Let’s Be Honest…
You didn’t spend years learning to read a collective bargaining agreement the way other people read a menu just to sit in the back of someone else’s Step meeting, taking notes for a decision you already know how to make.
You’re the one who can tell, thirty seconds into a grievance, whether it’s a documentation problem or a just-cause problem. You’ve sat across the table from union reps enough times to know that “collegial” and “pushover” are not the same thing. And at some point, you stopped wanting to just handle cases and started wanting to own the strategy behind how they get handled.
This is that opportunity.
Why This Role Is Different
This isn’t a labor relations job where you’re the fourth person looped in on a discipline decision. It’s full ownership of the day-to-day labor relations caseload for a large, unionized health system — nursing, physician, and allied health bargaining units, all in your lane.
Translation? You’re not filing paperwork after the fact. You’re interpreting the CBA, running the grievance process start to finish, and stepping directly into arbitration prep and hearings when it gets that far. You’re the person frontline managers call before they discipline someone, not after they’ve already made it worse.
What You’ll Actually Be Doing
At the core, you’re the steady hand between management and the union side. Someone both can actually trust to be straight with them.
You’ll administer and interpret the collective bargaining agreements governing multiple bargaining units, and own the grievance process end to end, including representing management through Step meetings and arbitration hearings when needed. When a discipline question comes up, you’re the one applying just-cause analysis and advising managers on what will actually hold up, not just what feels satisfying in the moment.
You’ll also train supervisors on labor relations fundamentals, because a manager who understands just cause before they need it is worth ten who learn it in a Step meeting. And you’ll work closely with HR, legal, and operational leadership to keep labor strategy consistent so there’s no daylight between what one department promises and what another enforces.
The Kind of Person Who Thrives Here
This role is built for someone who is:
- Comfortable being the calm, credible voice in a room where tempers are not always calm
- Fluent in CBA language and just-cause standards without losing the human read of a situation
- Experienced managing labor relations in a healthcare setting — hospitals move differently than other industries, and it shows
- The person managers text before they do something they’ll regret
- Organized enough to run multiple open grievances at once without losing track of where each one stands
You’ll bring 3–5+ years of progressive labor/employee relations experience in a unionized environment, with hands-on grievance handling, Step meetings, and disciplinary review under your belt.
Healthcare or hospital system experience is required because this is not a role where general HR experience translates without it.
A bachelor’s degree in HR, Labor/Industrial Relations, Business Administration, or a related field is required; a master’s degree or SHRM/HRCI certification is a plus.
Schedule & Structure
This is a full-time, onsite role based in the NYC area, with occasional evening availability for grievance meetings and arbitration hearings when the calendar demands it.
Compensation & Environment
Compensation is a competitive six-figure range. Beyond the number, you’ll be joining a regional health system where the labor relations function isn’t an afterthought.
It’s treated as core to how the organization runs.
Bottom Line
If you want to stop advising on labor strategy from the sidelines and start owning it — grievances, arbitration, discipline, and the relationships that make all of it work — this is that role.
Apply Now
Office
10752 Deerwood Park Boulevard South, Suite 100
Jacksonville, FL, 32256
Contact Us
- contact@polarisplacement.com
(646) 688 - 4072