Salary: $32/hr - $34/hr

Schedule: Tues-Sat, 9a-5p, 37.5hr work week. Occasional Sundays or evenings during peak season (mid-June through Labor Day), typically 2–4 events across the full Festival. 

Location: Becket, MA

Benefits: Meals provided daily

GENERAL SUMMARY

The People & Culture Manager is a temporary, seasonal position that strengthens the People & Culture department during the Organization’s Festival season. The workforce expands significantly with seasonal hires across multiple departments. This role manages high-volume onboarding and offboarding operations, conducts regular one-on-one check-ins and stay interviews with seasonal staff, supports conflict resolution, and ensures compliance with applicable employment laws. Complex employee relations matters are escalated to the Director of TIC/P&C with documentation and recommended next steps.

This position requires someone who can move efficiently through administrative volume - welcome packets, I-9 verifications, DocuSign workflows, cross-departmental coordination - while also serving as a visible, trusted HR presence for the full seasonal workforce. The ideal candidate brings both the systems orientation to keep operations running and the interpersonal skill to build trust across all levels of staff in a diverse, fast-paced creative environment.

KEY RESPONSIBILITIES

Employee Relations & Staff Support

• Conduct regular check-ins and stay interviews with seasonal staff to assess engagement and surface concerns proactively.
• Serve as a trusted first point of contact for employee concerns, workplace conflicts, and interpersonal dynamics.
• Conduct preliminary conflict resolution conversations and mediate low-to-moderate complexity situations.
• Facilitate offboarding check-ins with departing seasonal staff, gathering feedback and ensuring a dignified exit experience.
• Escalate complex employee relations matters to the Director of TIC/P&C with thorough documentation and recommended next steps.
• Support a positive, equitable workplace culture through proactive engagement across departments.

Onboarding & Offboarding

• Manage end-to-end onboarding coordination: welcome packets, I-9 verification, document collection, DocuSign workflows, and orientation scheduling.
• Lead cross-departmental coordination with IT, Housing, and department heads on seasonal staff arrivals.
• Execute offboarding processing: exit checklists, system deactivation, and equipment returns.

Leave & Compliance Administration

• Administer leave processes including FMLA, MA PFML, and ADA accommodations - tracking, documentation, and return-to-work coordination.
• Track required trainings, certifications, and policy acknowledgments across the seasonal workforce.
• Ensure compliance with applicable employment laws across seasonal hiring and employment practices.

Day-to-Day HR Operations

• Monitor and respond to shared People & Culture inboxes.
• Maintain employee records and personnel files with accuracy and confidentiality.
• Draft routine correspondence including verification letters, status confirmations, and policy reminders.
• Support enrollment and benefits communications in coordination with the People Operations Manager.

QUALIFICATIONS

Required

• Minimum 5 years of HR generalist experience, including direct employee relations work.
• Demonstrated ability to navigate interpersonal conflict and conduct sensitive one-on-one conversations with professionalism and care.
• Working knowledge of basic Federal and Massachusetts employment law (PFML, Earned Sick Time, FMLA, ADA) in regards to hiring, FLSA, leave and accommodations.
• Experience onboarding at scale (100+ hires per cycle).
• HRIS proficiency (Paycom experience strongly preferred).
• Comfortable with DocuSign and high-volume document management.

Preferred

• Nonprofit, performing arts, or seasonal/event-based organization experience.
• Experience supporting IDEA or equity-centered workplace initiatives.
• Familiarity with culturally diverse, multilingual work environments.

WORKING CONDITIONS / PHYSICAL DEMANDS

• On-site position
• Ability to work in an office setting with standard physical activities (sitting, standing, walking).
• Schedule flexibility required; may include occasional evenings or weekends during peak periods.