Principal Employee Relations Specialist - Diabetes

We anticipate the application window for this opening will close on - 6 Oct 2025

At Medtronic you can begin a life-long career of exploration and innovation, while helping champion healthcare access and equity for all. You’ll lead with purpose, breaking down barriers to innovation in a more connected, compassionate world.

A Day In The Life

The Diabetes Operating Unit focuses on improving the lives of those within the global diabetes community. As a business, we strive to empower people with diabetes to live life on their terms by delivering innovation that truly matters and providing support in the ways they need it. We’re committed to meeting people with diabetes where they are in their journey, always with an aim to make their lives easier. Our portfolio of innovative solutions is designed to provide customers with greater freedom and better health, helping them achieve better glucose control, while spending less time managing their disease.  

This position is an exciting opportunity to work with Medtronic's Diabetes business. Medtronic has announced its intention to separate the Diabetes division to promote future growth and innovation within the business and reallocate investments and resources across Medtronic, subject to applicable information and consultation requirements. This separation provides our team with a bold opportunity to unleash our potential, enabling us to operate with greater speed and agility. As a separate entity, we anticipate leveraging increased investments to drive meaningful innovation and enhance our impact on patient care.


As the Principal Employee Relations (ER) Partner, you will be responsible for building strong relationships between employees and managers. The role takes a proactive, strategic approach to employee relations by identifying higher-level employee relations trends, recommending solutions that address root cause of issue, and partnering with leadership on execution. The role acts as a key partner to the site level Managers in driving employee relations strategies, while maintaining a neutral position. A key component of the role includes maintaining the employee relations function at assigned locations/functions, and following established ELR processes, as well as building manager skill sets.

The Principal ER Partner works directly with leaders, managers, and employees to provide advice and coach both parties on all employee relations issues. The role provides strong partnership on performance management, disciplinary processes, legal issues, investigations, conflict management, etc. Work involves assessing and resolving employee relations matters ensuring consistency across client groups and alignment with Medtronic practices. The role helps to ensure a fair and consistent approach to Medtronic's policies and procedures, thus promoting a positive culture within the business, while minimizing risks. The partner provides a single point of contact for employee relation issues to ensure clear communication and efficiency in resolving matters. The role requires skill, tact, persuasion, judgment, and/or negotiation skills to accomplish objectives.

This role works closely with the in-house legal team, Human Resources Business Partners, and with the wider Human Resources community and clients to deliver a fair, consistent ER service, both minimizing risk to the business and aligning work to meet business needs.

This role can work remotely or onsite in San Antonio, TX

Responsibilities may include the following and other duties may be assigned.

• Counsel and provide partnership to employees, managers, and leaders across the full spectrum of employee relations matters.
• Lead highly complex workplace investigations, including fact-finding, documentation, and resolution aligned with company policies and employment law.
• Provide coaching and advice to leaders on performance management, disciplinary actions, reorganizations, reductions, conflict resolution, and organizational effectiveness.
• Partner with HR Business Partners, Legal, and Compliance to assess ER risks and ensure consistent, fair application of policies.
• Develop and implement proactive ER strategies and initiatives that strengthen leadership capability and employee engagement.
• Analyze ER data and trends, identify root causes, and recommend preventive solutions to senior leadership.
• Monitor legal trends and risks and advise on compliance matters
• Contribute to restructuring initiatives with focus on employee transitions and risk mitigation.
• Maintain confidentiality, neutrality, and objectivity in all employee relations matters.
• Support continuous improvement of ER processes, policies, frameworks, and training across the Operating Unit.
• Monitor employee sentiment and workplace trends  

Autonomy:

• Recognized expert managing large projects or processes with considerable independence.
• Exercises latitude in determining deliverables with limited oversight.
• Provides coaching and guidance to lower-level specialists. 

Organizational Impact:

• Contributes to defining the direction for ER practices, standards, and operational plans based on business strategy.
• Leads projects with significant impact on work group and Operating Unit results. 

Innovation And Complexity:

• Addresses difficult, complex, and undefined ER issues requiring detailed investigation and analysis.
• Develops solutions to complex problems and drives improvements in ER processes, systems, and practices. 

