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Job Details
Posted date: Mar 23, 2026
Category: Employee Relations
Location: Redmond, WA
Estimated salary: $135,200
Range: $85,100 - $185,300
Employment type: Full-Time
Work location type: 0 days / week in-office – remote
Role: Individual Contributor
Description
OverviewAt Microsoft, our culture is built on trust, inclusion, and accountability—and our Employee Relations team plays a critical role in bringing that culture to life every day. As an Employee Relations Manager, you will be a trusted advisor and calm, thoughtful presence for employees and managers navigating complex and sensitive workplace situations.
In this role, you will partner closely with leaders, Human Resources colleagues, Legal, and investigation partners to guide fair, consistent, and values‑aligned outcomes. You’ll help employees and managers understand processes, set clear expectations, and move forward with confidence—while ensuring Microsoft policies, standards, and cultural commitments are upheld.
You’ll bring judgment, empathy, and investigative expertise to your work, independently managing mid‑level complexity employee relations matters and contributing to broader insights that help strengthen manager capability and prevent future issues. Through coaching, data‑driven insights, and collaboration across the HR ecosystem, you’ll help shape a respectful, inclusive, and high‑performing workplace where people feel supported and heard.
This is an opportunity to make meaningful impact—supporting individuals at pivotal moments, influencing healthier team dynamics, and contributing to a culture where everyone can do their best work
Responsibilities
Investigations
Triages and manages the analysis and resolution of issues related to policy or culture concerns/violations and incident or threat response independently, seeking guidance and oversight from managers/peers in Human Resources (HR) and Legal professions as appropriate. Recommends solutions to address issues based on established principles and culture, while prioritizing employee experiences to maintain a safe and professional work environment. Updates case status and related notes, ensures customer relationship management (CRM) platform provides real time reflection of each case and its status, and ensures comprehensive completion of all fields in the tool. Seeks additional guidance and advice on investigations as needed.
Documents findings, and maintains appropriate levels of confidentiality. Contacts and interviews complainants, reported witnesses, and respondents related to policy or culture concerns/violations and incident or threat response. Collaborates with and seeks counsel from senior peers or managers on strategy and approach depending on perceived increased complexity and/or sensitivity of the complaint, or seniority and/or visibility of the parties involved.
Utilizing Human Resources (HR)-related tools and customer relationship management (CRM) platform, tracks and documents findings gathered through interviews and the investigatory process. Is responsible for ensuring all aspects of the investigation are thoroughly documented (e.g., interviews, conversations with leaders and teams for operational buy in, findings, disciplinary actions). Utilizes tools to track data and information relating to a situation and documents relevant findings. Makes recommendations for refining, streamlining, and improving tools and their usage to improve future documentation needs.
Assists/partners with internal investigative entities at Microsoft (e.g., Workplace Investigations Team [WIT], Business and Regulatory Investigations [BRI], Global Security Investigations [GSI]) in investigations of serious cases and implements appropriate remediation in conjunction with a business, region, or geography. May lead the investigations for a business, region, or geography where resources are limited. Ensures appropriate documentation of issues is in place. Seeks input from peers, managers, and appropriate stakeholders (including Works Council or other representative bodies as appropriate) to ensure compliance with applicable laws, regulations, and Microsoft policies.
Identifies, raises, or escalates issues for trends in employee relations. Partners with team and relevant Human Resources (HR) partners to reduce employee relations issues for a business, region, or geography.
Concludes an investigation using findings, relevant partnerships with the team, and knowledge of the relevant regulations, Microsoft's business context, and organizational policies to determine a resolution to the investigation of policy or culture concerns/violations and incident or threat response, and recommends corrective/disciplinary actions as deemed appropriate. Partners with team to calibrate and seek guidance for corrective/disciplinary recommendations to ensure organizational support for recommended actions. Implements disciplinary actions or relevant corrective/disciplinary processes as appropriate.
