Sr. Employee Relations Business Partner

About the Team

The Senior Employee Relations (ER) Partner serves as a trusted advisor and strategic partner to business leaders, ensuring they are equipped to effectively manage employee relations matters while cultivating a positive, compliant, and performance-driven work environment. This role is instrumental in delivering thoughtful people solutions that align with company values and employment laws, while also strengthening manager capability and employee engagement.

The Senior ER Partner will drive strategic initiatives, including performance management programs and proactive organizational interventions. This includes supporting managers with performance-related coaching, implementing consistent and equitable practices, and enhancing systems to improve employee performance and accountability.

The ideal candidate brings strong analytical skills to identify ER trends, diagnose root causes, and partner with cross-functional stakeholders-such as HRBPs, Legal, Learning & Development, and DEI-to recommend and execute solutions that address systemic issues. This role will report to the Employee Relations Manager and play a key role in evolving the employee experience through forward-thinking ER strategy and performance management support.

About the Role

• Partner with managers to address complex and sensitive performance management cases, providing expert coaching and guidance on performance improvement planning, corrective action, and conflict resolution to drive individual and team success.
• Serve as a trusted advisor to managers and HRBPs by recommending thoughtful, pragmatic solutions that enhance performance outcomes and uphold a fair and consistent employee experience.
• Identify negative trends through recurring performance challenges and provide strategic recommendations to address root causes, improve people manager capability, and support long-term organizational effectiveness.
• Collaborate closely with the Employee Relations Center of Excellence (COE), which manages conduct and policy matters, ensuring seamless alignment and knowledge sharing between performance-related and conduct-related workstreams.
• Support change management efforts through proactive education, process enhancements, and innovation-always with an eye toward improving the employee and manager experience.
• Escalate complex or high-risk matters appropriately and provide guidance to peers across the People Team on navigating performance-related issues.
• Provide insights and reporting to ER leadership based on case trends and organizational needs; use data to inform systemic improvements and reduce reactive ER work.
• Maintain up-to-date knowledge of employment laws and best practices to ensure performance management processes remain compliant, equitable, and effective.
• Champion a balanced, risk-aware approach to ER decisions-ensuring both employee advocacy and business impact are taken into account.

• Serve as a trusted thought partner to business leaders, offering strategic guidance on performance management challenges and team effectiveness.
• Leverage both qualitative insights and quantitative data to anticipate trends, identify root causes, and recommend proactive people strategies.
• Apply your expertise to support and coach leaders in developing high-performing teams through fair, consistent, and scalable performance management practices.
• Stay closely connected to the employee experience, identifying friction points and championing initiatives that enhance engagement, accountability, and development.
• Act as a culture advocate, partnering with leaders to shape and elevate the DoorDash employee experience through thoughtful performance strategies.
• Contribute to the design and delivery of targeted training sessions for managers on performance conversations, feedback, and development planning.
• Provide support and subject matter expertise on the team's case management system, helping maintain data integrity and operational excellence

• Minimum of 3 years heavy emphasis on Employee Relations
• At least 7 years relevant experience with human resources, ideally focused in employee relations, employment law, or HRBP experience
• Mastery of employment law basics and performance management best practices
• Ability to translate data and predictive analytics into proactive actions
• Excellent communicator, written and oral
• Exceptions interpersonal skills, including high EQ, to build trust and influence at all levels of the organization
• Team player who knows how and when to collaborate to ensure success, with proven track record of successfully leading and participating in cross-functional projects
• Presentation and training facilitation