Human Resources Generalist

About NLS

Neighborhood Legal Services Inc. (NLS) is a nonprofit public interest law firm that provides free civil legal services to low-income individuals people with disabilities and others facing barriers to stability safety and access to justice. Through advocacy legal advice representation and community education NLS helps clients address urgent civil legal needs involving housing public benefits family disability and related matters.

With more than 120 staff working across offices in Buffalo Niagara Falls Lockport and Batavia NLS is one of the largest providers of civil legal services in Western New York. Our work is carried out by attorneys paralegals advocates support staff managers and administrative professionals who share a commitment to fairness dignity and meaningful access to justice

For an HR professional joining NLS means supporting the people who deliver critical civil legal services across Western New York. HR at NLS is not just paperwork; it is part of the infrastructure that helps employees do difficult mission-centered work with reliable systems clear communication and a workplace grounded in fairness dignity and respect.

The Opportunity

NLS is seeking a Human Resources Generalist to serve as a primary HR operations owner across the employee lifecycle. This is a true Generalist role for someone who is ready to manage core HR workflows with independence after ramp-up including leave administration recruitment administration onboarding and offboarding coordination HRIS/ADP maintenance standard reporting routine benefits/vendor support payroll coordination and employee communications.

The ideal candidate is organized detail-oriented service-minded and comfortable balancing employee support with compliance confidentiality deadlines and accurate documentation. This role is a strong fit for someone who enjoys practical HR operations and wants meaningful responsibility in a mission-driven nonprofit environment.

What You Will Do

• Employee support:Serve as a primary HR point of contact for employee and supervisor questionsrelated to benefits leave ADP/timekeeping time off onboarding employment processes and general HR procedures.
• HR inbox and follow-through:Monitor the HR inbox identify urgency respond within approved guidance route items when needed and track follow-up through completion.
• Leave administration:Manage routine leave administration after ramp-up including leave intake date tracking documentation vendor/payroll/benefits coordination and employee follow-up.
• Leave/pay calculations:Calculate leave-related time and compensation including PTO usage paid/unpaid leave periods pay differentials benefit premium impacts and payroll-log updates.
• Benefits and vendor support:Respond to routine benefits questions and assist with vendor-access issues such as HRA/FSA medical dental vision enrollment and related troubleshooting. Assist with open enrollment coordination.
• Recruitment and hiring:Coordinate the recruitment and hiring lifecycle including job postings external vendor posting candidate communications interview scheduling reference checks job-fair participation as assigned offer letters hiring documentation and handoff to onboarding.
• Onboarding and employee lifecycle coordination:Coordinate operational onboarding steps new hire paperwork HR onboarding components IT/system access notices payroll/ADP steps benefit enrollment information and supervisor communications.
• Offboarding administration:Coordinate routine separation/offboarding steps including separation paperwork benefits/COBRA-related forms ADP status updates payroll coordination IT offboarding notices and supervisor checklists.
• ADP/HRIS and reporting: Serve as the primary HR-side user for routine ADP/HRIS employee data records reports and updates; run and review standard HR reports; validate employee lists finance/grant data ACA-related information census reports and other recurring HR data requests.
• Process reliability:Use checklists templates SOPs and source documents to ensure accuracy consistency confidentiality andtimelyfollow-through while helping identify process gaps.
• Escalation and judgment:Independently handle routine matters and escalate unusual high-risk legally complex or policy-sensitive issues to HR leadership when appropriate.

What We Are Looking For

• Bachelors degree in human resources business organizational development public administration ora relatedfieldrequired.
• Minimum of two years of full-time Human Resources experience required preferably in HR generalist HR operations benefits recruitment payroll coordination HRIS leave administration or employee lifecycle work.
• Hands-on experience with lifecycle recruitment administration and employee orientation/onboarding processes.
• Hands-on experience with leave administration benefits/vendor coordination HR reporting recruitment administration onboarding/offboarding or payroll coordination.
• Experience using maintaining and reviewing HRIS/payroll or employee-record systems; ADP experience preferred.
• Working knowledge of federal and New York State employment and leave concepts including FMLA New York Paid Family Leave New York disability benefits wage/hour concepts employee records and confidentiality requirements.
• Ability to independently calculate leave-related time pay impacts PTO offsets/differentials benefit-premium impacts and other routine HR/payroll coordination items after training on NLS-specific procedures.
• Strong written and verbal communication skills including the ability to draft clear professional employee and candidate communications.
• Demonstrated organization attention to detail critical thinking analytical ability and ability to manage multiple assignments and deadlines.
• Ability to interpret and apply policies checklists benefit/vendor guidance CBA provisions and HR procedures to routine matters while recognizing when escalation is required.
• Comfort using Microsoft Office Excel Outlook Teams shared-document platforms and HRIS/reporting tools.
• Commitment to fairness respect cultural humility public service and access to justice.

Preferred Experience

• Experience in a nonprofit legal services public interest unionized or mission-driven environment.
• Experience supporting HRIS process improvements reporting modules data-quality practices or workflow documentation.
• SHRM-CP PHR or progress toward a relevant HR certification is welcome but not required.
• Second language skills are a plus but not required.

Why Join NLS

• Mission-driven impact:Support the staff who provide free civil legal services to individuals and families across Western New York.

• Meaningful HR ownership:Help strengthen HR systems employee experience communication process reliability and operational trust.
• Collaborative team environment:Work closely with HR leadership Finance/Payroll supervisors and staff across programs and offices.
• Work-life balance and benefits:NLS offers a 35-hour work week reduced summer hours telework options where applicable comprehensive benefits paid time off professional development pension plan HRA/FSA options and Public Service Loan Forgiveness eligibility where applicable.

Working Conditions

• Work is performed primarily in an office environment and includes regular use of a computer telephone copier/scanner and related office equipment.
• May require coordination with staff across multiple NLS offices and occasional travel or in-person meeting support as assigned.
• Must be able to maintain confidentiality while working with sensitive employee payroll benefits leave medical and organizational information.
• Ability tolift upto 15 pounds occasionally.

Disclaimer

This job description is not intended to be an exhaustive list of all responsibilities duties skills or working conditions associated with the position. Duties may change at any time with or without notice based on organizational needs.

How to Apply

Please submit a resume and cover letter through theNLS Career Center. No phone calls please.

Equal Employment Opportunity

Neighborhood Legal Services is an equal opportunity employer. Employment decisions including recruiting hiring placement promotion compensation and training are made without discrimination or harassment based on race color religion creed sex pregnancy sexual orientation gender identity or expression national origin age disability genetic information marital status military or veteran status domestic violence victim status prior arrest or conviction record or any other characteristic protected by federal state or local law. Reasonable accommodations will be provided to qualified applicants with disabilities to support participation in the application and hiring process. Email for assistance.