Director of Human Resources

Director of Human Resources (Part-Time) Location: Remote (U.S.) Employment Type: Part-Time, Contract or Employee (5–10 hours/week) Reports To: CEO/CFO About Us Protera Health, Inc. is a virtual physical therapy startup delivering care to patients across multiple states. We're a small, close-knit team with a genuine family feel — everyone knows each other, wears multiple hats, and cares about doing right by our patients and each other. As we grow our distributed team of employees and contractors nationwide, we're looking for an experienced HR leader to help us build people practices that are compliant and thoughtful, while preserving the culture that makes Protera a great place to work. About the Role We're seeking a part-time Director of Human Resources to serve as the primary HR lead for our small but growing, multi-state remote team. This is a hands-on role for someone who enjoys rolling up their sleeves on the fundamentals of HR — policies, employee relations, and compliance — rather than managing a large team or building out extensive HR infrastructure from day one. You'll work closely with leadership to keep our policies current, our handbook clear and compliant, and our employees supported when issues arise. Given our size, this is a role where personal touch matters as much as process — we want someone who can bring structure without making things feel bureaucratic or impersonal. Multi-state employment law experience is essential, since our team spans numerous jurisdictions with varying requirements. What You'll Do Policy & Handbook Management: Review, update, and maintain our employee handbook and HR policies to ensure they're clear, current, and compliant across all states where we have employees. Multi-State Compliance: Monitor and advise on employment law requirements across the states in which we operate (e.g., leave laws, wage and hour rules, termination requirements) and flag when policies or practices need to change. Employee Relations: Serve as a point of contact for employee complaints, concerns, and conflicts. Investigate issues as needed, recommend resolutions, and escalate significant matters to leadership with clear guidance. HR Guidance & Support: Act as a trusted advisor to managers and leadership on day-to-day HR questions, performance issues, and disciplinary matters. PEO Coordination: Partner with our ADP PEO representative on payroll-adjacent HR matters, benefits administration questions, and compliance updates. Onboarding/Offboarding Support: Help ensure onboarding and offboarding practices are consistent, compliant, and aligned with company policy across all states. Ad Hoc Projects: Support leadership on other HR-related initiatives as they arise (e.g., performance review process, compensation structure questions, training). What We're Looking For 5+ years of progressive HR experience, including direct experience managing multi-state employment compliance. Comfort working independently and efficiently within a limited weekly hour allotment — strong prioritization skills are a must. Experience with ADP, particularly ADP PEO (TotalSource or similar), strongly preferred. Solid working knowledge of federal employment law (FLSA, FMLA, ADA, Title VII, etc.) and familiarity with variances across state law. Experience handling employee relations matters, including sensitive conversations, investigations, and complaint escalation, with sound judgment and discretion. Excellent written communication skills — you'll be revising policy language that needs to be both legally sound and easy for employees to understand. Prior experience in a healthcare, telehealth, or professional services environment is a plus, but not required. SHRM-CP/SCP or PHR/SPHR certification preferred, but not required. Comfortable working fully remote and asynchronously with a distributed team. Genuine enjoyment of startup environments — you're comfortable with ambiguity, wearing multiple hats, and building processes from scratch rather than inheriting a mature HR function. You bring a personal, approachable style that fits a small, tight-knit team. Details Hours: 5–10 hours per week; flexible scheduling, though availability for occasional real-time calls is expected. Location: Fully remote; must be based in the U.S. Classification: Independent Contractor