforms.

6. Excellent time management and organizational skills.

7. Demonstrated ability to maintain strict confidentiality and respect for privacy.

The requirements that we list below are representative of a candidate’s enhanced knowledge, skill, and/or ability required to perform the position’s essential duties:

1. JD

2. Leadership, management, and/or supervisory experience.

3. Experience in negotiating collective bargaining agreements and developing and maintaining the Union/Management relationship.

4. SPHR or PHR Certification.

5. Experience in a non-profit advocacy organization.

6. Proficiency in Spanish or Hmong. (These are the two most common languages, other than English, of our clients.)

WORK ENVIRONMENT & PHYSICAL DEMANDS: The physical demands and work environment characteristics described in this section are representative. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions of this position. This position involves sedentary work, including sitting and/or standing at a desk while working at a computer for an extended period. This position also exerts up to 10 pounds of force on a regular basis to lift, carry, push, or otherwise move objects. While performing the duties of this job, the employee is regularly required to stand, sit, talk, hear, and use hands and fingers to operate a computer and/or laptop keyboard and use a telephone. Specific vision abilities required for this job include close vision requirements due to computer work. Occasional reaching, bending, kneeling, and stooping involved to retrieve assorted items and materials are required. When performing in-person work, this position works in an environmentally controlled office environment with moderate noise from phones, printers, and light office traffic.

SALARY: Legal Action’s salaries are not negotiable: Our salary scales are based solely on years of experience with each step on the scale equivalent to one full year of experience. We strongly encourage applicants to include detail in their resume about the duties they performed and the months they worked at each employer and in each position so that we can accurately calculate experience and salary. If we make an offer to an applicant, we depend on the resume that the applicant submitted, and we do not allow for revisions after submission. The salary steps for this position range from:

• $85,522 (Step 4, or four years of experience)

• $98,351 (Step 10, or ten years of experience)

• $109,041 (Step 15, or fifteen years of experience)

• $119,304 (Step 20, or twenty years of experience)

The top step on this position’s salary scale is Step 36 and Step 36 has a salary of $150,092. All employees, including this position, move up one step on their respective salary scales on each anniversary date unless they are on a performance improvement plan. After step 36, employees on this position’s salary scale receive a flat-rate $2,000 stipend that does not compound and that we provide on the payroll following the employee’s anniversary date.

SPANISH OR HMONG LANGUAGE FLUENCY PREMIUM: Employees who are proficient in Spanish or Hmong receive additional pay of either $2,400 or $4,800, depending on demands for the language in the position.

FRINGE BENEFITS: Legal Action offers a generous fringe benefits package including:

• Employer-paid premiums of health insurance (with an HRA that offsets deductibles and co-insurance) and dental insurance for employees, eligible spouses, and dependents, and life and long-term disability insurance;

• A profit-sharing retirement plan;

• Low-cost employee paid vision and short-term disability insurance.

• Paid time off: 20 vacation days, four personal days, and one sick day per month (accruals increase with tenure); 40 hours of paid service leave every five years; and four weeks of paid parental leave for eligible employees.

MOVING EXPENSES: Up to $1,200 in relocation expenses may be available for reimbursement.

GOVERNANCE: Legal Action’s personnel policies and other operating policies and procedures (which are subject to unilateral change by our Board of Directors) govern this position. This position is exempt from the FLSA and is not represented for the purposes of collective bargaining. This is a management position. The HR Director handles confidential employee and programmatic information. This position is exempt under the FLSA.

AUTHORITY: This position has authority to assign tasks, monitor performance, and supervise performance of HR Department employees, including issuing possible discipline and corrective action and performance improvement plans within Legal Action’s policies and procedures and collective bargaining agreements; set goals for and make day-to-day operational decisions for the HR Department; and translate and execute top-level strategies into actionable daily operations and ensuring that the firm’s policies are followed.

PROBATIONARY PERIOD: This position is subject to a probationary period of six months.

SUPERVISION: This position will be supervised by Deedee Peterson, Executive Director, or by Nicole Zimmer, Director of Legal Services.

HOW TO APPLY: Applicants must submit the following application materials at https://secure2.entertimeonline.com/ta/7988.careers?ApplyToJob=788670656&full_apply=&jobid=788670656

1. Cover letter summarizing experience and education, qualifications, and interest in the position;

2. Resume; and

3. Original writing sample (at least one.)

We require applicants to submit all three items.

Note about resumes: As we describe above, we strongly encourage applicants to include detail in their resume about the duties they performed and the months they worked at each employer and in each position so that we can accurately calculate experience and salary. If we make an offer to an applicant, we depend on the resume that the applicant submitted, and we do not allow for revisions after submission.

DEADLINE FOR APPLICATIONS: We will review applicants on a rolling basis. This position will be open until at least November 20th.

Legal Action of Wisconsin, Inc. is an Equal Opportunity Employer