Senior HR Associate

Oceana seeks a Senior HR Associate to join Oceana’s dynamic and fast-paced human resources team. The Senior HR Associate is responsible for delivering accurate and timely support across core HR processes including onboarding, offboarding, payroll coordination, benefits invoicing, and HRIS administration. This role requires strong attention to detail, operational judgment, and the ability to work independently while supporting a wide range of internal stakeholders.

The Senior HR Associate works closely with the Deputy Director, US HR Operations, and regularly partners with Finance, IT, and external vendors to ensure seamless HR service delivery. This role plays a key part in maintaining compliance, supporting employee experience, and enabling cross-functional collaboration.

Essential Functions

Principal Duties and Responsibilities

• Coordinate all logistics for employee onboarding and offboarding, including system access, documentation, and cross-departmental coordination.
• Ensure timely and accurate processing of new hire and exit workflows in the HRIS and other systems.
• Support orientation logistics and related documentation.
• Serve as the HR point of contact for benefits invoicing; reconcile vendor statements and ensure timely payment to avoid disruptions in employee coverage.
• Partner with Finance on payroll processing, including validating payroll data, tracking job and salary changes, and coordinating deadlines.
• Maintain accurate records of benefit and payroll changes in HR systems.
• Ensure accurate data entry and updates in the HRIS for employee records, job changes, and status changes.
• Conduct regular audits of HRIS data to ensure accuracy, consistency, and compliance with internal standards; identify and resolve data discrepancies and support ongoing data cleanup initiatives.
• Generate routine reports to support decision-making and compliance needs.
• Manage recruitment for early-career roles (e.g., interns, fellows, and associates), including posting roles, screening candidates, and scheduling interviews.
• Support hiring managers by tracking applicants and maintaining communication with candidates.
• Respond to HR help desk inquiries with timely and accurate information or referrals to appropriate team members.
• Maintain and update the organizational chart regularly to ensure accurate reflection of staffing changes, including new hires, departures, and position changes.
• Maintain and update HR templates, guides, and internal knowledge documentation.
• Support administrative tasks related to compliance training, employee files, and policy implementation.
• Proactively identify opportunities to streamline HR processes and support operational improvements in partnership with the Deputy Director.
• Provide occasional administrative support to the Global HR Director, such as scheduling, document preparation, or data collection related to department-wide initiatives and priorities.
  
  

Job Requirements

Education and experience:

• Bachelor’s degree in Human Resources, Business Administration, or a related field or a combination of education and relevant experience.
• At least 3 years of experience in HR operations or as an HR generalist.
• Prior experience working with HRIS platforms and payroll systems; ADP experience strongly preferred.
  
  

Skills And Knowledge

• Solid understanding of HR workflows, documentation standards, and data integrity best practices.
• Strong attention to detail with the ability to manage multiple priorities and deadlines.
• Ability to work independently and exercise sound judgment on routine decisions.
• Comfort working cross-functionally with teams such as Finance and IT.
• Commitment to confidentiality and discretion in handling sensitive employee information.
  
  

Required Competencies

• Action-oriented: Takes on new opportunities and tough challenges with a sense of urgency, high energy and enthusiasm.
• Instills Trust: Gains the confidence and trust of others through honesty, integrity, and authenticity.
• Communicate effectively: Developing and delivering multi-mode communications that convey a clear understanding of the unique needs of different audiences.
• Collaborates: Building partnerships and working collaboratively with others to meet shared objectives.
• Resourcefulness: Takes initiative to solve problems and find information with minimal supervision.
• Adaptability: Adapting approach and demeanor in real-time to match the shifting demands of different situations.
• Optimizes Work Processes: Knowing the most effective and efficient processes to get things done, with a focus on continuous improvement.
• Global Perspective: Takes a broad view of issues and challenges and can see them in global contexts.
• Situational Adaptability: Recognizes the need to be flexible and act differently in different situations – bring empathy in times of stress and change, firm direction in times of uncertainty, or diplomacy in times of conflict.
  
  

Oceana values a diverse workforce and welcomes people different from each other in many ways, including characteristics such as race, gender, sexual orientation, religion, ethnicity, and national origin. Oceana considers all qualified candidates and seeks to recruit from a diverse candidate pool.

This position is based in Washington, D.C. Oceana's US offices operate on a hybrid schedule and staff are required to work from their assigned office on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday. With an agreement between the employee and their supervisor, the employee may work from home Monday and Friday.

The salary range for this position is $70,000 to $80,000 annually.

Please apply by February 11, 2026.