Senior HR Business Partner

Who we are

Our mission at FHLBank Chicago: To partner with our members in Illinois and Wisconsin to provide them competitively priced funding, a reasonable return on their investment, and support for their community investment activities.

Simply said, we're a bank for banks and other financial institutions, focused on being a strategic partner for our members and working together to reinvest in our communities, from urban centers to rural areas. Created by Congress in 1932, FHLBank Chicago is one of 11 Federal Home Loan Banks, government sponsored in support of mortgage lending and community investment.

What it’s like to work here

At FHLBank Chicago, we bring people together. We are committed to a high performing, engaged workforce, and to supporting the communities we serve across Illinois and Wisconsin. Our Buddy Program pairs new hires with tenured employees to guide their onboarding. Our professional development and training opportunities through upskilling, mentorship programs, and tuition reimbursement allow employees to grow their career with us. Our collaborative, in-office operating model brings teams together to foster innovation, connection, and shared success. To support balance and flexibility, employees are provided an allocation of remote days to use as needed throughout the year.

What you'll do:

The Sr. HR Business Partner serves as a strategic advisor and trusted consultant to senior leaders, aligning people strategy with business objectives to drive organizational performance, engagement, and growth. This role operates with a high degree of autonomy and influence, providing expert guidance across workforce planning, talent management, organizational design, employee relations, and change initiatives.

The Sr. HR Business Partner translates business strategy into actionable people priorities, proactively identifies risks and opportunities through data and insight, and partners with leaders to strengthen leadership capability, culture, and workforce effectiveness. In addition, this role owns and advances enterprise workforce planning practices, supports complex employee relations matters, and ensures HR programs, policies, and practices are applied consistently, equitably, and in compliance with applicable laws. The Sr. HR Business Partner plays a critical role in shaping the employee experience and enabling leaders to build high‑performing, inclusive teams.

How you'll make an impact:

• You directly influence how the Bank executes its strategy through people, translating business objectives into people strategies that drive performance, engagement, and organizational effectiveness.
• You help leaders build high‑performing and engaged teams by coaching leaders through change, advancing talent development and succession planning, and cultivating a positive culture
• You bring data, insight, and innovation to HR decision‑making

What you can expect:

Strategic Business Partnership

• Serve as a strategic advisor and trusted partner to senior leaders, aligning workforce strategy with business priorities to drive performance, engagement, and organizational effectiveness.
• Translate business strategies into integrated people plans across workforce planning, talent, leadership capability, and culture.
• Proactively assess organizational health using qualitative and quantitative insights to identify risks, opportunities, and future capability needs.
• Coach senior leaders and managers on leadership effectiveness, change management, and building high‑performing teams.
• Lead and influence organizational design, role clarity, and change initiatives to support evolving business needs.
• Partner with other HR areas such as Total Rewards and Learning & Development to ensure workforce solutions are aligned, scalable, and enterprise‑consistent.
• Foster a culture of trust and inclusion within lines of business; coach senior leaders, managers, and individual contributors as appropriate to sustain trust within and across teams
• Act as a communication agent for employee feedback while encouraging participation in feedback survey opportunities

Talent Management and Development

• Facilitate talent review and succession planning processes and support actions that follow talent conversations
• Hold business leaders accountable for talent outcomes, including early talent success, leadership readiness, and development of high‑potential employees.
• Drive accountability for new hire success, ensuring 30-, 60-, and 90-day milestones are met, development plans are established quickly, and new hires are supported through ramp-up.
• Collaborate with other HR team members to develop and assess effective career pathing, talent mapping, and job descriptions ensuring consistency within the business area.
• Work with the Learning & Development team to identify training needs and monitor learning progress within business areas to ensure success.

Workforce Planning

• Own and advance the Bank’s enterprise workforce planning strategy, establishing best practices and aligning HR partners and leaders to a consistent, forward‑looking approach.
• Partner with executive leaders and Talent Acquisition to forecast workforce needs, prioritize hiring strategies, and align headcount planning to business direction.
• Use workforce and talent data to inform decisions related to growth, retention, and organizational capability.

Employee Relations

• Serve as the senior advisor and escalation point for complex, high‑risk, or sensitive employee relations matters.
• Provide strategic counsel to leaders on managing performance, conduct, and workplace concerns in a fair, consistent, and legally compliant manner.
• Lead complex employee investigations and partner with Legal as appropriate.
• Identify and mitigate people‑related risk through proactive coaching, policy interpretation, and leader education.
• Guide leaders in applying policies and practices thoughtfully, balancing business needs, employee experience, and risk management.
• Manage sponsorship programs, policies, procedures, and relationships with legal counsel
• Coach leaders on effective people management, communication, and conflict resolution
• Counsel managers in the interpretation of general or routine workforce policies and procedures

Data, Reporting, and Technology

• Leverage people data, analytics, and trends to provide actionable insights related to engagement, retention, performance, and workforce planning.
• Own and execute reporting for assigned HR focus areas, translating data into meaningful stories for leaders.
• Utilize HR systems, including Workday, in addition to emerging technologies like AI to improve efficiency and generation of data-driven insights
• Continuously seek opportunities to modernize HR processes and enhance the leader and employee experience.
• Other duties as assigned

What you'll bring:

• Bachelor Degree or equivalent experience is required
• 7+ years experience as an HR business partner,
• Banking or Financial Services a plus
• Advanced degree or PHR/SPHR certification a plus.
• Excellent communication (oral, written, and listening) skills required.
• Excellent interpersonal skills with ability to develop relationship across all levels of organization.
• Customer service skills must be exceptional.
• Ability to maintain highly confidential and sensitive information
• High degree of diplomacy and professionalism
• Solid business acumen
• Agent of change
• Ability to be agile and resourceful
• Workday HRIS
• Sponsorhip procedures and legal framework
• Employee lifecycle and relations
• Workforce planning
• Conflict management
• Employee sponsorship
• Communications coaching
• Customer service
• Team member retention strategies
• Basic data and analytics reporting required; intermediate reporting preferred

The Perks

At FHLBank Chicago, we believe in rewarding our high performing workforce. We offer a highly competitive compensation and bonus package, and access to a comprehensive benefits program designed to meet the needs of our employees. Our retirement program includes a 401(k) and pension plan. Our wellbeing program supports employees at work and in their personal lives: Our PTO plan provides five weeks of vacation for new employees and 11 paid holidays per year; our Lifestyle Spending Account provides an annual stipend for employees to support wellbeing activities; and our central downtown location at the Old Post Office provides easy access to public transportation and breathtaking views from our award-winning rooftop. Visit FHLBCbenefits.com for additional details about our benefits. Step into a brighter future with us.

Salary Range:

$125,825.00 - $221,275.00

The above represents the expected salary range for this job requisition. Ultimately, in determining your pay, we may also consider your experience, and other job-related factors. In addition to the base salary, we offer a comprehensive benefits package which can be found here: https://hrportal.ehr.com/fhlbc