Melanie Mel Johnson

About Melanie Mel Johnson

I build HR functions that actually work and make people feel it. I\'ve spent 10+ years in the kind of HR roles most people find intimidating: resource-lean startups, rapid-growth scale ups, and organizations that needed real infrastructure built from scratch. I\'ve done it three times now, and I genuinely love that work. My sweet spot is the intersection of strategy and humanity, where compliance meets culture, and where a well-designed benefits program or onboarding experience can change how someone feels about coming to work every day. That matters to me deeply. A few things I\'m known for: Reducing total benefits costs by 26% while improving coverage qualityScaling organizations from 40 to 500+ employees while keeping the culture intactBuilding HR departments from the ground up: policies, HRIS, engagement programs, the worksRecovering eNPS scores and turning HR into a function employees actually trust I hold my CEBS, PHR, and SHRM-CP, serve as VP on the Tampa Bay ISCEBS Board, and sit on the Advisory Council for Sparrow, the leading LOA platform. I stay close to where this field is heading: especially AI in HR, which I think is the most exciting frontier in our profession right now. Oh, and I have 5 cats, but the OG is Ninja. He supervises all my Zoom calls and has strong opinions about HRIS platforms. Open to fully remote HR Manager, Senior People Operations Manager, or Benefits Manager roles. I don\'t have to manage people, I am fine with individual contributor positions as well — j••••••••@gmail.com

Experience

1. Senior Human Resources Manager

   PandaDoc

   Aug 2022 — Present

   Delivered $5,500 in savings within the first month by auditing and renegotiating vendor contracts. Overhauled the employee handbook and HR policies to achieve multi-state compliance, reducing annual compliance risk exposure by Directed a global benefits redesign initiative, reducing plan costs by 15% while increasing wellness fund allocation by Improved company morale and boosted HR eNPS scores by 11% through targeted employee engagement programming. Managed RFP processes for LOA administration, Whistleblower, and Legal Services providers, improving operational efficiency and vendor accountability. Enhanced the company\'s rating from F to A+ within weeks by implementing sustainable complaint resolution workflows.