Deni Ruiz
Keyano College
Fort McMurray,AB
1
Certification
22
years of professional experience
Senior HR Business Partner and People Leader with 20+ years of experience partnering with leadership to drive organizational effectiveness, talent strategy, and business transformation. Proven advisor to senior leaders in performance management, workforce planning, compensation, and change management across complex, unionized and non-union environments. Known for applying data-informed insights, scalable people practices, and strong judgment to improve employee experience and business outcomes in fast-paced organizations. Experience in working across various sectors, remote and in person environments, across North America (Canada and US(.
Work History
Executive Director, People & Culture
3 Years 4 Months- Partner with the President, Executive Team, and Board to shape people strategy, organizational design, and workforce priorities supporting institutional goals.
- Drive continuous improvement of people processes with a focus on employee experience and operational efficiency.
- Develop, plan, implement, and monitor short-range and long-range departmental objectives consistent with the HR department’s initiative, projects and priorities.
- Advise the President & CEO and the Board of Governors on HR related and institutional matters.
- Oversee the development and administration of policies, procedures, and standard practices, consistent the College and departmental objectives.
- Develop and administer the annual operating and capital budget for the department while maintaining optimum cost-benefit relationships.
- Maintain a thorough knowledge of relevant legislation, regulations, and by-laws governing Human Resources, Labour Relations, Human Rights, Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy etc.
- Apply data and workforce insights to inform decisions on staffing, retention, and capability gaps.
- Guide and coach a team of 10 HR and Payroll and Disability Management professionals.
- Provide interpretation and advice based on best practice, collective agreement requirements, policies and procedures, legal obligations, and relevant case law, to maintain and promote effective employer/employee relationships.
- Collective Bargaining – lead and steer the collective agreement negotiations process, work closely with the Executives to ensure negotiation proposals are aligned with institutional objectives.
- Represent the institution at mediations, arbitrations, human rights, privacy and employment standards/labour complaints.
- Oversee and manage the overall recruitment strategy.
- Guide Senior Leadership teams through change management initiatives.
- Provide guidance and recommendations to various committees regarding HR/People issues.
- Oversee the talent management processes and cycles: Performance Management and Growth plans, leadership and employee development, Succession planning etc.
Sessional Instructor, School of Business – HRM 101
4 MonthsSr. Leader Services Advisor
2 Years- Partner with senior leaders to lead enterprise people cycles, organizational change initiatives, and complex employee matters across large teams.
- Coach and support team members and junior HR Advisors as well as Leaders on application of HR policies, practices and programs.
- Advise leaders in all aspects of ER/LR including discipline, grievances, performance management, capability assessments, succession planning, workforce planning, re-org support etc.
- Lead change management and re-org initiatives (ex: Suncor taking over ownership of Syncrude Sept 2021).
- Conduct complex and sensitive investigations, provide reports to Sr Management, coach leaders on disciplinary actions and coaching conversations as result of the investigations.
- Conduct employee exits, support post-employment communication with terminated employees.
- Serve as Workday Core HR subject-matter expert, advising on design improvements and ensuring scalable, user-centered HR system implementations.
HR Strategic Business Partner
5 Years 5 Months- HR Strategic Partner Fixed Plants (850+ union and staff) Sept 2017- Mar 2021
- Conducted the Regional Integration reorg support of Regional Services (2018) to complete a full integration of various operating sites into the regional operating model for all services organizations.
- Subject Matter Expert for the Performance Management overhaul project as well as HR lead for the Solomon Refinery study report for 2018.
- Implement, lead and coach client groups on all company employee related HR cycles (Performance Cycle, Performance Improvement Plans, Compensation, Succession planning, Workforce planning etc.)
- Provide strategic advice and support to Senior Leaders in any high-level business initiatives and projects.
- Lead initiatives and various projects compensation through to implementation.
- HR Strategic Partner- Mining (2000+ union & 220 staff) Oct 2015- Sept 2016
- Implement, lead and coach client groups on all company employee related cycles.
- Provide accurate and timely KPI reports on various business-related parameters.
- Lead and guide Directors and GMs in all strategic initiatives and projects as needed.
- Lead the HR team on the Autonomous Haul Truck project (team of 4-5 SMEs) and provide updates and support to the bigger integrated taskforce team.
- Liaise with the business and the LR Advisor counterparts to ensure full support of the client groups.
