Human Resources Manager

James Hardie is the industry leader in exterior home and outdoor living solutions, with a portfolio that includes fiber cement, fiber gypsum, composite and PVC decking and railing products. Our family of trusted brands includes Hardie®, TimberTech®, AZEK® Exteriors, Versatex®, fermacell®, and StruXure®. With over 8,000 employees and our U.S. operating entities headquartered in Chicago, we boast 31 operating sites, 6 recycling facilities, and 6 research and development centers globally. Powered by a dynamic workforce, we’re united by our purpose of Building a Better Future for All™ through sustainable innovation, a Zero Harm culture, and a commitment to empowering our people and communities. For more information, visit www.jameshardie.com . Summary The Human Resource Manager plays a critical role in shaping and executing the people strategy in alignment with business objectives. This role is designed for an HR leader who can operate strategically while ensuring operational rigor, partnering closely with business leaders to drive performance, strengthening leadership capability, and fostering a high-engagement culture.  The successful candidate will be viewed as a business and functional leader for the manufacturing site. This position goes beyond traditional HR administration. It is accountable for anticipating workforce needs, identifying organizational risks and opportunities, and delivering integrated people solutions that enable sustainable growth. The HR Manager acts as a trusted advisor to leaders, a coach to managers, and an advocate for employees, while ensuring compliance, consistency, and fairness across business and HR practices. What You’ll Do: Strategic Business Partnership Partner with senior leaders to understand business strategy, operational challenges, and workforce implications. Translate business priorities into people strategies across talent, organization design, leadership capability, and culture. Provide data-driven insights using workforce and people metrics (safety, turnover, engagement, performance, absenteeism) to influence decision-making. Participate actively in leadership meetings, strategic planning sessions, and operational reviews. Support Lean management principles and standard work to support continuous improvement in the business and function. Talent, Workforce & Succession Planning Lead workforce planning efforts to ensure the organization has the right talent, skills, and structure to meet current and future needs. Develop and drive overall retention strategies and action plans. Partner with leaders to identify critical roles and develop robust succession plans and internal pipelines. Collaborate with Talent Acquisition on recruiting strategies for priority roles. Partner with Learning & Development to identify leadership and capability gaps and drive targeted development solutions. Leadership, Culture & Employee Engagement Serve as a steward of the organization’s…