Senior Human Resource Manager

Job Description

April 2026

Senior Human Resources Manager Ella Baker Center for Human Rights

OAKLAND,

Ca Organizational Background

The Ella Baker Center for Human Rights (EBC) is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization based in Oakland, California, organizing to shift resources away from prisons and punishment towards opportunities that make our communities safe, healthy, and strong. Named after civil rights hero Ella Baker, we mobilize Black, Brown, and low-income people to build power in our communities. For over 25 years, we have worked from the community to the legislative level to free our people from state violence. We are currently working to end mass incarceration and mass criminalization in the United States through Truth and Reinvestment—moving resources away from failed criminal legal policies and into creating opportunities, also known as “books not bars, jobs not jails, healthcare not handcuffs.” Through our programs, such as successful organizing in Alameda County, a robust state policy platform, and national leadership in the movement to end mass incarceration, EBC is building a culture of care to replace cages and cops. The Ella Baker Center Action Fund (EBCAF) is a 501(c)(4) nonprofit organization and a separate but affiliated organization with the Ella Baker Center for Human Rights. EBCAF mobilizes our communities — current and formerly incarcerated people, their loved ones, people who are low income, and Black and Brown communities — to exercise their full political power and hold institutions accountable. Like our namesake Ella Baker, we understand that true power lies within the people. EBCAF was born out of the vision to further build power amongst those most impacted by incarceration and criminalization. We mobilize these communities to ensure that our elected officials are focused on addressing the root causes of harm in our communities instead of investing in failing institutions, such as prisons and policing, that exacerbate that harm.

Our Values

At Ella Baker Center, we win by doing our liberation work in alignment with and guided by our core values:

• Prioritize people most impacted by policing and prisons
• Accountability
• Black Liberation
• Interconnection
• Transformation
• Culture of Care and Healing
• Self-Determination The ideal candidate at EBC understands that our work uplifts the leadership and strategies of those most impacted by the criminal system: working-class people of color. Our primary aspiration is Black liberation, as these communities are the most harmed by policing and prisons. We practice accountability to our communities and each other by giving and receiving feedback, communicating directly, and building a culture of restorative justice. We seek staff who are looking to not only transform the world but are themselves excited to be personally transformed by organizing for liberation while caring for ourselves or each other. Transformation means that we do not turn anyone away who seeks our advocacy or support based on what the state has charged them with. Inherent in collective liberation work — we ask our staff to do the personal work of organizing to dismantle white supremacy and cisheteropatriarchy, and practice anti-oppression in everyday relationships. Our values mean we are building a leaderful movement, with an emphasis on those who have been systematically denied leadership and power.

About the Role

Reporting directly to the Managing Director, the Senior Human Resources Manager is a high impact position that will support the development and implementation of HR strategies. This position will play an instrumental role in ensuring that we promote a workplace culture that centers EBC’s mission, vision, and values while promoting an optimal experience for all employees. The Senior Human Resources Manager will be responsible for building strategies, systems, and processes that drive growth and that centers the mission, vision and values of the Ella Baker Center. As a member of the Administrative Team, the Senior Human Resources Manager will support the leadership in ensuring that the Ella Baker Center for Human Rights has the right people, systems, and processes to meet its goals and drive impact. The Senior Human Resources Manager will support and coordinate the execution of key people and culture functions such as recruitment, retention, performance management, professional development, compensation and benefits, and employee engagement. This role serves as an internal expert in California employment law and labor relations, ensuring full compliance and the consistent application of policies and practices across the organization, while leading post–collective bargaining agreement implementation by translating contract provisions into clear, compliant, and consistently applied organizational systems, policies, and practices.

Key Responsibilities HR

Strategy and Implementation

• Manage the administration of human resource programs including, but not limited to, HRIS, compensation, benefits, and leaves.
• Provide proactive leadership and professional expertise in all areas of human resources management, including benefits, payroll, employee relations, compliance, and performance across full-time employees and contractors.
• Maintain knowledge of trends, best practices, regulatory changes, and new technologies in human resources, talent management, and employment law to keep the organization in regulatory compliance.
• Research, develop, and implement periodic competitive compensation, benefits, performance appraisal, and employee incentive programs, including compensation benchmarking.
• Audit, review, refine and ensure individual as well as collective accountability to Ella Baker Center’s policies, procedures and processes.
• Support organizational leaders and managers with training and organization-wide staffing strategy, ensuring the recruitment function has clear hiring goals and varied recruitment strategies.
• Work with managers throughout the organization to help define, establish, and communicate annual goals for team members, and ensure that managers are tracking progress against goals.
• Support the organizational strategic planning process around human resource management, talent acquisition, compliance, risk management and fiscal accountability.
• Collaborate with the Administrative Team to Identify and manage consultants to support organizational initiatives focused on culture, wellness, and engagement (restorative justice, wellness program, training plan).
• Serve as the primary internal advisor to leadership on complex HR, compliance, and employee relations matters.
• Lead the implementation of collective bargaining agreement provisions across organizational systems and practices.
• Identify gaps between current practices and legal or contractual requirements and implement solutions to ensure alignment. Employee Engagement
• Formulate and recommend personnel policies, procedures and objectives for the organization to the senior management team.
• Determine and recommend employee engagement practices necessary to establish a positive employer-employee relationship and promote a high level of staff engagement.
• Create systems to collect and review staff feedback and conduct internal reviews to ensure organizational learning and improvement.
• Work with staff and managers to help foster an environment that is welcoming and centers Ella Baker Center’s values.
• Coordinate management training in interviewing, hiring, terminations, performance management, safety, sexual harassment, and other relevant programs.
• Ensure training aligns with organizational policies, compliance requirements and best practices
• Assist managers with facilitating employee relations conversations of a sensitive nature helping to resolve conflicts or disputes.
• Provide guidance to managers on handling sensitive employee relations matters in a consistent, equitable, and l