Company Description
Guardant Health is a leading precision oncology company focused on guarding wellness and giving every person more time free from cancer. Founded in 2012, Guardant® is transforming patient care and accelerating new cancer therapies by providing critical insights into what drives disease through its advanced blood and tissue tests, real-world data and AI analytics. Guardant tests help improve outcomes across all stages of care, including screening to find cancer early, monitoring for recurrence in early-stage cancer, and treatment selection for patients with advanced cancer. For more information, visit guardanthealth.com and follow the company on LinkedIn, X (Twitter) and Facebook.
We are seeking a strategic, detail-oriented and collaborative Employee Relations Manager to join our dynamic People Team.
The Employee Relations Manager serves as a critical individual contributor within the Employee Relations function, providing consultation, case management expertise, and issue resolution support across the organization. You will partner closely with People Business Partners (PBPs), managers, and Legal to address a wide range of employee relations matters, balancing risk mitigation with strong employee experience. Moreover, you would be trusted to operate with a high degree of discretion and independent judgment and apply sound employee relations principles, employment law knowledge, and business acumen to resolve issues effectively and consistently.
Essential Duties and Responsibilities:
Complaint Investigations
Independently conduct thorough and impartial investigations involving policy violations, misconduct, performance concerns, retaliation, harassment, discrimination, and other sensitive matters.
Develop investigation strategies, including scoping, witness identification, interview planning, and evidence review.
Conduct thorough and timely interviews and analyze facts using established investigation standards.
Prepare clear, well-documented investigation summaries and partner with PBPs, Legal, and leadership on outcomes, corrective actions, and risk mitigation.
Identify patterns or systemic issues arising from investigations and elevate trends or concerns to senior ER and HR leadership.
Performance Improvement Plan and Corrective Action Oversight
Guide and support managers in drafting, implementing, and monitoring performance improvement plans (PIPs) as well as appropriate corrective actions, up to and including termination of employment.
Develop scalable frameworks for PIP management.
Ensure consistency, fairness, and compliance with company policies throughout the PIP process.
Track outcomes and provide recommendations for next steps based on progress.
Partner with Legal on high-risk termination decisions and ensure corrective actions align with precedent and internal equity principles.
Strategic Problem Solving and Prevention
Apply enterprise thinking to complex ER scenarios, assessing legal risk, cultural impact, and organizational implications to develop solutions that fit the business needs.
Partner cross-functionally with Legal, Compliance, People Operations, and Learning & Development to support consistent practices and preventative initiatives.
Contribute to policy enhancements, manager resources, and training content related to employee relations.
Recommend, design, communicate, and track scalable solutions to recurring issues to reduce future risk and improve manager capability.
Data Analytics and Trend Reporting
Ensure ER data is thorough and timely for reporting; track and analyze data including investigation types, findings, outcomes, time to resolution.
Identify emerging trends, root causes, and risk areas and provide insights to ER leadership, PBPs, and People leadership.
Contribute to dashboards and presentations that support proactive decision-making and continuous improvement in the ER space.
Manager Capability Building
Identify common manager gaps based on ER case trends (e.g., documentation, communication, escalation timing).
Partner with PBPs and L&D to improve manager toolkits and learning experiences.
Provide just-in-time coaching to managers navigating difficult employee situations.
Collaboration and Communication
Act as a trusted advisor to the People Business Partner team on routine and complex ER matters, providing practical, risk-aware guidance.
Consult on employee behavior, policy interpretation, conflict resolution, disciplinary actions, accommodations, leaves, and sensitive employee communications.
Balance employee advocacy, manager effectiveness, and business needs while maintaining consistency with company values.
Act as a trusted resource for employees and managers, promoting open communication and a positive work environment.
Partner with the People Team to develop training programs and tools aimed at preventing workplace issues and improving team dynamics.
Qualifications
Associate’s degree required with relevant experience. Bachelor’s degree in Human Resources, Business Administration, or a related field preferred.
7–10 years of progressive experience in Employee Relations, with a background in Human Resources Business Partnering, or a related discipline, with demonstrated responsibility for complex cases.
Substantial experience conducting and managing workplace investigations and other ER cases independently.
Strong working knowledge of U.S. employment laws and employee relations best practices; global exposure a plus.
Demonstrated ability to exercise sound judgment, influence without authority, and manage ambiguity in high-risk situations.
Proven analytical and problem-solving skills, with experience translating data into actionable insights.
Exceptional interpersonal, verbal, and written communication skills, including experience advising senior leaders.
High degree of integrity, discretion, and professionalism when handling sensitive and confidential matters.
Demonstrated ability to manage multiple priorities in a fast-paced environment and deliver consistent, high-quality outcomes.
Hybrid Work Model: This section is applicable to onsite employees who are eligible for hybrid work location as specified by management and related policies. Guardant has defined days for in-person/onsite collaboration and work-from-home days for individual-focused time. All U.S. employees who live within 50 miles of a Guardant facility will be required to be onsite on Mondays, Tuesdays, and Thursdays. We have found aligning our scheduled in-office days allows our teams to do the best work and creates the focused thinking time our innovative work requires. At Guardant, our work model has created flexibility for better work-life balance while keeping teams connected to advance our science for our patients.
Employee may be required to lift routine office supplies and use office equipment. Majority of the work is performed in a desk/office environment; however, there may be exposure to high noise levels, fumes, and biohazard material in the laboratory environment. Ability to sit for extended periods of time.
Guardant Health is committed to providing reasonable accommodations in our hiring processes for candidates with disabilities, long-term conditions, mental health conditions, or sincerely held religious beliefs. If you need support, please reach out to Peopleteam@guardanthealth.com
A background screening including criminal history is required for this role. GH will consider qualified applicants with criminal arrest or conviction histories in a manner consistent with applicable law including but not limited to the LA County Fair Chance Policies and the Fair Chance Act (Gov. Code Section 12952).
Guardant Health is an Equal Opportunity Employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, or protected veteran status and will not be discriminated against on the basis of disability.
All your information will be kept confidential according to EEO guidelines.
To learn more about the information collected when you apply for a position at Guardant Health, Inc. and how it is used, please review our Privacy Notice for Job Applicants.
Please visit our career page at: http://www.guardanthealth.com/jobs/