What are the responsibilities and job description for the Director of Human Resources position at The Abbey Resort?
Ninety acres on Geneva Lake. 334 rooms, two restaurants, a 35,000 square foot spa, a harbor, and a workforce that nearly doubles between April and July. This is the only full-service resort on the lake, and the People function here is not a back office. It is the operation.
What's in it for you...
- A seat on the Executive Committee, reporting to the General Manager, in the room where operating decisions actually get made.
- $120,000 to $130,000 base, bonus eligible up to 10% quarterly, full benefits, PTO, retirement, and resort and spa privileges.
- A team you lead and grow: a Recruitment & Development Manager, a Generalist, and a seasonal intern at peak.
- Real seasonal complexity — 110 year-round to 210 at peak, including roughly 45 J-1 exchange visitors — which means your work is strategy, not paperwork.
- Aggressive goals backed by real support: an established above-property People Services team and a deep, experienced on-site leadership bench. You will not be doing this alone.
- A commute measured in minutes, 45 from Milwaukee and Chicago's north suburbs, 90 from downtown. People move here for the job and stay for the life.
Are you the one?
There are two ways into this role.
- You might be a Director of Human Resources at a full-service hotel who has run a steady operation well and wants more range — a property where the people strategy changes with the calendar.
- Or you might be a Human Resources Manager at a resort who already knows what a seasonal ramp feels like in June and is ready to own the whole function: the budget, the strategy, the team, the seat.
Either way, you bring five or more years of progressive HR leadership in hospitality, fluency in federal employment law and the willingness to get sharp on Wisconsin's fast (minor work permits and hour rules matter here), comfort with HRIS and ATS data, and the judgment to handle a sensitive investigation and a Saturday night staffing crisis in the same shift. SHRM-CP/SCP or PHR/SPHR preferred. Experience with J-1 or other visa-based workforce programs is a real advantage.
What you'll be doing
- Building the seasonal workforce model with the Executive Committee — headcount, hiring timelines, wage positioning, ramp and wind-down — and cultivating a returning-employee pipeline year-round instead of rebuilding it every spring.
- Sponsoring our J-1 program. Your Recruitment & Development Manager runs the day-to-day; you own the budget, the sponsor contracts and negotiation, and the escalation path — partnering with our Housing Coordinator so participants land well and leave with the experience the program promises.
- Coaching leaders, many of them first-time supervisors running crews of seasonal and international employees in their first job ever. Interviewing, feedback, difficult conversations.
- Owning employee relations, compliance, compensation, and benefits for a market where we compete with every restaurant, marina, and attraction in Walworth County.
- Partnering on safety alongside the Resort Manager and Director of Security, and championing the everyday experience — break space, employee dining, recognition, end-of-season traditions — even where you do not own the function.
What success looks like
Twelve months from now:
- 95% seasonal fill rate. Every position staffed before the season needs it, not after.
- Contract labor cut in half through permanent placement.
- Great Place to Work Trust Index up 5 points. Our people tell us it got better.
If those three numbers sound like a challenge you would enjoy rather than inherit, we should talk.
Send us your resume. If you want to tell us how you would approach a seasonal ramp or what you learned the hard way about international programs, we will read that too.
The Abbey Resort is an Equal Opportunity Employer. Reasonable accommodations are available throughout the application process on request.
Salary : $120,000 - $130,000