Position: Director of People, Entrance Solutions
Organization: Cobalt Service Partners – Alpine Investors Portfolio Company – (https://cobaltsp.com)
Location: On-Site | Charlotte, NC (with approximately 25% travel)
Reports To: Group CEO, Entrance Solutions
Cobalt Service Partners Overview
Cobalt Service Partners is a private equity–backed platform building the leading commercial access and security integration business in North America. Our partner companies design, install, and service mission-critical systems including access control, video surveillance, intrusion detection, and related low-voltage infrastructure for enterprise, institutional, and commercial customers.
Backed by Alpine Investors, a private equity firm specializing in middle-market companies in the services and software industries with $15B+ in AUM, Cobalt has scaled rapidly since launch. With more than 20 acquisitions completed in a highly fragmented operating environment, Cobalt is building a differentiated, data-driven platform designed to scale through both organic growth and M&A.
Cobalt's Core Values Are
- Unwavering stewardship: We believe advancing founders' legacies is a privilege. We do right by our founders, teams, and customers in good times and in bad.
- Excellence in action: We hold ourselves accountable to the highest standards. We're bold in our pursuits, don't make excuses, and relentlessly empower each other to get the job done.
- Seek and tell the truth: We're honest with ourselves and others. We do what we say we'll do, say what needs to be said, and search for the right answer regardless of where it comes from.
- Love learning: We're always learning as individuals, as a team, and as a business. We show up humble, curious, and with the courage to change our minds.
- Enjoy the ride: We're fired up by our mission, love our team, and don't take either for granted. We show up authentically, assume best intent, and try not to take ourselves too seriously.
Position Overview
The Director of People owns the employee experience across Cobalt's Entrance Solutions vertical; which includes six partner companies and fifteen branches, comprising roughly 200 employees, most of them field technicians. The focus would be on driving retention and engagement (eNPS), while running payroll, benefits, compliance, and employee relations on the Miter platform.
Key Responsibilities
- Employee Engagement & eNPS: Establish a consistent, platform-wide eNPS cadence with visible action loops, driving year-over-year improvement.
- Field Talent Retention: Reduce regrettable attrition among senior field technicians through targeted retention strategies.
- Miter Rollout & Payroll Ownership: Lead the Miter HRIS/payroll rollout across all Entrance Solutions companies, own payroll administration directly, and train local HR admins, with zero missed cycles.
- Benefits Administration: Consolidate and administer benefits consistently across all Entrance Solutions companies.
- HR Playbook Build: Build partner company HR staff into a unified team with a common playbook for onboarding, employee relations, and comp bands.
- Employee Relations & Compliance: Resolve ER issues through a documented, consistent process, with no surprises reaching the Group CEO.
Qualifications
- 7+ years in HR, including 3+ years in trades, field services, construction, or another blue-collar, multi-site environment
- Hands-on payroll and benefits administration experience, not just vendor oversight *REQUIRED - Non-Negotiable*
- Experience implementing or administering an HRIS/payroll platform (Miter, ADP, Paylocity, Paychex, or similar)
- Strong spreadsheet fluency: payroll reconciliation, benefits audits, and basic people dashboards (headcount, turnover, eNPS)
- Experience managing a small, distributed HR team, or ready to take one on
- Change management experience through an acquisition, rebrand, or leadership transition
- Track record building HR processes: onboarding, employee relations, and compensation bands
Core Competencies
- Trades/Field Services Fluency: Comfortable in a branch and fluent in field HR issues.
- Warmth & Approachability: The go-to person technicians and admins trust with problems.
- Coaching & Development: Builds growth paths for admins and technicians as a retention strategy.
- Commercial Acumen: Understands labor margin and how each department serves the P&L.
- Systems & Analytical Rigor: Reconciles payroll, audits benefits, and builds dashboards without analyst support.
- Change Management: A steady presence through acquisitions and organizational change.
Compensation and Timing
This role offers a base salary of $135-145k (DOE), plus bonus, along with a comprehensive benefits package (healthcare, 401(k) match, flexible time off).
Skills Required
- 7+ years in HR, including 3+ years in trades, field services, construction, or multi-site blue-collar environment
- Hands-on payroll and benefits administration experience (explicitly required)
- Experience implementing or administering an HRIS/payroll platform (Miter, ADP, Paylocity, Paychex, or similar)
- Strong spreadsheet fluency for payroll reconciliation, benefits audits, and basic people dashboards
- Experience managing a small, distributed HR team or readiness to manage one
- Change management experience through acquisition, rebrand, or leadership transition
- Proven track record building HR processes: onboarding, employee relations, and compensation bands
Cobalt Service Partners Compensation & Benefits Highlights
The following summarizes recurring compensation and benefits themes identified from responses generated by popular LLMs to common candidate questions about Cobalt Service Partners and has not been reviewed or approved by Cobalt Service Partners.
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Healthcare Strength — Health coverage is consistently presented in job postings as including medical, dental, and vision, with some roles describing comprehensive plans. One description also highlights a strong employer contribution toward premiums, underscoring robust support.
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Retirement Support — A 401(k) with company match is commonly listed across postings, pointing to employer-backed retirement savings. Some roles explicitly describe matching contributions, indicating structured long-term support.
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Leave & Time Off Breadth — Paid time off and paid holidays are frequently included, with some roles mentioning sick time and accrual that increases with tenure. Certain corporate postings reference flexible PTO as well.
Cobalt Service Partners Insights
What We Do
Cobalt Service Partners buys and builds leading access solutions businesses that install and maintain essentials like commercial doors, overhead doors, security gates, access control systems, video surveillance systems, and more. Through its commitment to people, technology, and unwavering stewardship, Cobalt offers founders a long-term home for their business that they can feel proud of. Securing Legacies, Unlocking Possibility. Cobalt is backed by Alpine Investors, an investment firm committed to building enduring businesses by investing in and developing exceptional people.
