HR Generalist

About the team

Zillow’s Employee Service Center (ESC) delivers fast, accurate and scalable HR support to a distributed workforce. It owns HR transactions, data integrity and compliance, and partners with People Product and HR COEs on digital solutions. We’re growing our HR Generalist team to own work that is too complex for core ESC support but doesn’t require full HRBP ownership. This work often involves nuanced judgment, manager coaching, data processing and interpretation, and cross-functional coordination across the People Org to support cyclical processes such as performance management, annual review, and recruiting. This role offers broad exposure across HR and is a strong path toward HR Business Partnering.

About the role

The HR Generalist serves an important role for the organization as a link between ESC operations and HR Business Partners (HRBPs). You’ll take in, sort and resolve routine but nuanced HR work: manager coaching, performance management, annual review, and project support across multiple areas.

You will get to:

• Serve as a frontline point of contact for managers, coaching them through nuanced HR questions with guidance based on policy, practice and risk.
• Run detailed inquiries with employees and ask the right follow-up questions to gather the facts, timeline, and route it to the right team to support.
• Partner with HRBPs to execute people and talent strategies, including performance, annual review, and position management efforts, ensuring operational details are managed end-to-end.
• Participate in HRBP team meetings, talent forums, and relevant syncs to stay current on business context and bring insights back into ESC operations.

• Coordinate with partners to ensure end-to-end case completeness and smooth employee and manager experience across teams.

This role has been categorized as a Remote position. “Remote” employees do not have a permanent corporate office workplace and, instead, work from a physical location of their choice, which must be identified to the Company. U.S. employees may live in any of the 50 United States, with limited exceptions.In California, Connecticut, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York, Washington state, and Washington DC the standard base pay range for this role is $86,200.00 - $137,800.00 annually. This base pay range is specific to these locations and may not be applicable to other locations. In Colorado, Hawaii, Illinois, Maine, Minnesota, Nevada, Ohio, Rhode Island, Vermont, and Virginia the standard base pay range for this role is $81,900.00 - $130,900.00 annually. The base pay range is specific to these locations and may not be applicable to other locations.In addition to a competitive base salary this position is also eligible for equity awards based on factors such as experience, performance and location. Actual amounts will vary depending on experience, performance and location. Employees in this role will not be paid below the salary threshold for exempt employees in the state where they reside.

Who you are

• Comfortable in the gray space - you enjoy working through situations with multiple stakeholders and turning ambiguous requests into clear next steps.
• Energized by coaching managers in a way that balances employee experience, fairness and risk.
• Organized and focused on execution. You juggle many requests and close the loop with clean documentation.
• Systems, data, and AI-savvy. You’re excited to use AI tools to work faster, spot patterns and find better ways to support managers and employees.
• A trusted collaborator across teammates who is comfortable working both through tickets and through real-time collaboration (instant messages and live calls).
• Enjoy creating or iterating on SOPs, playbooks, and triage rules based on case pattern analysis and partner feedback.
• Highly discrete and reliable when working with sensitive or confidential information related to performance, employee relations, or organizational changes.

Qualifications

• 2+ years HR experience in shared services, employee service centers, employee relations, HR operations, or HR generalist roles
• Experience conducting employee or manager inquires and documenting them clearly and objectively
• Sound judgment in triaging, routing and escalating work based on complexity, risk and business context
• Strong written and verbal communication skills, including the ability to create clear guidance
• Proficiency with Workday (or similar HRIS) and ServiceNow (or similar tools)

Preferred Qualifications

• Prior experience in an HR shared services / tiered support model or similar model where routing, SLAs, and escalation accuracy are core to success.
• Hands-on experience using AI tools (such as ChatGPT, Claude or Gemini) to improve workflows, documentation or analysis
• Experience supporting organizational change, re-leveling, or job profile work as a project contributor (project management, documentation, stakeholder prep) alongside HRBPs and COEs

Get to know us

At Zillow, we’re reimagining how people move-through the real estate market and through their careers. As the most-visited real estate platform in the U.S., we help people navigate buying, selling, financing and renting with greater ease and confidence. Whether you're working in tech, sales, operations, or design, you’ll be part of a company reshaping an industry and helping more people make home a reality.

How we work is a key part of that transformation. Through Cloud HQ, our strategic approach to distributed work, most employees have the flexibility to work from wherever they’re most productive-enabling us to move fast, stay connected and deliver on our people promise.

Zillow is honored to be recognized among the best workplaces in the U.S. Zillow was named one of FORTUNE 100 Best Companies to Work For® in 2026, and included on TIME’s America’s Best Companies 2026 list, reflecting our commitment to creating an innovative, inclusive, and engaging culture where employees are empowered to grow.

No matter where you sit in the organization, your work will help drive innovation, support our customers, and move the industry-and your career-forward, together.

Zillow Group is an equal opportunity employer committed to fostering an inclusive, innovative environment with the best employees. We are committed to equal employment opportunity regardless of race, color, ancestry, religion, sex, national origin, sexual orientation, age, citizenship, marital status, disability, gender identity or Veteran status. If you have a disability or special need that requires accommodation, please contact your recruiter directly.

Qualified applicants with arrest or conviction records will be considered for employment in accordance with applicable state and local law.

Los Angeles County applicants: Job duties for this position include: work safely and cooperatively with other employees, supervisors, and staff; adhere to standards of excellence despite stressful conditions; communicate effectively and respectfully with employees, supervisors, and staff to ensure exceptional customer service; and follow all federal, state, and local laws and Company policies. Criminal history may have a direct, adverse, and negative relationship with some of the material job duties of this position. These include the duties and responsibilities listed above, as well as the abilities to adhere to company policies, exercise sound judgment, effectively manage stress and work safely and respectfully with others, exhibit trustworthiness and professionalism, and safeguard business operations and the Company’s reputation. Pursuant to the Los Angeles County Fair Chance Ordinance, we will consider for employment qualified applicants with arrest and conviction records.