Human resources manager

Water is essential to public health. For over 70 years, Rainbow Municipal Water District has provided safe drinking water and wastewater services to the residents and workers within our 82-square-mile service area in northern San Diego County. We value innovation, teamwork, responsibility, integrity, and professionalism. We are proud to be a five-time San Diego Union-Tribune Top Workplace, reflecting a culture where employees feel trusted, supported, and motivated to do their best work.

The Role

Rainbow Municipal Water District is hiring a Human Resources Manager to lead human resources, labor relations, safety, and risk management for a 59-person District with three bargaining units and an elected Board. As a small and agile agency, we need someone who can set the direction for people and culture, then do the hands-on work of building the programs and seeing them work. You will report directly to the General Manager with no layers in between, supervise a small but mighty HR and risk management team, and join a strong leadership team that isn't afraid to move fast and fix things.

Why you will love this job:

• Direct line to the top. You report to the General Manager and sit at the leadership table, so your recommendations reach the decision-maker the same day you make them.
• Impact you can see. In a 59-person workforce, when career pathways, recognition, and safety programs work, people feel it immediately, and so does the community they serve.
• A leadership team worth joining. Your peers are experienced, collaborative, and generous with their knowledge, and they will back the programs you build.
• A culture that shows up. Rainbow Water has been named a San Diego Union-Tribune Top Workplace five years running because people here care about and show up for each other, and the Human Resources Manager is central to keeping it that way.
• Flexibility with presence. The position is eligible for a hybrid remote work arrangement, with the understanding that the District's HR leader stays visible to the workforce.

How You'll Contribute

No two days look the same in this role. The work spans several crucial functions, each with established programs to run and defined early priorities, from redesigning performance management to standing up on-the-job training programs, to preparing for negotiations in 2028. The list below is a representative preview of the major functions, not an exhaustive list.

Leadership and Strategic Partnership

• Trusted advisor. Advise the General Manager, Board, and managers on people, policy, and risk; prepare staff reports and present at Board meetings.
• Budget and counsel. Administer the HR and risk budgets and confer with legal counsel on employment, workers' compensation, and liability matters.

Culture and Engagement

• Culture partner. Work with the General Manager and leadership team to sustain a workplace where employees are recognized, heard, and proud of their work.
• Pulse on the workforce. Track workforce needs and engagement through surveys, stay interviews, and recognition programs, and turn what you learn into action.

Talent Management

• Quality of hire. Lead employment branding, recruitment, and selection, and screen candidates so hiring managers see only the best-qualified applicants.
• Performance and growth. Redesign performance management around the District's strategic focus areas, then build career pathways, succession plans, and individual development plans.
• Construction OJT. Build a documented on-the-job training program for Construction with clear learning objectives, uniform readiness assessments, and video how-to guides in the LMS.

Employee and Labor Relations

• Three MOUs. Administer the District's memoranda of understanding and the grievance and disciplinary procedures in compliance with the Meyers-Milias-Brown Act.
• At the table. Be directly involved in negotiations, including research, cost analysis, and a seat at the table, with the next renegotiation in 2028.
• Employee relations. Conduct investigations, manage accommodations, advise supervisors on employment law, and update the handbook and policies for new MOUs and legislation.

Safety and Risk

• Safety and claims oversight. Direct safety, injury prevention, and workers' compensation and liability claims through the Safety and Risk Management Officer, and manage insurance and risk transfer.
• Emergency readiness. Lead a full Emergency Action Plan evaluation and a cross-departmental Emergency Operations Center exercise.

Compensation, Benefits, and HR Technology

• Hands-on comp analysis. Perform classification and compensation analysis and recommend changes that keep total rewards competitive and fiscally responsible.
• Benefits administration. Run open enrollment, calculate annual employee contribution rates under each MOU, set up changes in the HRIS, and brief leadership on cost trends.
• HR technology and AI. Align the HR technology stack with operational needs, from FLSA-compliant time and attendance to a fully adopted LMS, and partner with IT to bring AI into HR work responsibly.

The Ideal Candidate

Big-Picture Leader, Hands-On Operator You shape strategy as a member of the leadership team, and you execute it. There is a small team beside you, but you are the coach and the team captain. You design the program, build it, train the people who use it, and get it across the finish line.

