Vice President Employee Relations

Overview Solairus Aviation is a leading US-based private aviation services company with annual revenue exceeding $1 billion. Its core business is assisting aircraft owners with the safe, reliable, and efficient management and operation of their aircraft. Solairus is committed to excellence and innovation, leveraging cutting-edge technology and strategic insight to drive sustainable growth and deliver value to its customers. At Solairus, we are on a mission to lead the industry with the highest standards, personalized service, and technological innovation. Solairus Aviation’s Vice President, Employee Relations, requires a results-driven individual to lead employee relations for all employees. Reporting directly to the EVPHR, the VP Employee Relations is a business partner to our senior leaders in support of clients, crew and corporate staff. The VP Employee Relations is responsible for supporting the recruiting process, performance management, HR investigations, supervisory training and compliance for all crew and corporate staff members. The VP Employee Relations will work with the executive leadership team to ensure that Solairus maintains its unique culture and high morale within the context of financial and operational demands, and that Solairus continues to attract and retain the very best employees in the industry to provide best-in-class service to our clients. Essential Responsibilities/Duties Employee Relations (ER) Enforce a rigorous, fair, and legally defensible employee relations framework Partner with General Counsel and outside legal counsel, where appropriate, on discrimination/harassment/retaliation and other employment litigation, EEOC and other agency charges, wage and hour claims, regulatory investigations, and other legal employment activities, as they arise Ensure that HR policies are current, enforceable, and consistently applied across all states and all employee segments Receive, triage, and manage all ER cases: harassment, discrimination, retaliation, misconduct, policy violations, and interpersonal conflict Conduct or oversee all formal workplace investigations — fact-finding interviews, document review, timeline construction, and written findings Maintain investigation independence from the business; report findings directly to the EVPHR and partner with legal counsel as appropriate Manage the ER case tracking system: ensure every case is logged, assigned, progressing, and closed with documented outcomes Identify patterns across investigations — recurring issues, problem leaders, structural vulnerabilities — and surface them to the EVPHR Train managers and HR generalists on their role in ER matters: documentation, escalation triggers, and what never to handle informally Multi-State Employment Law and Compliance Own the multi-state employment law compliance calendar: CFRA, PAGA, Cal-WARN, CCPA, mandatory training deadlines, posting obligations, and regulatory filings Monitor federal and state legislative changes; translate new requirements into policy updates, manager communications, and process changes before deadlines Manage PAGA exposure proactively — conduct periodic self-audits of wage/hour practices, meal/rest breaks, and classification decisions Own EEOC charge response, unemployment appeals, and agency complaint management in partnership with employment counsel Maintain and enforce WARN Act readiness; ensure any restructuring or RIF includes ER review prior to execution Work with legal counsel and outside vendors; monitor spend on ER matters Culture and Engagement Steward the organizational culture: what the company stands for, how it behaves, and how it holds itself accountable Build a recognition ecosystem that reinforces values and makes high performance visible at all levels of the organization Create feedback loops between what employees experience and what leaders decide by utilizing various tools, such as Officevibe, stay interviews, exit data, and direct listening sessions Performance Management and Progressive Discipline Advise managers on progressive discipline: verbal coaching, written warnings, PIPs, final warnings, and terminations — ensuring consistency across all three states Review and approve all terminations prior to execution, with particular scrutiny on California cases given PAGA exposure Design and maintain performance improvement plan (PIP) frameworks: structure, timeline, success criteria, and documentation standards Coach managers through difficult performance conversations — providing language, approach, and documentation support Ensure documentation standards are met across all employee segments: what's in the file, what's not, and what's required in each state Track and analyze termination reasons, PIP completion rates, and manager-level disciplinary patterns to identify training needs Manager Training & ER Prevention Design and deliver ER-focused manager training: documentation habits, early intervention, recognizing harassment, accommodation triggers, and when to call HR Build a manager early-warning system — identify at-risk leaders through ER data, engagement scores, turnover patterns, and HRBP feedback before formal complaints arise Partner with the OD & Training Manager to embed ER fundamentals into new manager onboarding, supervisor development programs, and leadership training Own California mandatory harassment prevention training: ensure all supervisors and employees complete it within required timeframes and maintain records Develop a library of manager toolkits: difficult conversation guides, documentation templates, PIP frameworks, and accommodation checklists ER Reporting, Metrics & Risk Visibility Define and maintain the ER metrics dashboard: open cases by type/state/segment, case age, investigation cycle time, substantiation rates, termination types, and repeat ER actors Produce monthly ER summary for the EVPHR: active cases,