Educating and Guiding Through Expertise
Supports and coaches employees as they navigate the Employee Relations (ER) process. Objectively provides guidance through the ER experience by actively engaging with employees and managers on how to navigate work and handle themselves post-investigation, and sets appropriate expectations around this. Provides training and guidance on information that may be situationally relevant (e.g., how to take a leave of absence, steps to the performance management process) or to address relevant skill/knowledge gaps (e.g., effective communication strategies, cultural differences impacting inclusivity). Seeks guidance from senior peers as deemed necessary or appropriate. Identifies the right stakeholders and influencers, determines who should be providing guidance, and brings in additional support and influencers as needed.
May serve as a professional reference on Employee Relations (ER)-related topics both within teams and for other teams (e.g., Human Resources [HR] Consulting, HR Business Partnership [HRBP], HR Leadership, management). Consults on a situation or concern, for internal partners seeking assistance, using expertise to make recommendations for next steps, determining what would need to occur next for the situation to need to be transferred to ER, and, if out of scope for ER, deciding what best practices other teams should use to navigate the situation/concern. Partners with other HR teams to influence policy and decision-making based upon pre-existing ER best practices and observed trends. Recognizes when standard HR policies and processes should be followed and where exceptions should and can be made.
Initiates conversations with individual parties at Microsoft in conflict, listening for what is said both verbally and nonverbally in order to understand the nature of the conflict, what parties' contributions are to the conflict, their respective willingness to resolve it, and what may be potential solutions for conflict resolution while maintaining appropriate levels of confidentiality. Coaches and guides parties to leverage best resources and/or approach for the conflict after sharing their findings, or provides the tools that would allow for facilitating conflict resolution to occur as appropriate. Investigates further to find deeper reasons for conflict or coaches involved parties in the potential next steps in the Employee Relations (ER) process, if parties are not willing or able to resolve the conflict. Collaborates with colleagues and/or management as deemed appropriate or needed.
Other
Embody our culture and values
Qualifications
Required/Minimum Qualifications
Bachelor's Degree in Management, Business Administration, Organizational Behavior, HR, Industrial Relations, Psychology, or related field AND 5+ years experience in experience in HR, mediation, investigation, or ER-related roles OR Juris Doctorate or Master's Degree in Industrial-Organizational Psychology, Human Resources (HR), Business Administration, Organizational Leadership, Industrial Relations, Law, or related field AND 3+ years experience in HR, mediation, investigation, or employee relations (ER)-related roles OR equivalent experience.
1+ year(s) experience handling internal employee investigations and managing employee conflict.
Additional or Preferred Qualifications
Bachelor's Degree in Management, Business Administration, Organizational Behavior, HR, Industrial Relations, Psychology, or related field AND 8+ years experience in experience in HR, mediation, investigation, or ER-related roles Juris Doctorate or Master's Degree in Industrial-Organizational Psychology, Human Resources (HR), Business Administration, Organizational Leadership, Industrial Relations, Law, or related field AND 6+ years experience in HR, mediation, investigation, or employee relations (ER)-related roles OR equivalent experience. Society for Human Resource Management Certified Professional (SHRM-CP) or Human Resource Certification Institute (HRCI) Professional in human resources (PHR) certification or equivalent.
Employee Relations IC4 - The typical base pay range for this role across the U.S. is USD $85,100 - $169,800 per year. There is a different range applicable to specific work locations, within the San Francisco Bay area and New York City metropolitan area, and the base pay range for this role in those locations is USD $112,000 - $185,300 per year.
Certain roles may be eligible for benefits and other compensation. Find additional benefits and pay information here:
https://careers.microsoft.com/us/en/us-corporate-pay
This position will be open for a minimum of 5 days, with applications accepted on an ongoing basis until the position is filled.
Microsoft is an equal opportunity employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to age, ancestry, citizenship, color, family or medical care leave, gender identity or expression, genetic information, immigration status, marital status, medical condition, national origin, physical or mental disability, political affiliation, protected veteran or military status, race, ethnicity, religion, sex (including pregnancy), sexual orientation, or any other characteristic protected by applicable local laws, regulations and ordinances. If you need assistance with religious accommodations and/or a reasonable accommodation due to a disability during the application process, read more about requesting accommodations.