Human Resources Specialist (HR Business Partner/Generalist)

Company: Van Meter
Location: Cedar Rapids
Posted on: April 5, 2026

Job Description:

In-office requirement: Being in the office five days per week is essential to be readily available to our employee-owners and leaders. Overview: The Human Resources Specialist plays a crucial role in supporting employee-owners and leaders in pursuit of being their personal best as part of an outstanding team, while fostering and protecting our award-winning, people-first culture. Focused on strengthening organizational capacity, this role supports the recruitment of top talent, assists with performance management, and partners with leaders to build their best teams. You will be viewed as a trusted resource for employees and leaders alike, recognized for integrity, honesty, sound judgment, and approachability. By leveraging data and metrics to identify trends, diagnose opportunities, and measure outcomes, you will bring a data-driven approach to process improvement, a strong coaching orientation, and the ability to translate HR best practices into practical, scalable solutions. This role serves as a champion of our company values and our purpose to create lasting value for those we serve. What you'll do: Champion the employee-owner experience by improving HR touchpoints and processes—balancing empathy, efficiency, and compliance. Drive talent management with leaders: leadership development, succession planning, and strong internal pipelines for critical roles. Partner with leaders and our in-house Recruiting team on identifying position requirements and compensation ranges for open roles, supporting selection, offer decisions, and a strong candidate experience aligned to our values. Use metrics and insights (engagement, turnover, hiring, performance, talent bench strength) to identify concerns and opportunities, advise leaders, and track results. Coach leaders through performance, feedback, and employee relations conversations with practical guidance and a focus on a respectful, consistent experience. Provide leadership to assigned HR projects and change management (communications, leader enablement, adoption), partnering within People Operations and with other departments from scoping and design through implementation and sustained results. Ensure HR practices are meet regulatory and compliance requirements, communicate with leaders and employee-owners on regulatory requirements, and find smart ways within those guidelines to continuously improve how work gets done. Partner with Learning & Development to deliver leadership and people-manager training that improves capability and the employee-owner experience. Requirements What you'll bring: A coaching mindset and confidence guiding leaders through sensitive, complex people situations. Strong judgment, discretion, and the ability to build trust quickly across all levels. Talent management capability: experience with leadership development, succession planning, and performance management. Comfort using data to tell the story (trends, root causes, recommendations) and to measure progress. Working knowledge of HR best practices and employment law, with the ability to apply them in a practical, people-first way. A continuous-improvement approach—simplifying and adapting processes to improve leader, employee-owner, and HR team experiences. Demonstrated ability to scope, design, and implement HR projects, managing stakeholders and delivering projects through completion. Job Requirements/Specifications: Bachelor’s degree in a related field or equivalent experience. 2–4 years of HR generalist/HRBP experience, with strong leader-facing partnering. Knowledge of employment law and HR compliance fundamentals. Experience supporting recruiting and selection for key roles. Demonstrated success in talent management (performance, leadership development, succession). Comfort leading improvements and projects—from diagnosing the issue through implementation and change adoption. Strong analytical and systems skills (especially Excel); able to use dashboards/HR metrics to inform recommendations. PHR or SHRM-CP certification preferred. Occasional travel; in-office 5 days a week. Equal Opportunity Employer, including Veterans and Individuals with Disabilities

Keywords: Van Meter, Waterloo , Human Resources Specialist (HR Business Partner/Generalist), Human Resources , Cedar Rapids, Iowa