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About the Role

Neighborhood Legal Services, Inc. (NLS) is seeking a Human Resources Generalist to serve as a primary HR operations owner across the employee lifecycle. This role manages core HR workflows including leave administration, recruitment administration, onboarding and offboarding coordination, HRIS/ADP maintenance, reporting, benefits/vendor support, payroll coordination, and employee communications. The ideal candidate is organized, detail-oriented, and service-minded, comfortable balancing employee support with compliance and confidentiality in a mission-driven nonprofit environment.

Responsibilities

Serve as a primary HR point of contact for employee and supervisor questions related to benefits, leave, ADP/timekeeping, time off, onboarding, employment processes, and general HR procedures.
Monitor the HR inbox, identify urgency, respond within approved guidance, route items when needed, and track follow-up through completion.
Manage routine leave administration, including leave intake, date tracking, documentation, vendor/payroll/benefits coordination, and employee follow-up.
Calculate leave-related time and compensation, including PTO usage, paid/unpaid leave periods, pay differentials, benefit premium impacts, and payroll-log updates.
Respond to routine benefits questions and assist with vendor-access issues such as HRA/FSA, medical, dental, vision, enrollment, and related troubleshooting.
Assist with open enrollment coordination.
Coordinate the recruitment and hiring lifecycle, including job postings, external vendor posting, candidate communications, interview scheduling, reference checks, job-fair participation as assigned, offer letters, hiring documentation, and handoff to onboarding.
Coordinate operational onboarding steps, new hire paperwork, HR onboarding components, IT/system access notices, payroll/ADP steps, benefit enrollment information, and supervisor communications.
Coordinate routine separation/offboarding steps, including separation paperwork, benefits/COBRA-related forms, ADP status updates, payroll coordination, IT offboarding notices, and supervisor checklists.
Serve as the primary HR-side user for routine ADP/HRIS employee data, records, reports, and updates.
Run and review standard HR reports; validate employee lists, finance/grant data, ACA-related information, census reports, and other recurring HR data requests.
Use checklists, templates, SOPs, and source documents to ensure accuracy, consistency, confidentiality, and timely follow-through, while helping identify process gaps.
Independently handle routine matters and escalate unusual, high-risk, legally complex, or policy-sensitive issues to HR leadership when appropriate.

Requirements

Bachelor's degree in human resources, business, organizational development, public administration, or a related field required.
Minimum of two years of full-time Human Resources experience required, preferably in HR generalist, HR operations, benefits, recruitment, payroll coordination, HRIS, leave administration, or employee lifecycle work.
Hands-on experience with lifecycle recruitment administration and employee orientation/onboarding processes.
Hands-on experience with leave administration, benefits/vendor coordination, HR reporting, recruitment administration, onboarding/offboarding, or payroll coordination.
Experience using, maintaining, and reviewing HRIS/payroll or employee-record systems; ADP experience preferred.
Working knowledge of federal and New York State employment and leave concepts, including FMLA, New York Paid Family Leave, New York disability benefits, wage/hour concepts, employee records, and confidentiality requirements.
Ability to independently calculate leave-related time, pay impacts, PTO offsets/differentials, benefit-premium impacts, and other routine HR/payroll coordination items after training on NLS-specific procedures.
Strong written and verbal communication skills, including the ability to draft clear, professional employee and candidate communications.
Demonstrated organization, attention to detail, critical thinking, analytical ability, and ability to manage multiple assignments and deadlines.
Ability to interpret and apply policies, checklists, benefit/vendor guidance, CBA provisions, and HR procedures to routine matters, while recognizing when escalation is required.
Comfort using Microsoft Office, Excel, Outlook, Teams, shared-document platforms, and HRIS/reporting tools.
Commitment to fairness, respect, cultural humility, public service, and access to justice.
Experience in a nonprofit, legal services, public interest, unionized, or mission-driven environment is preferred.
Experience supporting HRIS process improvements, reporting, modules, data-quality practices, or workflow documentation is preferred.
SHRM-CP, PHR, or progress toward a relevant HR certification is welcome but not required.
Second language skills are a plus but not required.
Work is performed primarily in an office environment and includes regular use of a computer, telephone, copier/scanner, and related office equipment.
May require coordination with staff across multiple NLS offices and occasional travel or in-person meeting support as assigned.
Must be able to maintain confidentiality while working with sensitive employee, payroll, benefits, leave, medical, and organizational information.
Ability to lift up to 15 pounds occasionally.

Skills

HRIS/ADP maintenance
Leave administration
Recruitment administration
Onboarding
Offboarding
Reporting
Benefits administration
Vendor support
Payroll coordination
Employee communications
Microsoft Office Suite
Excel
Outlook
Teams
Shared-document platforms
HRIS/reporting tools
Written communication
Verbal communication
Organization
Attention to detail
Critical thinking
Analytical ability
Time management
FMLA
New York Paid Family Leave
New York disability benefits
Wage/hour concepts
Employee records
Confidentiality

Location

Buffalo, NY

Work Type

In-person
Full-time

Experience Level

Minimum of two years of full-time Human Resources experience

Education Level

Bachelor's degree in human resources, business, organizational development, public administration, or a related field

Salary/Compensations

$55,000-$70,000

Benefits

Comprehensive benefits
Paid time off
Professional development
Pension plan
HRA/FSA options
Public Service Loan Forgiveness eligibility

About the Company

Neighborhood Legal Services, Inc. (NLS) is a nonprofit public interest law firm that provides free civil legal services to low-income individuals, people with disabilities, and others facing barriers to stability, safety, and access to justice.
Through advocacy, legal advice, representation, and community education, NLS helps clients address urgent civil legal needs involving housing, public benefits, family, disability, and related matters.
With more than 120 staff working across offices in Buffalo, Niagara Falls, Lockport, and Batavia, NLS is one of the largest providers of civil legal services in Western New York.
HR at NLS is not just paperwork; it is part of the infrastructure that helps employees do difficult, mission-centered work with reliable systems, clear communication, and a workplace grounded in fairness, dignity, and respect.

Equal Opportunity

Neighborhood Legal Services is an equal opportunity employer. Employment decisions, including recruiting, hiring, placement, promotion, compensation, and training, are made without discrimination or harassment based on race, color, religion, creed, sex, pregnancy, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, national origin, age, disability, genetic information, marital status, military or veteran status, domestic violence victim status, prior arrest or conviction record, or any other characteristic protected by federal, state, or local law.
Reasonable accommodations will be provided to qualified applicants with disabilities to support participation in the application and hiring process.