At Advocate Health, we’re committed to helping people live well by creating a workplace culture rooted in dignity, respect, trust, and accountability. We’re seeking an experienced People Relations Consultant Senior to serve as a consultative advisor to leaders, physicians, faculty, residents, fellows, teammates, and business partners as they navigate complex people-related concerns.
As a valued member of the People Relations & Enablement team, you’ll play a critical role in helping leaders address workplace concerns early and effectively, assess risk, understand root causes, and make informed decisions that support performance, culture, and sustained improvement.
About This Opportunity
This opportunity is ideal for a strategic, relationship-driven HR professional who brings strong judgment, agility, and a coaching mindset. The People Relations Consultant Senior will help shift conversations from a narrow focus on policy violations to a broader understanding of what may be driving behaviors, outcomes, or workplace challenges.
In this role, you’ll support the organization’s continued evolution from reactive response to proactive prevention and enablement, while reinforcing a “one team, one model” approach to people support.
What You’ll Do
- Serve as a consultative advisor to physicians, faculty, residents, fellows, leaders, teammates, and business partners navigating people-related concerns.
- Apply a coaching mindset to help leaders think through options, risks, impacts, and potential solutions.
- Support leaders in addressing issues early and effectively before concerns escalate.
- Enable leader empowerment and autonomy through strategic advisory and coaching.
- Help leaders assess risk, understand root causes, and make informed decisions that lift performance and culture.
- Shift conversations from “Did a policy get violated?” to “What is driving this behavior or outcome?”
- Reframe documentation toward a root-cause and solution-focused approach that emphasizes context, contributing factors, and improvement opportunities.
- Identify contributing factors related to leadership, culture, systems, or environment.
- Recommend actions that support learning, growth, accountability, and sustained improvement.
- Participate in intake and assessment of workplace concerns using a consultative framework.
- Distinguish between matters requiring formal investigation and those best addressed through advisory or coaching support.
- Ensure timely, fair, respectful, and thoughtful resolution of concerns.
- Apply policies, practices, and investigative protocols consistently and appropriately.
- Ensure decisions and recommendations align with enterprise governance and expectations.
- Support documentation practices that are clear, accurate, and defensible.
- Collaborate with Leader Relations, Teammate Relations, Physician & Faculty Relations, Policy, Analytics, Training, and other partners.
- Participate in warm handoffs and promote shared accountability across service lines.
- Reinforce a “one team, one model” approach to people support.
- Model behaviors aligned to Lift Everyone Up and Lead the Way in all interactions.
- Support leaders in reinforcing dignity, respect, belonging, and trust during difficult conversations.
- Help translate Advocate Health’s Purpose & Commitments into everyday leadership actions.
- Recognize recurring themes, trends, or systemic challenges across cases.
- Share insights that inform training, policy refinement, and proactive interventions.
- Participate in defining and refining workflows, tools, and practices as the model evolves.
- Embrace innovation, learning, and change as the function continues to mature.
- Act as an ambassador for the People Relations & Enablement approach.
- Bachelor’s degree in Human Resources or a related field.
- Typically requires at least 5 years of experience in human resources, employee relations, business partnership, or a related people advisory function.
- Ability to navigate complexity with agility, adaptability, and strong judgment.
- Strategic thinking and the ability to assess risk, identify root causes, and recommend practical solutions.
- Strong communication, consultation, and influencing skills.
- Ability to build trusted relationships with leaders, teammates, and cross-functional partners.
- Resilience and sound judgment when supporting sensitive or complex workplace matters.
- Strong stakeholder management skills and the ability to work across teams and service lines.
- Understanding of the external HR, employee relations, and workplace culture landscape.
- Ability to scale impact by identifying trends, sharing insights, and supporting proactive solutions.
- No licensure, registration, or certification required.
- Master’s degree preferred.
- 5 or more years of experience in human resources, employee relations, business partnership, or a related field.
- Strong critical thinking skills.
- Strong consultation and relationship management skills.
- Solid negotiation and persuasion abilities.
- Solid People & Culture technical experience and expertise.
- Strong interpersonal skills.
- Self-awareness and the ability to manage self and others effectively.
- Ability to successfully lead, influence, and support teams through complex people-related matters.
All responsibilities and requirements are subject to possible modification to reasonably accommodate individuals with disabilities.
This job description in no way states or implies that these are the only responsibilities to be performed by an employee occupying this job or position. Employees must follow any other job-related instructions and perform any other job-related duties requested by their leaders.