Ryan P. Collins

About Ryan P. Collins

Senior HR leader and trusted executive advisor with experience as an EVP of HR, HR Director, and fractional/interim CHRO, leading multi-state people strategy across 40+ offices and employees. Deep expertise in employee and labor relations, complex investigations, and multi-jurisdiction compliance, paired with hands-on leadership across talent, performance, engagement, total rewards, and HR operations. Proven track record delivering measurable outcomes (faster hiring, lower turnover, reduced HR operating costs) through scalable systems, analytics, and practical leader coaching.Core Competencies- Employee Relations Strategy, Investigations, EEO/Harassment/Retaliation- Labor Relations Strategy, Collective Bargaining, Grievance & Arbitration- Employment Law Compliance (ADA, FMLA, FLSA, Title VII), HR Risk Assessments & Mitigation- HR Operating Models, Shared Services Delivery, HR Policy & Governance - Talent Acquisition & Retention, Performance Management, Succession Planning - Change & Crisis Management, Culture Transformation, Executive & Leader Coaching- HRIS/People Analytics, KPI Dashboards, Workforce InsightsHighlighted Impact- Built enterprise HR function from zero and scaled shared services across 9 divisions / 40+ offices / 7 states, supporting employees and contractors- Reduced time-to-hire 20% and lowered turnover 10%, avoiding $300K+ in annual turnover-related costs- Implemented Paylocity and digitized HR documentation end-to-end, reducing HR operating costs 14%- Grew consulting firm >100% YoY, built/led a 10-person team, and supported 100+ organizations of up to employees- Implemented executive KPI dashboards and scorecards across labor cost, hiring throughput, and engagement risk, enabling standardized reviews and faster, data-driven decisions.

Experience

1. Faculty

   Buffalo State University

   Jan 2024 — Present · Buffalo, NY, US

Education

• Medaille University

  Master of Business Administration - MBA, Human Resources Management & International Business

• Cornell University

  Postgraduate Certificate, Employee Relations & Investigations

• University at Buffalo School of Management, The State University of New York

  Bachelor of Science - BS, Business Administration & Human Resources Management

• Cornell University

  Postgraduate Certificate, Strategic Human Resources Leadership