Entry Level Human Resources Associate Jobs
New grad human resources associate jobs welcome recent graduates and entry level candidates with zero to two years of experience, where a strong internship or relevant coursework can matter more than a long resume. Most openings are Food & Beverage, Education, and Healthcare & Medical Services roles with employers like Sodexo, Uline, and Target hiring at this level now.
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INTRODUCTION
Field-Based | Must Live In Ohio
$65,000 to $85,000
Be the person leaders call when the people issue gets complicated.
Cardinal Senior Living is looking for a Regional Human Resources Manager to support our Ohio communities with a heavy focus on employee relations, compliance, leave management, workers’ compensation, investigations, and leadership guidance.
We are looking for someone who knows how to step into difficult employee situations, understand the legal and operational risk, give leaders clear direction, and make sure the right action actually gets executed.
You will serve as the strategic HR lead to the community leaders who handle day-to-day execution.
You’ll probably love this role if you like to:
- Work through complex employee-relations issues
- Coach leaders through difficult conversations and decisions
- Conduct investigations and get to the facts quickly
- Navigate FMLA, ADA, accommodations, and return-to-work situations
- Manage workers’ compensation issues with discipline and follow-through
- Help leaders handle performance and conduct issues appropriately
- Translate employment law into practical operating guidance
- Balance employee advocacy with business judgment
- Identify risk early and prevent small problems from becoming large ones
- Give operators clear guardrails and then let them operate
WHAT YOU’LL OWN
You’ll provide regional HR leadership across multiple Ohio communities, with primary responsibility for:
- Employee relations
- Workplace investigations
- Corrective action and performance management
- Termination review and high-risk employment decisions
- FMLA administration and complex leave situations
- ADA and accommodation guidance
- Workers’ compensation case management and return-to-work coordination
- Employment law and regulatory compliance
- Policy interpretation and consistent application
- Documentation and case management
- Leadership coaching
- Escalation of material employee, legal, or compliance risk
You’ll work closely with Executive Directors and regional operations leadership to help them make better decisions and execute consistently.
THE ROLE IN PRACTICE
Community leaders own the day-to-day people work.
Your job is to make sure they know what to do, why they are doing it, what risk exists, and where the boundaries are.
You may be helping one Executive Director navigate an exhausted FMLA situation, coaching another through a serious performance issue, reviewing a workers’ compensation case, and conducting an investigation at another community.
You need to be able to prioritize quickly, communicate clearly, and know when something is routine versus when it creates meaningful organizational risk.
WHAT WE’RE LOOKING FOR
Required:
- Bachelor’s degree in Human Resources, Business, Organizational Leadership, or a related field
- Strong employee-relations experience
- Demonstrated working knowledge of:
- FMLA
- ADA and accommodations
- Workers’ compensation
- Performance management
- Workplace investigations
- Terminations and corrective action
- Federal and state employment law
- Strong documentation and case-management discipline
- Ability to coach and influence operational leaders
- Strong judgment and comfort making recommendations in ambiguous situations
- Ability and willingness to travel throughout the Ohio region
Strongly Preferred:
- SHRM-CP, PHR, SHRM-SCP, or SPHR
- Multi-site or regional HR experience
- Senior living, healthcare, hospitality, manufacturing, retail, or another decentralized operating environment
- Experience supporting front-line leaders in high-volume employee populations
COMPENSATION
$65,000 to $85,000 annually, based on experience, credentials, and demonstrated capability.
We are not looking for someone who has collected titles.
We are looking for someone who has seen hard employee issues, understands the law, exercises good judgment, and can lead others through execution.
WHY CARDINAL?
At Cardinal Senior Living, we believe HR should help operators operate.
Our job is not to create unnecessary friction. It is to give leaders the judgment, structure, compliance guidance, and guardrails they need to lead effectively.
This role will have a direct impact on how employee issues are handled across the region and how confidently our community leaders can make people decisions.
If your strength is employee relations, investigations, compliance, FMLA, workers’ compensation, and helping leaders navigate difficult situations, we want to talk.
Apply today and help strengthen the way Cardinal Senior Living leads its people across Ohio.
CSL101
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Top Industries Hiring
- Food & Beverage
- Education
- Healthcare & Medical Services
- Manufacturing
- Consulting & Professional Services
Entry Level Human Resources Associate Jobs: Frequently Asked Questions
How do I get an entry level human resources associate job?
Employers at this level look for foundational HR knowledge, often gained through a human resources, business, or psychology degree, an internship, or relevant coursework in recruiting or employee relations. Familiarity with applicant tracking systems, strong written communication, and any hands-on experience supporting onboarding or benefits administration will give you a real edge over other entry level candidates.
Which companies hire entry level human resources associates?
Companies hiring entry level human resources associates right now include Sodexo, Uline, and Target, based on current listings on Migrate Mate as of November 2026. At this level, hiring comes from a wide range of employers, including large corporations with structured HR programs, healthcare systems, staffing agencies, and mid-size companies building out their people operations teams.
Are there remote entry level human resources associate jobs?
Yes, though most entry level roles still favor on-site or hybrid arrangements so new hires can learn directly from senior HR staff. About 12% of entry level human resources associate openings are remote or hybrid as of November 2026, so candidates open to any work setting will have the widest range of options to consider.
Are these new grad human resources associate jobs?
Yes, these listings include new grad, recent graduate, and junior human resources associate roles. A new grad friendly posting typically welcomes zero to two years of experience and treats internships, HR coursework, or a portfolio of relevant projects as qualifying background. Look for language like 'entry level,' 'new grad,' or 'no experience required' in the job description to confirm a role is open to candidates just starting out.
Which industries hire the most entry level human resources associates?
Entry Level human resources associate roles concentrate in Food & Beverage, Education, and Healthcare & Medical Services, based on current listings on Migrate Mate as of November 2026. These sectors tend to drive hiring at this level because they maintain large, geographically distributed workforces that require consistent recruiting, onboarding, and employee support functions even for junior HR staff.