Education and Experience

A bachelor's degree in human resources, business, or public administration, or equivalent; a master's degree or IPMA-SCP/SPHR certification is a plus. California public-sector labor relations training is strongly preferred; if not held at hire, it will be required within 12 months. Five years of progressively responsible professional HR experience across recruitment, labor relations, benefits, classification, and performance management. Hands-on HRIS and learning management system administration is required; ADP Workforce Now is preferred. California public agency and/or water utility experience is strongly preferred.

You'll thrive here if you:

• Think like a strategic partner. You connect people decisions to District outcomes and treat compliance and transactions as the bare minimum, not the primary focus of the job.
• Have an entrepreneurial spirit. You bring private-sector urgency to public-sector work and are comfortable bringing fresh ideas to the table and building something from nothing.
• Do culture work, not culture talk. You use surveys, stay interviews, and open relationships with teams and labor, and you act on what you hear.
• Build programs that stick. Career pathways, on-the-job training, succession plans, and cross-training programs that outlasted the launch.
• Do your own analysis. You can handle jFLSA ob analysis, comp and benefits analysis yourself and know when a consultant adds value.
• Deliver unparalleled service. You help managers hire the best, then keep their teams engaged throughout the employee lifecycle.
• Carry a full technical toolbox. Comp and financial analysis in Excel, HRIS configuration, evaluating new technology, and adapting to how AI is impacting how work gets done.
• Handle the hard conversations. Investigations, discipline, reasonable accommodations, and bargaining-unit negotiation issues land on your desk, and people trust how you handle them.
• Can speak in boardroom and to the field crew. You present to the Board with the analysis behind your recommendation, and can explain a comp study adjustment to a field crew just as clearly.

This job may not be for you if you:

• See HR as transactional or compliance-driven. Both matter here, but this role is so much more than that.
• Delegate execution. If you prefer to set direction and hand all the day-to-day work to a team, you may overload the team. Here, you are directly involved in daily HR operational work along with the strategic stuff.
• Arn't used to a lean operation. If you need a big budget, a consultant for every project, or a long lead time before showing results, you will have an adjustment here. At Rainbow Water, we move fast and fix things, often with a bootstrap budget.
• Prefer HR behind the scenes. Here, HR is visible, connected to the workforce, and part of every major decision.

What to Expect

Location:

Fallbrook, CA (beautiful North San Diego County), with driving to District facilities, job sites, and off-site meetings. A valid California driver's license is required.

Demands:

Requires mental agility to pivot between strategy, hands-on HR operations, and confidential personnel matters, often under deadline pressure. Much of the work is high-consequence: a routine payroll, benefits, or timekeeping task can carry high visibility and a high cost of error, and you are the last line of defense for accuracy. Decisions here affect people's lives, and crises will arise that demand simultaneous human sensitivity, compliance, and urgency.

Work Schedule:

Highly desirable 9/80 alternative work schedule (alternating Fridays off). Board meetings are currently held during the day, but the Board can change that, and some weeks will run past five.

Flexibility:

Hybrid remote work eligibility after the initial onboarding period, with the understanding that the District's HR leader stays visible to the workforce and some weeks will require full onsite presence to meet operational demands.

The Environment:

Mostly office and remote work: a workstation, meetings, and a lot of conversations in person, on video, and by phone. Occasionally, you'll walk job sites, lift up to 25 pounds (50 with help), and meet crews where they work.

Emergencies:

All District employees are disaster service workers under Government Code Section 3100. In a wildfire, earthquake, or major outage, you'll likely have a role in the incident command structure and report to the Emergency Operations Center.

Apply Today

Positions may close earlier than the posted closing date if a sufficient number of applications is received. To be considered, select the Apply button at the top of this page and submit a complete online application. Resumes may be attached but are not accepted in lieu of a fully completed application and any required supplemental materials.

Selection Process

Applications will be reviewed, and candidates whose qualifications most closely match the position requirements may be invited to participate in the selection process. The process may include job-related assessments, interviews, or review of work samples, depending on the position. Applicants will be notified by email as decisions are made.

Equal Employment Opportunity & Accommodations

Rainbow Municipal Water District is an Equal Opportunity Employer. Qualified applicants who need a reasonable accommodation to participate in the application or selection process should contact Human Resources to request assistance.