Role search
Get a HR Lead who can own daily personnel administration. Also called Human Resources Lead
No postings. No stacks of resumes. No chasing. You choose from a short list of people who have done this before.
No upfront fee. You pay only if you engage someone we present.
Interim Headhunters starts with the work behind this request: The HR Lead executes daily functions that keep a business functional. They own employee relations, leave management, and policy execution.
This is what we do all day: place interim executives, interim managers and contract professionals.
Need someone now? Call 305-306-4829.
- No upfront fee
- 2 to 3 vetted consultants per assignment
- Matched to your industry
- You choose
- Interim plus permanent search
- HR Lead
- Human Resources Lead
The judgment call
What this hire really comes down to
The HR Lead executes daily functions that keep a business functional. They own employee relations, leave management, and policy execution. You hire this person to prevent operational friction caused by missing records, misunderstood leave laws, or inconsistent disciplinary actions. They work within the systems you have while ensuring those systems meet current regulatory requirements.
This role focuses on the mechanics of people management. An HR Lead does not set broad corporate strategy but ensures managers follow the processes that protect the company. They handle the intake of employee complaints, supervise coordinators to ensure timely payroll and benefits tasks, and maintain the documentation required for state and federal compliance.
What we check
What we check before you see anyone
- We audit their history with multistate compliance. We ask how they track different state wage and hour requirements when a company expands or adds remote workers. They must explain their method for managing tax filings or labor regulation differences that vary across state lines, specifically identifying how they reconcile different state definitions for exempt and non-exempt employees.
- We test their ability to manage HR coordinators. We ask how they audit the work of junior staff to catch errors in onboarding paperwork, timecard entries, or benefits enrollments. They must explain how they shift from doing the task themselves to checking the output of their team, ensuring that every piece of data flowing into the payroll system is verified against source documents before submission.
- We review their specific experience with leave administration. They must detail their process for handling FMLA, ADA, and state-specific sick leave. We ask how they manage the handoff between medical documentation receipt and the return-to-work date to ensure the company follows privacy laws, specifically how they track intermittent leave hours against the total allowable entitlement per year.
- We verify their approach to employee relations investigations. They must describe a time they gathered evidence for a complaint. We check that they focused on factual reporting and established a paper trail for the final decision rather than relying on hearsay or personal opinion.
Sourcing
Where we find them
We recruit these professionals from mid-sized organizations where they held broad responsibility for an entire site or department. These individuals have moved away from silos where they only handled benefits or recruiting. They have transitioned to generalist roles because they prefer owning the full employee lifecycle and solving the logistical problems that surface daily.
Others come from firms that provide shared services or outsourced HR support. These candidates are comfortable moving into a new environment and assessing the health of existing files and policies quickly. They seek this work because they enjoy the immediate impact of fixing broken workflows and setting up clean, compliant structures that provide clarity for employees and management.
Where searches go wrong
Mistakes we see
- Hiring a manager who lacks experience with multistate law when your staff is spread across regions. This leads to costly errors in tax withholding and paid leave compliance, as individual state regulations often conflict with federal defaults.
- Selecting someone who only wants to handle high-level strategy without touching the administrative details. An HR Lead must be willing to verify the accuracy of the personnel files and onboarding documents themselves, as delegation without oversight causes file gaps.
- Overlooking the need for experience in supervising junior staff. Someone used to working alone often fails to train coordinators on basic tasks, causing delays in data entry and benefits administration, which ultimately creates bottlenecks in your payroll processing.
The search
How the HR Lead search runs
- We review the candidate's history to confirm they have held responsibility for an entire site's HR needs. We look for evidence that they have handled multiple functional areas concurrently rather than just focusing on one specialty like recruiting or benefits. We focus on their ability to manage competing priorities, such as handling a leave request while simultaneously managing an open enrollment period.
- We interview for process control. We ask them to explain their workflow for a new hire from offer letter to file completion. We want to see if they emphasize the importance of compliance checks and if they can identify where a coordinator is likely to make an error in the onboarding paperwork or the input of new hire data.
- We confirm their technical capability with specific HR software and documentation standards. We verify they understand the difference between legal requirements and internal company preferences. We present them to you only when they demonstrate the ability to maintain the accuracy of your records without constant oversight, proving they have the operational discipline required for your environment.
Questions
How does an HR Lead differ from an HR Manager?
An HR Lead focuses on the execution and supervision of core HR processes like onboarding and leave. An HR Manager often manages broader strategy, department budgets, and executive-level HR initiatives.
Can this person fix my broken HR files?
Yes. We source professionals who have experience auditing and rebuilding personnel and medical files to meet legal standards. They specialize in turning disorganized systems into clean, auditable records.
Do they handle payroll?
They often supervise the coordination of payroll inputs and benefits enrollment. While they do not act as the payroll processor, they ensure the data sent to your payroll provider is accurate and compliant.
How do you handle the fee?
No upfront fee. You pay only if you hire.
What replacement terms apply?
We offer a candidate replacement guarantee on standard search agreements. The applicable period and exact terms are set out in the signed client recruiting agreement.
How are recruiting fees agreed?
No upfront fee. You pay only if you engage someone we present. We scope the assignment before quoting; the fee page explains our model.
How soon can we see options?
Availability depends on the assignment and the people who fit it. We qualify interest and commitments rather than promising a shortlist date before the search is scoped.
What if the scope grows?
Discuss new responsibilities before adding them to the engagement. Agree the priorities and record any change to the brief and terms.
Can we extend an engagement?
Discuss what remains unfinished and whether the same responsibility is still needed. Extensions depend on the person's commitments and the agreed engagement terms.
Can the appointment become permanent?
A permanent move can be discussed if both sides want it. Review the future role and the applicable agreement instead of assuming that temporary coverage automatically converts.
How is a confidential search handled?
Tell us what can be disclosed and whom we must not contact. We agree those boundaries before approaching people; do not send sensitive records with an initial brief.
What are the replacement terms?
We offer a candidate replacement guarantee on standard search agreements. The applicable period and exact terms are set out in the signed client recruiting agreement.
What do you not do?
We do not sell job-board reposting as a search or bill hourly for recruiting work. We do not take a retainer unless expressly agreed, and an introduction does not authorize an engagement.
Tell us the seat
No upfront fee. You pay only if you hire. Share the title, the situation and the timing. A person reads it.
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The Six-Step Search
What do you get at each step of the search?
We agree what the person must own before contacting anyone. You see how the search is scoped and which backgrounds we pursue. We speak with candidates about the work before presenting them. The Six-Step Search gives you useful written notes and support through interviews, rather than a pile of applications.
- 01
Scope call
We talk through the seat, the business and what has to change.
You get: A one-page role brief you approve before we search.
- 02
Market map
We work out where people who have done this job actually sit.
You get: A short note on the pool and how we plan to reach it.
- 03
Direct outreach
We approach people who are not looking at job boards.
You get: Progress updates so you are never chasing us.
- 04
Screening
We interview every candidate on the work, not the resume.
You get: Written notes on fit, availability and terms for each person.
- 05
Shortlist and interviews
You meet a short list. We handle the scheduling.
You get: Several vetted options and a debrief after each interview.
- 06
Offer and start
You choose. We help settle terms and the start date.
You get: Confirmed terms, a start date and check-ins after day one.
Tell us who you need.
No upfront fee. You pay only if you engage someone we present.
Send us the seat. We will take it from there.
No upfront fee. You pay only if you engage someone we present.