SkyWater Search Partners is representing a long-standing, highly-respected institution in Minneapolis as they look to hire a highly organized and proactive Senior Administrative Assistant to support senior leadership and help coordinate a wide range of programs, events, and operational initiatives. This role is ideal for someone who enjoys balancing administrative excellence with meaningful, people-focused work. This role will require an equal balance of organization skills, business communication, creativity and community building.
This is a fully onsite role in Minneapolis that follows typical core business hours, with the occasional Sunday participation.
SkyWater Search Partners is seeking a highly capable and proactive Executive Assistant to serve as a trusted partner to our client’s CEO and Executive Team. This is a critical, high-impact role responsible for ensuring seamless day-to-day operations, supporting strategic initiatives, and acting as a central point of coordination across leadership.
This role is ideal for someone who thrives in an entrepreneurial, fast-paced environment, anticipates needs, and operates with a high level of professionalism, discretion, and ownership.
Why this role?
Established, stable company with 100+ years of success
Strong culture with long-tenured employees
Meaningful, high-impact work supporting executive leadership
Competitive benefits and a collaborative environment
SkyWater has been engaged by a large, industry-leading, privately held organization to find their next Senior HR Business Partner.
This role is ideal for a strategic HR practitioner who is naturally curious, business-minded, and energized by building strong relationships with leaders and teams. The Senior HR Business Partner will serve as a trusted advisor to align people strategies with business objectives, support multiple business groups, and drive key talent initiatives in partnership with senior leadership.
Our firm has been retained by a growing medical device organization entering an exciting phase of growth as it continues delivering innovative solutions that improve patient outcomes. As the company expands its capabilities across engineering, manufacturing, and commercialization, we are seeking a Head of Human Resources to lead the people strategy supporting the organization’s next stage of growth.
Reporting to the Chief Financial Officer, the Head of Human Resources is a critical hire responsible for building the HR function and establishing the people processes, systems, and practices that will support the company’s continued expansion. This is a newly created, highly operational role for a builder — someone energized by ambiguity, comfortable rolling up their sleeves, and excited by the opportunity to create something meaningful within a rapidly scaling organization.
This individual will design and implement the foundational processes, policies, and programs needed to support growth, including onboarding, performance management, compensation frameworks, employee relations, and workforce planning.
Day to day, this role is primarily operational, focused on building and running the HR function with limited infrastructure currently in place. The individual who succeeds here will bring both a strategic mindset and strong executional instincts and will have the opportunity over time to grow into a more senior HR leadership role as the function matures and the organization continues to scale.
Duties and Responsibilities
HR Function Build-Out
• Build the HR function by designing and implementing foundational infrastructure, processes, and programs, including onboarding, performance management, job architecture, and compliance frameworks. • Assess the current state of HR processes, systems, and practices across the organization and establish consistent, scalable approaches where needed while improving or formalizing informal practices. • Serve as a pragmatic partner to managers and leaders across the company, helping them build capability, navigate people challenges, and make thoughtful talent decisions. • Own day-to-day management of HR vendor relationships including payroll, HRIS, benefits administration, and recruiting platforms, evaluating and implementing vendors where gaps exist. • Lead the annual benefits renewal cycle, including working with brokers, benchmarking competitiveness, managing carrier negotiations, and overseeing open enrollment.
Talent Acquisition and Development
• Lead talent acquisition efforts to attract high-caliber talent across engineering, manufacturing, quality, and corporate functions. • Develop leadership development and succession planning initiatives that strengthen the company’s leadership pipeline. • Establish talent management strategies and processes needed to achieve organizational objectives, including succession planning, workforce planning, and pipeline recruiting.
Culture and Employee Engagement
• Champion a high-performing, collaborative culture that reflects the organization’s values and supports innovation and accountability. • Drive initiatives that strengthen employee engagement, reinforce leadership expectations, and enhance the employee experience. • Develop and implement energizing employee communication plans that reach all levels of the organization.
Organizational Design and Workforce Planning
• Partner with leadership to evaluate and evolve organizational structures to support growth and operational effectiveness. • Lead workforce planning efforts to ensure the organization has the capabilities and talent needed to execute its strategic priorities.
HR Operations and Compliance
• Provide hands-on leadership across core HR functions including employee relations, performance management, compliance, payroll, benefits, and HR policy development. • Lead the development and implementation of competitive health, retirement, wellness, and benefits programs. • Respond to employee relations matters with urgency while identifying trends and implementing proactive initiatives.
Mergers, Acquisitions, and Board Engagement
• Partner with executive leadership and private equity partners to support potential mergers and acquisitions, contributing to diligence related to organizational structure, leadership capability, culture, and talent risk. • Lead post-acquisition integration efforts including alignment of people processes, organizational design, leadership structure, and culture. • As appropriate, attend and present at Board of Directors meetings regarding people strategies, organizational performance, and HR initiatives.