- Delivered HR Onboarding of newly hired/promoted Leaders (HR 101)
HR/LR Advisor – Mine Operation
2 Years 11 Months- Support a client group of about 600 employees with high LR activity.
- Full cycle LR work: investigations, discipline, last chance agreements, A&D related issues, grievance hearings and arbitration prep, terminations planning and support, reorgs etc.
- Coach leaders on employee related cycles for both unionized and non-unionized employees (Performance, Compensation, Succession planning, Performance Improvement, Workforce planning etc.)
- Delivered leadership training on HR/LR related topics
Human Resources Manager
1 Year 10 Months- Manage all employee relation issues- investigation, prevention, resolution; promote positive employee relations as a way to engage employees and remain union free.
- Oversee HRIS and Intranet records management (Oracle- People Soft), HRIS reporting.
- Built competency profiles and then implemented professional development programs for Supervisory staff (none existed prior to my involvement).
- Key point of contact for all leaders regarding HR processes, procedures, discipline, application of Drug & Alcohol policy; disability management etc.;
- Investigation of all Human Rights and Employment Standards complaints; successfully responded to and defended 6 cases with Employment Standards and 3 cases with Human Rights of Alberta.
- Advise on and administer the Performance Evaluations process and Performance Improvement Plans.
- Actively engage in workforce planning.
- Provide strategic advice to Sr. Leadership Team to ensure company success through people and safety.
- Worked on a corporate turnover reduction initiative (identify “at risk” sites; perform site assessments; administer employee survey to selected group of employees at each site “focus groups”; discuss action items and establish action plan with each site Manager to improve retention and employee engagement)
- Liaison between Recruiting, Payroll, Training, Onboarding and Operations personnel
- Supported Alberta as well as NY state - US and Canadian employment relations
Human Resources Generalist
1 Year 1 Month- Manage all employee and labour relations issues, investigations of misconduct/harassment allegations, exit interviews, recruitment, leadership training & development, succession planning.
- Support and coach Leaders on various employee and labour relations issues.
- Maintain Employee records and reporting (headcount, attrition, turnover etc).
- Recommend new approaches and procedures to improve the efficiency: Implemented an HR KPI scorecard that reports on various HR related KPIs to demonstrate ROI.
HR Assistant
4 Months- Delivered general HR services to customer locations within Canada and US.
- Used strong analytical and problem-solving skills to develop effective solutions for challenging situations.
- Skilled at working independently and collaboratively in a team environment across Canada and US labour markets.
- Developed and maintained courteous and effective working relationships.
- Proven ability to learn quickly and adapt to new situations.
Education
Master of Science - Master's Labour Relations Certificate
Bachelor of Commerce - Human Resource Management, International Business
GPA: Distinction
DEC - Social Science - International Business
Concentration: International Business
Skills
Canadian and US Employee and Labour Relations; payroll
disabillity management and attendance management
return to work process
WCB
Bargaining
Computer Skills: MS Office Suite (intermediate to advanced); HRIS systems (Avanti
WorkDay
Service Now
SAP
Oracle PeopleSoft)
Sharepoint
MS Teams & others. Quick learner of technology
Active member of Board of Governors for Keyano College
Vice-President of CPHR chapter of Wood Buffalo for decade.
Languages
English
Full Professional
French
Limited Working
Spanish
Elementary
Certification
- CHRP designation (CPHR Alberta) 2010-Present
- SHRM – Sr Certified HR Professional (US) 2019- Present
Interests
Other Interests: Entrepreneurship
Continuous learning
Adult Education
Reading
Music
Crafting
Travel
Timeline
Sessional Instructor, School of Business – HRM 101
Keyano College
01.2024 - 05.2024Read More
Executive Director, People & Culture
Keyano College
03.2023 - CurrentRead More
Sr. Leader Services Advisor
Suncor Energy Inc.
03.2021 - 03.2023Read More
HR Strategic Business Partner
Suncor Energy Inc.
10.2015 - 03.2021Read More
HR/LR Advisor – Mine Operation
Suncor Energy Inc.
10.2012 - 09.2015Read More
Human Resources Manager
Clean Harbors Energy & Industrial
11.2010 - 09.2012Read More
Human Resources Generalist
Diversified Transportation
10.2009 - 11.2010Read More
HR Assistant
Medisca Pharmaceutique
01.2005 - 05.2005Read More
Dawson College
DEC - Social Science from International Business
Read More
Concordia University
Bachelor of Commerce from Human Resource Management, International Business
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University of Regina
Master of Science from Master's Labour Relations Certificate
Read More