Communication And Influence:

• Represents the organization as a primary ER contact for projects and initiatives.
• Communicates and negotiates with internal and external stakeholders to influence decision-making. 

Leadership And Talent Management:

• Provides coaching and training to leaders and HR colleagues in ER practices.
• Manages moderately complex projects, delegating and reviewing work of others as needed. 

Required Knowledge And Experience:

• Bachelor's degree and 7 years of relevant experience
• Or, advanced degree and 5 years of relevant experience

Physical Job Requirements

The above statements are intended to describe the general nature and level of work being performed by employees assigned to this position, but they are not an exhaustive list of all the required responsibilities and skills of this position. 

The physical demands described within the Responsibilities section of this job description are representative of those that must be met by an employee to successfully perform the essential functions of this job. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions. For Office Roles: While performing the duties of this job, the employee is regularly required to be independently mobile. The employee is also required to interact with a computer, and communicate with peers and co-workers. Contact your manager or local HR to understand the Work Conditions and Physical requirements that may be specific to each role.

Benefits & Compensation

Medtronic offers a competitive Salary and flexible Benefits Package
A commitment to our employees lives at the core of our values. We recognize their contributions. They share in the success they help to create.  We offer a wide range of benefits, resources, and competitive compensation plans designed to support you at every career and life stage.
 

Salary ranges for U.S (excl. PR) locations (USD):$106,400.00 - $159,600.00This position is eligible for a short-term incentive called the Medtronic Incentive Plan (MIP).The base salary range is applicable across the United States, excluding Puerto Rico and specific locations in California. The offered rate complies with federal and local regulations and may vary based on factors such as experience, certification/education, market conditions, and location. Compensation and benefits information pertains solely to candidates hired within the United States (local market compensation and benefits will apply for others).

The following benefits and additional compensation are available to those regular employees who work 20+ hours per week: Health, Dental and vision insurance, Health Savings Account, Healthcare Flexible Spending Account, Life insurance, Long-term disability leave, Dependent daycare spending account, Tuition assistance/reimbursement, and Simple Steps (global well-being program).

The following benefits and additional compensation are available to all regular employees: Incentive plans, 401(k) plan plus employer contribution and match, Short-term disability, Paid time off, Paid holidays, Employee Stock Purchase Plan, Employee Assistance Program, Non-qualified Retirement Plan Supplement (subject to IRS earning minimums), and Capital Accumulation Plan (available to Vice Presidents and above, or subject to IRS earning minimums).

Regular employees are those who are not temporary, such as interns.  Temporary employees are eligible for paid sick time, as required under applicable state law, and the Employee Stock Purchase Plan. Please note some of the above benefits may not apply to workers in Puerto Rico.

Further details are available at the link below:

Medtronic benefits and compensation plans

About Medtronic

We lead global healthcare technology and boldly attack the most challenging health problems facing humanity by searching out and finding solutions.
Our Mission — to alleviate pain, restore health, and extend life — unites a global team of 95,000+ passionate people. 
We are engineers at heart— putting ambitious ideas to work to generate real solutions for real people. From the R&D lab, to the factory floor, to the conference room, every one of us experiments, creates, builds, improves and solves. We have the talent, diverse perspectives, and guts to engineer the extraordinary.

Learn more about our business, mission, and our commitment to diversity here.

It is the policy of Medtronic to provide equal employment opportunity (EEO) to all persons regardless of age, color, national origin, citizenship status, physical or mental disability, race, religion, creed, gender, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity and/or expression, genetic information, marital status, status with regard to public assistance, veteran status, or any other characteristic protected by federal, state or local law. In addition, Medtronic will provide reasonable accommodations for qualified individuals with disabilities.

If you are applying to perform work for Medtronic, Inc. (“Medtronic”) in any position which will involve performing at least two (2) hours of work on average each week within the unincorporated areas of Los Angeles County, you can find here a list of all material job duties of the specific job position which Medtronic reasonably believes that criminal history may have a direct, adverse and negative relationship potentially resulting in the withdrawal of a conditional offer of employment. Medtronic will consider for employment qualified job applicants with arrest or conviction records in accordance with the Los Angeles County Fair Chance Ordinance for Employers and the California Fair Chance Act.