Candidate Requirements
The successful candidate will bring strong ethical, intellectual, professional, and personal values along with the following qualifications:
• Experience in medical device, life sciences, manufacturing, or another regulated industry strongly preferred. • 10–15 years of progressive HR leadership experience, ideally within growth-oriented or entrepreneurial environments. Experience building or significantly strengthening an HR function is highly valued. • Demonstrated ability to partner with senior leaders to align people strategies with business objectives. • Experience across talent acquisition, leadership development, employee relations, and organizational design. • Strong work ethic and willingness to operate in a hands-on capacity within a scaling environment. • High energy, self-motivated, and operationally oriented with a data-driven approach to decision making. • Comfortable operating in ambiguity and energized by building new capabilities and infrastructure. • High level of self-awareness and ability to build credible relationships across the organization. • Strong business acumen with a bias for practical, effective action. • Strategic thinker with excellent interpersonal and communication skills. • Experience supporting or leading M&A diligence and post-acquisition integration efforts is preferred. • Ability to travel as needed.
Education
Bachelor’s degree required.
Compensation and Benefits
This role reports directly to the Chief Financial Officer and offers a competitive salary and performance-based bonus opportunity. The organization provides comprehensive health benefits, a 401(k) program with company match, and additional benefits designed to support employee wellbeing.
Location
The organization is headquartered in the Minneapolis–St. Paul metropolitan area and values an in-person environment that supports collaboration, innovation, and entrepreneurial energy. The Head of Human Resources will maintain a strong onsite presence and engage closely with leaders and teams across the organization.
The Sr. HR Generalist will serve as a sole HR leader for the organization, reporting directly to the CEO, and will oversee all core HR functions including recruiting and onboarding, training and development, performance management, employee relations, compensation, benefits, and payroll. This role is responsible for maintaining compliance with employment laws, developing policies and HR documentation, and fostering a positive and inclusive workplace culture.
The Sr. HR Generalist will utilize HR reporting and analytics to support leadership decision-making, lead initiatives to enhance employee satisfaction and retention, and help drive organizational effectiveness across a growing business. The ideal candidate brings 5+ years of progressive HR experience, including strong communication and problem-solving skills, a working knowledge of employment law, and the ability to build trust and provide sound, level-headed guidance at all levels of the organization.
This is a fully onsite position 4 days/week in Minneapolis.
Location: Sioux Falls, SD (Onsite) Compensation: Targeting $100,000–$120,000 base + bonus eligible + ESOP participation
This is a high-impact leadership position within a growing, employee-owned environment.
About the Organization
Our client is a respected manufacturing company with a strong reputation for quality, craftsmanship, and long-term customer partnerships.
The organization is employee-owned (ESOP), values accountability and collaboration, and is focused on building a strong, unified culture across locations.
The Opportunity
This HR Manager will lead Human Resources for a 250+ employee manufacturing site (approximately 45 office staff and 200+ production employees). Reporting to the Vice President of HR, this leader will serve as the primary HR presence on-site and a key partner to plant leadership during a critical integration and stabilization phase.
This is a blended strategic and hands-on role. Success requires someone who can build credibility quickly, operate independently, and execute with confidence in a fast-paced production environment.
This role is expected to be onsite. The workforce is onsite, and HR leadership needs to be visible and accessible.
What You’ll Own
Immediate Impact
Lead and elevate frontline recruiting strategy and execution
Strengthen communication, hiring workflows, and pipeline diversification
Manage day-to-day employee relations, compliance, and leave matters
Update and refine foundational HR infrastructure (handbook, policies, processes)
Partner closely with corporate HR to ensure alignment and decision consistency
6–12 Month Impact
Stabilize HR delivery and rebuild trust/credibility across the site
Strengthen ER practices and leadership coaching
Improve benefits administration and readiness for the future
Help shape how company culture shows up locally
Establish strong communication rhythm with remote HR leadership
Ideal Candidate Profile
Required
7+ years of progressive HR experience
Strong manufacturing orientation, comfortable in heavy or customized production environments
Experience supporting 200 + employee populations with high frontline engagement
Confident decision-maker who can operate without daily oversight
Strong written and verbal communication skills
Executive presence and ability to influence plant leadership
High emotional intelligence and ability to navigate ambiguity
Preferred
Spanish bilingual (highly valued, not required)
Experience partnering with remote HR leadership
Prior experience in post-acquisition or environments undergoing change
Compensation & Benefits
Target base salary: $100,000–$120,000 (based on experience)
This is not a “maintenance” HR job. It is an opportunity to:
Step into a high-visibility leadership role
Influence culture during integration
Build structure and credibility where it matters most
Be part of an employee-owned organization with strong long-term growth
If you are a confident, relationship-driven HR leader who thrives in manufacturing environments and enjoys building stability out of complexity, I look forward to connecting.
We have been retained by a global provider of aftermarket aviation solutions supporting commercial, regional, and corporate aircraft operators. Built to address the growing demand for integrated, end-to-end aftermarket services, the organization operates through a portfolio of specialized, independent business units delivering parts, maintenance, asset lifecycle, and technical solutions that keep aircraft operating efficiently and safely.
Our client is adding a senior-level Chief of Staff to serve as an extension to the CEO and an integrator for the Executive Leadership Team (ELT). This role is responsible for driving alignment across a multi-business portfolio, ensuring enterprise initiatives remain on track, and strengthening operating cadence, decision clarity, and execution discipline across the organization.
This is a highly cross-functional, high-trust role requiring exceptional judgment, executive presence, discretion, and the ability to influence outcomes without formal authority. The Chief of Staff will operate at both strategic and tactical levels, balancing long-term value creation with day-to-day execution rigor.
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601 Carlson Parkway | Suite 900
Minneapolis, Minnesota 55305
