THE OPPORTUNITY
We exist to get more people in, on and around the water, more often, in more ways. Your leadership makes Kent Outdoors a great place for the people who bring it to life. You’ll shape an exceptional employee experience across our facilities, bringing a personal touch, clear direction and fair support to a team spread far and wide.
You’re an HR generalist at heart and a people leader by experience. You’ve managed the full breadth of people experience/HR - not just one piece of the puzzle. You’re ready to bring that range to Kent, partner with the CHRO and keep stretching your leadership. You’ll also keep the essentials running smoothly: leave of absence, benefits and Workers’ Compensation administration, plus support for compensation and bonus programs. You’ll oversee required training, HR metrics, employee feedback programs and office management in Utah. You’ll listen before jumping to solutions, tackle problems with curiosity and keep the employee experience at the center of the work. This role is designed to build succession.
You won’t be paddling solo. You’ll lead an HR Business Partner (HRBP), setting priorities and coaching them to deliver comprehensive HRBP support across performance management, succession planning, workforce planning, community building, training, and much more. Together, you’ll be the employee relations support for our offices, distribution centers and manufacturing facilities, helping managers and employees navigate the everyday and the unexpected. Details matter - especially when people are counting on you.
WHAT YOU'LL OWN
Employee relations and HRBP leadership
- Be there when people need you. Support employee relations across our offices, 3 distribution centers and 3 manufacturing facilities. Listen, resolve concerns and guide managers with care.
- Give your HRBP direction and room to grow. Align priorities and ensure consistent guidance.
- Make feedback part of the everyday. Help managers set expectations, give ongoing feedback and follow through on team goals and performance concerns with clarity and care.
Workforce planning and future capabilities
- Look beyond the next wave. Partner with our leaders to plan for the people and skills we’ll need next. Identify gaps, anticipate evolving needs and turn insights into practical hiring and development priorities.
- Build a bench ready to make a splash. Lead succession planning with the CHRO and leaders to identify critical roles, develop potential successors and prepare for transitions. Help managers turn development plans into hands-on learning, cross-training and opportunities to stretch.
- Don’t wait for talent to wash ashore. Work with the HRBP and site leaders to build capabilities for the future, especially in manufacturing roles where talent is in short supply.
Employee programs, culture and insights
- Build community, not just a calendar of events. Lead culture, community-building and wellness initiatives with the HRBP to connect employees across locations.
- Listen. Do something with the answers. Oversee annual, new hire, exit and spot surveys, with the HRBP coordinating delivery and follow-up. Turn feedback into action with leaders.
- Tell the story behind the numbers. Prepare and review quarterly HR metrics with the Kent CHRO, using employee relations, survey, training and program trends to guide improvements.
HR administration and compliance
- Make the essentials feel less complicated. Manage leaves including Workers’ Compensation, benefits administration, guiding employees and managers, coordinating support and keeping records accurate.
- Keep learning and requirements on track. Manage state-required training, including harassment prevention and safety programs. Coordinate delivery and track completion with HRBP and site leaders.
- Help the pay programs run smoothly. Support the Kent CHRO with accurate compensation and bonus administration and clear employee and manager communications.
Integration and workplace operations
- Help write our next chapter. Partner with the CHRO/PRADCO to align programs, processes and communications. Help people navigate the transition with clear information and a personal touch.
- Keep the moving pieces moving. Administer a broad range of employee programs across locations, from delivery and communications to records and resolution. Clarify who owns what with the HRBP and parent-company, so employees aren’t left chasing answers.
- Help our Utah office run without a hitch. Oversee day-to-day office management, coordinate with the teams and service providers who keep things running.
WHAT YOU BRING
- You’ve grown your HR experience into leadership responsibility with 7-10+ years' experience for the full breadth of HR/people experience.
- You have successfully supported people spread across offices, distribution centers and manufacturing facilities - not just the people down the hall.
- You’ve managed and developed a team, setting clear priorities and helping them deliver consistent, equitable guidance.
- You bring sound employee relations judgment. You can address concerns, guide managers and handle sensitive matters with care and confidentiality.
- You’ve managed leave of absence, Workers’ Compensation and benefit administration and know how to bring internal partners and external providers together to get things done.
- You communicate clearly, keep the details straight and build productive partnerships with employees, site leaders, executives and parent-company teams.
- Travel as needed by air and overnight to support offices, DCs and manufacturing facilities.
HOW YOU THRIVE
You make people feel welcome, not processed. You bring clear communication and a personal touch to every interaction, making the Kent Outdoors experience stand out for all the right reasons.
You can see the big picture with your sleeves rolled up. You keep HR running smoothly and you're always asking, ‘Could we make this simpler?’ You modernize where it makes sense, without spending a boatload to do it. When a problem lands, you dig in before calling for a lifeline.
You listen first, anticipate what employees need and build solutions around people. Change is a chance to learn, and the details never get left on the dock.
You go all out, with speed, direction and a clear head. You know resources aren't infinite, so you spend them where they matter most. You'd rather ship great work on time than perfect work late.
When something's broken, you jump in and fix it with the team. You celebrate team wins over personal ones. You share your view because it's grounded in experience. You're honest and direct, and kind with it.
ABOUT KENT OUTDOORS
We're water people. For more than 50 years and recently aquired by PRADCO Kent Outdoors has made the gear that gets people out on the water: wakeboards, waterskis, paddleboards, foils, tubes, floats, life jackets, boat gear and some truly epic floating playgrounds.
We exist to get more people in and around the water, more often, in more ways. Pros and first-timers. Kids and grown-up kids. Senders, floating explorers and everybody in between. Welcome to the World's Most Inclusive Water Club.
Our brands: Aquaglide, Barefoot, BOTE, Connelly, FatSac, Full Throttle, HO Sports, Hyperlite, Kent, Liquid Force, O'Brien, Onyx and Seipel Marine.
KENT Outdoors is proud to be an Equal Opportunity Employer.
