Chief Human Resources Leader (VP level ready)

DAFFNE ROSS

San Antonio, TX 210-***-**** **********@*****.*** LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/daffne-ross-550b2434

DIRECTOR, HUMAN RESOURCES

Senior Human Resources executive with 15+ years of experience leading enterprise HR strategy across foods & beverages, retail, oil & gas, manufacturing, sales, and commercial fast-pace organizations. Trusted partner to C-suite leaders and senior executives across large, complex union and non-union environments. Proven leader in talent strategy, labor relations, workforce planning, and organizational effectiveness, delivering results through growth, transformation, and integration initiatives. Fully bilingual in English and Spanish.

CORE COMPETENCIES

Strategic HR Leadership Talent Acquisition & Workforce Planning Full-Cycle Recruiting (Corporate & Field) ATS Implementation & Optimization Change Management Employee & Labor Relations Organizational Design Succession Planning Leadership Development Mergers & Acquisitions Cultural Transformation Compliance & Risk Management Executive Coaching

PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE

PEPSICO, TX December 2019 – December 2025

People Director

Served as strategic HR leader supporting large-scale beverage operations across North America, encompassing both union and non-union facilities. Acted as a trusted HR Business Partner to C-suite leaders and senior executives, aligning people strategy with business priorities across Go-To-Market, Sales, Commercial and Supply Chain operations in fast-paced, highly complex environments. Led and developed a team of field HR Business Partners, driving consistent execution of enterprise HR strategy.

Executive HR Partnership: to division and cross-functional executives, designing and executing enterprise people strategies supporting 4,000+ employees and directly aligned to business and growth objectives.

Enterprise Talent & Workforce Strategy: Led succession planning, predictive staffing, and multi-year leadership pipeline development across short-, and 5-year bench. Directed large-scale organizational transformations including market consolidations, outsourcing function labor, acquisitions, integrations, automation initiatives, and facility openings and closures.

Labor Relations & Risk Management: Provided executive oversight of union new contract negotiations, grievance resolution, and contract administration across unionized operations, ensuring compliance and mitigating labor risk.

Culture, Engagement & Employee Relations: Championed enterprise culture and inclusion strategies while resolving complex employee relations issues to drive engagement, retention, and workforce stability.

Leadership Development & Capability Building: Coached senior leaders and implemented leadership programs, performance and development frameworks that strengthened leadership capability and accelerated frontline readiness.

Organizational Effectiveness: Aligned organizational design, operating models, and performance metrics to improve efficiency and business outcomes in highly dynamic environments.

PEPSICO, TX January 2017 – December 2019

HR Manager

Led and executed HR strategy for a high-volume Frito-Lay manufacturing site, supporting a workforce of exempt and non-exempt employees. Managed an HR team and served as trusted HR Business Partner to site leadership, overseeing 100% of employee relations matters. Drove performance management and succession planning efforts, strengthening leadership bench strength and internal mobility. Advanced culture and engagement initiatives, contributing to measurable improvements in organizational health and retention.

Award-Winning Culture & Safety: Earned the 2018 Ewing Award for achieving #1 Supply Chain North America performance in culture, representation, and safety metrics.

Organizational Health & Engagement: Led site-wide Great Place to Work (GPTW) initiative, driving a 4-point increase in organizational health scores within the first year.

Diversity, Equity & Inclusion Leadership: Led regional D&I strategy for three years, launching WIN and MOSAIC Champion programs that strengthened inclusion, improved retention, and increased employee engagement

VALERO, TX June 2015 – January 2017

Manager Talent Management

Led talent acquisition and talent management strategy across multi-state operations, managing a distributed team of recruiters supporting high-volume retail hiring and executive-level corporate roles. Owned staffing and retention strategy to ensure consistent delivery of best-in-class talent. Led full-cycle recruiting and workforce planning, including the implementation and optimization of the applicant tracking system (ATS). Designed and executed talent management initiatives supporting leadership effectiveness and cultural transformation. Partnered with executive leadership and Organizational Development to forecast staffing and development needs and implement competency-based selection and assessment tools company-wide.

Talent Acquisition Strategy & Delivery: Partnered with executive and senior leadership to design and execute enterprise talent acquisition strategies aligned to business growth and market trends, supporting high-volume retail hiring and C-suite–level corporate roles.

Recruiting Performance & Scale: Improved retail requisition time-to-fill by 40% through optimized sourcing strategies, process redesign, and recruiter capacity planning.

ATS & Process Optimization: Led implementation and optimization of the applicant tracking system (ATS), improving recruiting efficiency, compliance, reporting, and candidate experience.

ENERGY TRANSFER, TX August 2011- June 2015

HR Generalist

Provided HR Generalist support on mergers and acquisitions integration initiatives, with a strong focus on talent acquisition, workforce planning, and operational alignment. Led HR due diligence, assessed organizational structures and workforce risks, and partnered with executive leadership to support post-merger integration strategies. Streamlined HR policies, recruiting, and onboarding processes across legacy and acquired entities, including implementation of new ATS and onboarding systems. Drove employee communications, compliance, and talent assimilation efforts to reduce risk, improve engagement, and ensure a seamless transition during integration

M&A Due Diligence & Workforce Risk: Conducted HR due diligence by assessing organizational structures, talent risks, and workforce liabilities, providing leadership with clear visibility into synergies and post-close impacts.

Talent Acquisition & Integration: Led full-cycle recruiting and workforce planning during mergers and acquisitions, ensuring continuity of hiring across corporate and field roles.

Change Communications & Retention: Developed and executed employee communication strategies to align teams with new policies, benefits, and cultural expectations, reducing uncertainty and attrition during integration.

Workforce Restructuring & Advisory: Advised executives on restructures, redeployment, retention strategies, and separation planning to support business continuity.

EDUCATION

Bachelor Business Administration– Minor in Management, Universidad Fray Lucca Paccioli, Mexico

CERTIFICATIONS & SKILLS

Certifications: PHR, SHRM-CP

Microsoft Suite: Access Outlook Word PowerPoint Excel Visio Project

Languages: Spanish English

Contact this candidate