Senior Manager, Employee Relations

 

The Opportunity:

We are looking for someone to lead our Global Employee Relations Team as a Senior Manager, Employee Relations. This role leads the development of policies, advisory standards, case governance and analytics to ensure fair, consistent and legally sound people practices. The incumbent partners closely with HR leadership, Legal, unions, and government agencies to manage complex disciplinary matters, labor relations issues and emerging workforce risks.

The role combines deep industrial relationships expertise, policy leadership, stakeholder influence, and data-driven decision making, and serves as a subject-matter authority on employment legislation and industrial relations strategy.

Our Employee Relations consultants work closely with key stakeholders including our Legal/Compliance team, Corporate Tax, Corporate Governance, Talent Business Partner team and the Senior Management Team to support employees in challenging circumstances, and we seek to identify trends and share insights to adjust our people management practices to get the best talent outcomes. We advise and enable managers to make the best possible decisions, challenging practices that go beyond legal obligation to protect our unique culture at Agoda.

What You’ll Do:

• Elevate Compliance and Policy Expertise: Act as the go-to specialist on ER Matters, guiding managers in adhering to company policies, local laws, and regulations. Establish governance standards, operating guidelines and decision frameworks to ensure consistency across the organization. Translate employment legislation, case law and regulatory changes into clear institutional policies and guidance.
• Enhance Manager Effectiveness: Lead the design, review and implementation and advise people managers on the Organization-wide employee & labor relations and HR policy framework. Critically evaluate systemic issues in manager capability and practices and escalate them appropriately to business leaders for sustainable resolution.
• Union Engagement: Represent the organization in union consultations, negotiations, arbitration and dispute resolution forums. Analyze union and management proposals to assess policy, financial and employee-relations implications. Support collective bargaining strategies through data, benchmarking and scenario analysis.
• Streamline Disciplinary and Termination Processes: Ensure accurate execution and documentation of disciplinary actions and terminations to minimize labor disputes.
• Lead Investigations and Employee Relations processes: Conduct impartial investigations into grievances and serve as a dedicated Employee Relations partner, identifying trends and insights to inform procedural improvements.
• Drive Performance and Policy Enhancements through Analytics: Analyze performance management data and past misconduct cases to develop recommendations for capability-building, policy revisions, training enhancements, and more effective management practices.
• Optimize Performance Management and Offboarding: Spearhead improvements in performance management systems and refine offboarding processes, incorporating data from different sources to enhance employee experiences.
• Regulatory & Dispute Management: Liaise with Legal team to represent and manage the Company in negotiations, arbitrations and dispute resolution forums or other regulatory authorities. 

Required Qualifications:

• Deep understanding of employee relations, labor relations and workplace dispute management.
• Strong working knowledge of employment legislation, regulations and industrial relations practices.
• Ability to interpret legislation and apply it practically within complex organizational environments.
• Advanced stakeholder management and influencing capability across senior leaders, unions and regulators.
• Strong negotiation, mediation and conflict-resolution skills.
• Ability to balance organizational risk with empathy and sound judgement.
• Degree in Human Resource Management, Law, Industrial Relations, or related discipline, or equivalent professional experience.
• A minimum of 7 to 10 years in Employee and Labor Relations or HR Business Partnering roles within large or regulated organizations, with a proven track record of handling complex employee relations issues.
• Extensive knowledge of employment laws and regulations in the relevant region, with the ability to interpret and apply them in various scenarios.
• Hands-on experience managing and executing restructuring/change management projects
• Strong analytical and critical thinking skills
• Excellent interpersonal and communication skills to build and maintain relationships with key stakeholders
• Ability to cope well with ambiguity and change
• High level of discretion, confidentiality, and ethical standards in handling sensitive information and situations.
• Sound judgment and the ability to make well-informed decisions, balancing legal compliance with business needs.
• Proficiency in using data and analytics to inform decision-making processes and improve employee relations strategies.
• Fluency in written and spoken English, with strong communication skills to effectively convey complex information.
• Demonstrated leadership qualities and a desire to take on managerial responsibilities in the future.

Preferred Qualifications:

• Curiosity, ready to challenge current practices and perspectives
• Great attention to detail
• Great sense of ownership and reliability
• Multicultural or International Experience
• Humility, flexibility, good interpersonal skills

Bangkok based, relocation provided.