This position is ideally suited for an experienced HR professional who wants to provide full-scope HR leadership in a fast-paced, growing, operational organization with a unique combination of professionals, technical employees, and skilled trades at our primary office and manufacturing site in Chesapeake, VA and shipyards around the country. We are seeking an experienced, practical, and strategic HR leader who is comfortable rolling up their sleeves, building credibility with leaders and frontline employees, and balancing strategic people priorities with day-to-day operational needs.
ResponsibilitiesPartner with leaders at all level of the organization to understand business objectives, operational realities, workforce constraints, and skill/capability needs; develop HR solutions that help leaders improve team capability, execution, engagement, and accountability.
Coach leaders to strengthen their ability to communicate priorities, set clear expectations, provide needed resources, remove barriers, give effective feedback, recognize strong performance, and hold employees accountable when expectations are not met. Enhance frontline leadership effectiveness, communication, accountability, and trust across professional, technical, skilled trades, and shift‑based teams.
Provide guidance and coaching to managers and employees with regards to employee engagement, performance management, career development, talent assessment and retention.
Serve as an employee advocate; proactively identify opportunities and develop solutions to improve the employee experience.
Conduct investigations as required to address employee complaints, policy concerns, workplace issues, or other employee relations matters; provide sound recommendations that balance employee experience, business needs, and compliance/risk considerations.
Partner with HR Centers of Excellence (COEs) in the planning and execution of various HR programs.
Partner with leaders to develop and implement strategies to drive positive employee relations and effective, 2-way communication.
Lead the annual succession planning, talent review, and compensation planning processes.
Assist with the transformational change and communication efforts by providing consultative support to leaders to develop and execute business strategies.
Partner with department leadership and Talent Acquisition to define staffing requirements, assess role requirements, support workforce planning, and manage staffing strategies for full-time, temporary, technical, professional, and skilled trades resources.
Be a consistent and visible presence with the workforce, including shift-based employees as needed, to build trust, maintain a pulse on the organization, and provide feedback and recommendations to leadership.
Travel to local shipyards regularly and sites around the country quarterly to meet with employees, understand field and site-based workforce needs, assess risks, and recommend/develop solutions.
Serve as coach and mentor to more junior local HR and Talent Acquisition team members.
Required Qualifications
Bachelor’s degree from an accredited institution in Business, Human Resources, Industrial/Labor Relations, Industrial/Organizational Psychology, or other relevant degree; equivalent directly relevant experience may be considered where appropriate.
Minimum 10 years’ progressive experience in HR Business Partner, HR Generalist, employee relations, organization effectiveness, talent, workforce planning, or related strategic HR roles, including experience advising leaders and supporting complex business needs.
Minimum 5 years’ experience providing HR business partner or related HR leadership support in a complex operational, technical, field-based, project-based, regulated, labor-intensive, production, manufacturing, shipyard/marine, construction, logistics, utilities, energy, aerospace, government services, or similar environment.
Demonstrated experience translating business objectives, operational priorities, workforce challenges, and leadership needs into actionable HR strategies, practical solutions, and measurable outcomes.
Thorough understanding of state and federal labor laws and regulations with the ability to apply that knowledge practically in complex employee relations and operational workforce situation.
Thorough understanding of HR principles, concepts, practices and standards.
Ability to obtain and maintain a SECRET security clearance.
Preferred Qualifications
- Master’s degree and/or PHR/SPHR or other relevant HR certification preferred.
- Prefer experience operating in a complex, matrixed, multi-site, high-growth, regulated, or operational organization. Experience in a large enterprise is helpful but not required.
- Demonstrated ability to manage competing priorities in a fast-paced, rapidly changing environment while maintaining sound judgment, follow-through, employee trust, and leadership credibility.
- Demonstrated leadership, coaching, and facilitation skills.
- Excellent communications skills, both verbal and written.
Skills Required
- Bachelor's degree in Business, Human Resources, Industrial/Labor Relations, Industrial/Organizational Psychology, or related field
- Minimum 12 years' experience in roles of increasing responsibility as an HR Business Partner / Generalist
- Minimum 5 years' experience providing HR business partner support in a production, manufacturing, and/or field environment
- Thorough understanding of state and federal labor laws and regulations
- Thorough understanding of HR principles, concepts, practices and standards
- Ability to obtain and maintain a SECRET security clearance
- Master's degree in Business Administration or Human Resources (preferred)
- PHR or SPHR certification (preferred)
- Prefer minimum 10 years' experience in HR Business Partner / Generalist roles in a company with more than 10,000 employees (preferred)
- Demonstrated leadership, coaching, and facilitation skills (preferred)
- Excellent verbal and written communication skills (preferred)
- Ability to manage competing priorities in a fast-paced, rapidly changing environment (preferred)
Oceaneering Compensation & Benefits Highlights
The following summarizes recurring compensation and benefits themes identified from responses generated by popular LLMs to common candidate questions about Oceaneering and has not been reviewed or approved by Oceaneering.
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Healthcare Strength — Healthcare offerings are portrayed as comprehensive, including private medical insurance and broad medical, dental, and vision coverage tailored to local markets. In several contexts, coverage is characterized as good to outstanding.
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Retirement Support — Retirement programs include pension/retirement plans and a U.S. 401(k), which are consistently highlighted as part of a competitive package. These elements are described as contributing meaningful value to overall compensation.
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Leave & Time Off Breadth — Leave programs include PTO/vacation, paid holidays, and paid sick leave, with annual leave emphasized globally. Time-off provisions are noted as a steady component of total rewards even when salary opinions differ.
Oceaneering Insights
What We Do
Oceaneering pushes the frontiers of deep water, space and motion entertainment environments to execute with new, leading-edge connections to solve tomorrow’s challenges, today. As the trusted subsea connection specialist, our experience combined with the depth and breadth of our portfolio of technologies allows us to engineer solutions for the most complex subsea challenges. From routine to extreme, our integrated products, services, and innovative solutions safely de-risk operational systems, increase reliability, and enable a lower total cost of ownership. We are connecting what’s needed with what’s next as the world’s largest ROV operator and the leading ROV provider to the oil and gas industry with over 300 systems operating worldwide. With our safety-focused and innovative approach, we responsively and decisively react to subsea challenges while providing solutions swiftly and efficiently.
