Human Resources Business Partner @ American Meadows

Company: American Meadows
Location: Burlington, VT (3 Days/Week Onsite)
Available: Immediately (September 2025)
Commitment: Full-Time
Reports to: Finance Director
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Who We Are
At American Meadows, our Purpose is Doing Good Through Gardening. Our two brands serve distinct audiences: American Meadows is the leading authority on meadowscaping, while High Country Gardens specializes in sustainable gardening for the Western U.S. Our company has experienced double-digit annual growth for over a decade, and we are excited about what’s next. We are at a pivotal moment in our history and know what our future could look like if we seize our opportunities.
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Who You Are & What You’ll Do
This is a hands-on HR Operations role. We are seeking an experienced HR Operations professional who thrives on accuracy, structure, and repeatable processes. You enjoy owning the details—payroll, benefits administration, compliance, and HR systems—and take pride in ensuring those fundamentals are executed flawlessly, every time.
In this role, you will serve as the operational backbone of our people function. You’ll be responsible for running payroll with precision, administering benefits across the employee lifecycle, maintaining compliant and well-documented HR practices, and ensuring our HR systems and data are reliable and audit-ready. This role requires comfort with recurring, deadline-driven work and a strong appreciation for consistency, documentation, and follow-through.
While this role does partner with managers and contributes to employee relations and culture initiatives, success is defined first by operational excellence. This position is ideal for someone who prefers structured work, enjoys building and maintaining clean systems, and finds satisfaction in knowing that nothing falls through the cracks.
You’ll work closely with the Finance Director and leadership team to ensure people operations support business performance and scale with the company’s continued growth. From processing bi-weekly payroll to maintaining SOPs and compliance calendars, you’ll balance being deeply hands-on with continuously improving how work gets done.
If you are energized by creating order, clarity, and reliability in HR operations—and want to apply that skillset in a mission-driven company doing good through gardening—this role is for you.
Location Requirement: This role requires being onsite in Shelburne/Burlington, VT at least 3 days per week. Candidates must be able to reliably commute to the office on a regular basis. We cannot offer a fully remote arrangement for this role.

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Accountabilities & Success Measures
Core HR Operations (40%)
You’ll keep the company’s HR backbone running with accuracy, consistency, and compliance. This includes processing payroll every two weeks with 100% accuracy and timeliness, administering benefits throughout the year and during open enrollment, and maintaining compliance with all federal, state, and local requirements on an ongoing basis. You’ll also ensure HRIS data is kept accurate and reliable for monthly reporting to Finance and Leadership, and you’ll oversee semi-annual performance reviews to ensure consistency and integrity.
• KPI: Payroll accuracy and timeliness (100% on-time, error-free).
Manager Enablement & Employee Relations (20%)
You’ll partner with managers to strengthen their ability to lead teams effectively, providing coaching on employee performance and workplace issues as needed. You’ll set and reinforce documentation standards for feedback, counseling, and performance, while delivering training and refreshers each trimester (or as needed) on topics like feedback, accountability, and policy application.
• KPI: Positive results on internal HR NPS.
Process Improvement & Culture Enablement (30%)
You’ll take the lead on initiatives that make HR processes more efficient and user-friendly. This includes developing and maintaining SOPs for payroll, benefits, compliance, and core HR workflows (reviewed semi-annually). You’ll build and update manager toolkits each year, partner on cross-functional Lean/automation projects each trimester, and facilitate culture committee meetings monthly. You’ll also run eNPS surveys semi-annually and coordinate action planning with leaders.
• KPI: Improved eNPS trends and employee engagement.
Talent Acquisition & Transitions (10%)
You’ll provide recruiting support during peak times or when the recruiter is unavailable, helping with scheduling, offers, and compliance. You’ll maintain job descriptions, offer letters, and hiring compliance documentation on an ongoing basis. You’ll deliver consistent onboarding experiences that integrate compliance, role readiness, and cultural orientation, while also ensuring respectful, compliant offboarding for exiting employees.
• KPI: Onboarding satisfaction scores.
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Requirement
PLEASE SUBMIT WITH YOUR RESUME:
To help us better understand your experience, please include a response to the question below. Applications submitted without a response will not be considered.
In a paragraph or two, answer the following:
What was the most common payroll issue you encountered, and how did you prevent it from recurring? If applicable, note any multi-state payroll or compliance considerations involved.
This is not a writing exercise. We are simply looking to understand:
• Your hands-on payroll experience
• How you identify root causes
• How you put durable process fixes in place
Concise, straightforward responses are encouraged.
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Desired Qualifications
• 5+ years of progressive HR/People Operations experience with exposure to payroll, benefits, compliance, and manager enablement.
• Experience managing HR operations in a multi-state environment with strong knowledge of federal and state employment laws.
• Hands-on background with HRIS platforms, payroll systems, and HR metrics/dashboards.
• Experience in process improvement, Lean/automation projects, and building scalable HR systems and SOPs.
• Strong coaching and advisory skills to equip managers to lead effectively.
• Highly organized with attention to accuracy, timeliness, and consistency.
• Excellent communication and interpersonal skills to build trust across the organization.
• Sees HR as both a driver of business performance and employee experience.
• Passionate about fostering a culture of respect, inclusion, and continuous improvement.
• Comfortable being both strategic and hands-on — from processing payroll to facilitating culture conversations.
• Bachelor’s degree in Business Administration or related field preferred.
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Our Culture
Building a successful business is serious work, but we don’t take ourselves too seriously. Our Fundamental Behaviors encourage us to Get our Freak On and Stop and Smell the Lavender.
We are a mix of remote, hybrid, and in-person work, and we value balance. We use data, numbers, and AI alongside experience and gut feel to create a better future.
Dogs, yoga, bagpipe parades, and taco trucks make appearances during our team Build Weeks. “Don’t Stop Believin’” is our anthem, and we sing it loud (and off-key).
We believe in our Purpose of Doing Good Through Gardening, recognized by our current award as Vermont Businesses for Social Responsibility’s Innovation and Inspiration Awardee.
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The Perks
• Health, vision, and dental insurance.
• Matching retirement plan, life insurance, and disability coverage.
• Generous paid time off for rest and family time.
• Development opportunities, from leadership courses to gardening certifications.
• Incentive payout when company goals are achieved.
• At-cost product discounts and seasonal giveaways to fuel gardening passion
If you have any questions, please contact our HR team at: jobs@americanmeadows.com.
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Equal Opportunity
American Meadows is an Equal Opportunity Employer (EOE). Qualified applicants are considered without regard to age, race, color, religion, sex, national origin, sexual orientation, disability, or veteran status. Applicants who need assistance or accommodation during the application process are encouraged to request it.

Please apply here: https://secure2.entertimeonline.com/ta/AMI-VT.careers?CareersSearch=&lang=en-US