Description

Position Summary

O’Connor Tax Reduction Experts is seeking an experienced Human Resources Manager to lead the HR function for a professional firm specializing in property tax and federal tax reduction. This role will oversee talent acquisition, manage employee relations, ensure legal compliance, handle compensation and benefits and provide payroll oversight.

The ideal candidate combines hands-on HR management experience with the judgment to operate as a strategic partner to executive leadership. A successful candidate will drive talent strategy, culture and engagement, leadership development, and operational compliance across a growing multi-jurisdictional organization.

This role works closely and directly with O’Connor's overseas team to carry out and implement HR objectives across the organization, and requires travel to India approximately twice per year to support that partnership in person. This is an in-office position based in Houston.

Key Responsibilities

Strategic Talent Leadership

• Own full-cycle talent strategy: workforce planning, recruiting, onboarding, and retention across Houston-based teams and coordination with India-based operations.

• Partner with department managers to forecast staffing needs against operational needs.

• Partner directly with O’Connor’s India based team to carry out and implement HR objectives: talent strategy, performance management, engagement, and compliance practices, including in-person collaboration during scheduled India travel.

• Design and maintain competitive, defensible compensation structures, building on O’Connor's existing discretionary and KPI-based bonus plan frameworks.

• Develop career pathing and internal mobility structures to promote career growth and development.

Operational Excellence and Compliance

• Own end-to-end payroll oversight: accuracy, timeliness, tax withholding compliance, and reconciliation, in partnership with Finance/Accounting.

• Ensure compliance with all applicable federal and Texas employment law (FLSA, EEO, ADA, FMLA, wage-and-hour rules) and maintain up-to-date policies and employee handbook.

• Manage HRIS/payroll systems administration, benefits administration, leave management, and I-9/E-Verify compliance.

• Own Texas Workforce Commission (TWC) reporting and compliance, including unemployment claims, wage claim responses, and required filings.

• Serve as the fiduciary for O’Connor’s self-funded health insurance plan, overseeing plan administration, ERISA compliance, plan documents (SPD, Form 5500), stop loss coverage, and vendor/TPA relationships.

• Conduct formal workplace investigations including intake documentation, investigation planning, witness interviews, findings and corrective action recommendations.

• Own COBRA administration, benefits open enrollment.

Culture and Engagement Stewardship

• Design and run employee engagement measurement (surveys, stay interviews, exit interviews) and translate findings into action plans.

• Own internal communications cadence for HR matters, calibrating tone and format by audience (executive, management, staff).

• Champion recognition programs and team-building initiatives appropriate to a close-knit, family-run business culture.

Leadership Development and Performance Management

• Build and administer a formal performance management cycle (goal-setting, mid-year check-ins, annual reviews) tied to compensation and promotion decisions.

• Own and expand O’Connor’s learning and development infrastructure, including administration of the company's LMS platform.

• Design manager training programs to build first-time and experienced people-manager capability across departments.

• Partner with the General Counsel's office on structured onboarding and retention programming for newly licensed attorneys and other specialized hires.

Executive Partnership

• Provide the CEO with clear, data-driven HR reporting — organized around metrics and formula-based summaries suited to executive decision-making.

• Advise executive leadership on organizational design, workforce risk, and people-related legal exposure in partnership with the General Counsel.

• Manage the transition off fractional HR consulting support (Clearwater Consulting), ensuring full continuity of in-progress initiatives (compensation plan rollout, HR policy work).

• Participate in sensitive personnel matters — separations, accommodations, investigations — with the discretion required in a firm actively engaged in employment-related litigation.

Requirements

Required

• Bachelor's degree in Human Resources, Business Administration, or related field (or equivalent experience).

• 5+ years of progressive HR management experience

• Demonstrated experience managing HR for an organization of comparable size (150-200 employees) in a fast-paced, deadline-driven environment.

• Strong working knowledge of Texas and federal employment law.

• Experience building or administering compensation/bonus programs.

• Excellent written and verbal communication skills, with demonstrated ability to adapt communication style across executive, managerial, and staff audiences.

Preferred

• SHRM-CP/SHRM-SCP or PHR/SPHR certification.

• Experience as administrator for a self-funded health plan, including ERISA compliance and TPA/stop-loss vendor management.

• Experience in professional services, legal services, or a similarly regulated/high-transaction-volume industry.

• Experience supporting or partnering with in-house legal/compliance functions.

• Experience with multi-jurisdictional or international team coordination, ideally including hands-on partnership with overseas teams.

• Familiarity with LMS platforms and HRIS/payroll systems administration.

• Willingness and ability to travel internationally (India) approximately twice per year.

Core Competencies

• Sound judgment and discretion in handling confidential and legally sensitive matters

• Comfort operating with significant autonomy while keeping executive leadership informed

• Ability to balance empathetic, people-first leadership with firm operational and compliance discipline

• Strong project management skills across concurrent, cross-functional initiatives

• Data fluency — comfortable presenting HR metrics in concise, quantitative formats

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