Human Resources Business Partner

Location: Burlington, VT (Hybrid: 3 Days/Week Onsite, 2 Remote)

Available: Immediately (September 2025)

Commitment: Full-Time

Reports to: Finance Director

At American Meadows, our Purpose is Doing Good Through Gardening. Our two brands serve distinct audiences:
American Meadows is the leading authority on meadowscaping, while High Country Gardens specializes in sustainable gardening for the Western U.S. Our company has experienced double-digit annual growth for over a decade, and we are excited about what’s next. We are at a pivotal moment in our history and know what our future could look like if we seize our opportunities.

This is a hands-on HR Operations role
. We are seeking an experienced HR Operations professional who thrives on accuracy, structure, and repeatable processes. You enjoy owning the details—payroll, benefits administration, compliance, and HR systems—and take pride in ensuring those fundamentals are executed flawlessly, every time.

In this role, you will serve as the operational backbone of our people function. You’ll be responsible for running payroll with precision, administering benefits across the employee lifecycle, maintaining compliant and well‑documented HR practices, and ensuring our HR systems and data are reliable and audit‑ready. This role requires comfort with recurring, deadline‑driven work and a strong appreciation for consistency, documentation, and follow‑through.

While this role does partner with managers and contributes to employee relations and culture initiatives,
success is defined first by operational excellence
. This position is ideal for someone who prefers structured work, enjoys building and maintaining clean systems, and finds satisfaction in knowing that nothing falls through the cracks.

You’ll work closely with the Finance Director and leadership team to ensure people operations support business performance and scale with the company’s continued growth. From processing bi‑weekly payroll to maintaining SOPs and compliance calendars, you’ll balance being deeply hands‑on with continuously improving how work gets done.

If you are energized by creating order, clarity, and reliability in HR operations—and want to apply that skillset in a mission‑driven company doing good through gardening—this role is for you.

Location Requirement: This role requires being onsite in Shelburne/Burlington, VT at least 3 days per week. Candidates must be able to reliably commute to the office on a regular basis. We cannot offer a fully remote arrangement for this role.

You’ll keep the company’s HR backbone running with accuracy, consistency, and compliance. This includes processing payroll every two weeks with 100% accuracy and timeliness, administering benefits throughout the year and during open enrollment, and maintaining compliance with all federal, state, and local requirements on an ongoing basis. You’ll also ensure HRIS data is kept accurate and reliable for monthly reporting to Finance and Leadership, and you’ll oversee semi‑annual performance reviews to ensure consistency and integrity.

• KPI: Payroll accuracy and timeliness (100% on‑time, error‑free).

You’ll partner with managers to strengthen their ability to lead teams effectively, providing coaching on employee performance and workplace issues as needed. You’ll set and reinforce documentation standards for feedback, counseling, and performance, while delivering training and refreshers each trimester (or as needed) on topics like feedback, accountability, and policy application.

• KPI: Positive results on internal HR NPS.

You’ll take the lead on initiatives that make HR processes more efficient and user‑friendly. This includes developing and maintaining SOPs for payroll, benefits, compliance, and core HR workflows (reviewed semi‑annually). You’ll build and update manager toolkits each year, partner on cross‑functional Lean/automation projects each trimester, and facilitate culture committee meetings monthly. You’ll…