Associate Director, People Technology (HRIS)

Neurocrine Biosciences • San Diego, CA

2d • $161,100 - $220,000

About The Position

Neurocrine Biosciences is a leading biopharmaceutical company dedicated to discovering, developing, and commercializing life-changing treatments for patients with under-addressed neurological, psychiatric, endocrine, and immunological disorders. The company is seeking an Associate Director, People Technology (HRIS) to lead the execution of the People Technology strategy, product roadmap, governance, optimization, and operational excellence, with Workday HCM as the core platform. This role involves partnering with various departments including HR, Payroll, Finance, IT, Cybersecurity, Data and Analytics, and business leaders to translate workforce priorities into scalable, secure, and user-centered solutions. The Associate Director will serve as the Workday platform owner and primary design authority, overseeing architecture, configuration governance, integrations, reporting and analytics, release adoption, data quality, and the responsible use of AI-enabled capabilities. Additionally, they will lead and develop a People Technology team and strategic partners to deliver measurable business value, strong controls, and an effective employee and manager experience.

Requirements

• BS/BA degree in Business Administration, Human Resources, Computer Science, or related field AND 10+ years of progressive HR technology/HRIS experience, including 5 + years with Workday HCM, 3+ years leading teams, and ownership of at least one end-to-end implementation or major transformation plus sustained post-production optimization.
• Experience with Workday configuration, security, reporting and analytics, integrations, and release management required.
• MS/MA degree in Business Administration, Human Resources, Computer Science, or related field AND 8+ years of experience, including 5 + years with Workday HCM, 3+ years leading teams, and ownership of at least one end-to-end implementation or major transformation plus sustained post-production optimization.
• Current Workday Pro certification(s) in relevant HCM, Security, Reporting and Analytics, Platform Administrator, Orchestrate Developer, and/or Extend Developer I areas preferred; equivalent demonstrable expertise accepted.
• Previous people-management and functional/platform leadership experience required.
• Expert technical expertise with cloud based HRIS solutions, such as Workday, ADP.
• Deep functional and technical expertise administering and optimizing Workday HCM in a complex production environment, with experience serving as platform/product owner or design authority.
• Expert knowledge of Workday Core HCM, Business Process Framework, organization and staffing models, tenant and configuration governance, and role-, domain-, and business-process security.
• Hands-on depth in at least three Workday functional areas aligned to the company's licensed footprint, such as Recruiting/Talent Acquisition, Talent Optimization, Skills Cloud, Learning, Compensation/Advanced Compensation, Benefits, Absence, Time Tracking, Organization Management, Workforce Planning, or Payroll.
• Advanced Workday reporting and analytics expertise, including the business object model, data sources, Report Writer, calculated fields, advanced, matrix, and composite reports, dashboards, and Discovery Boards.
• Strong integration architecture and delivery experience with EIB, Core Connectors and Cloud Connect, Workday Studio, Workday Web Services, REST, SOAP and Graph APIs, RaaS, SFTP, and Workday Orchestrate; understanding of batch, event-driven, monitoring, and error-handling patterns.
• Experience managing Workday weekly service updates and feature releases, Sandbox Preview, tenant refresh and configuration migration, regression testing, feature adoption, and release communications.
• Broad understanding of People Technology operations and how the discipline integrates with HR and other enterprise functions to support Neurocrine business objectives.
• Strong people, matrix, vendor, and cross-functional leadership, with the ability to build effective teams and represent the area across the organization.
• Excellent communication, influence, problem-solving, analytical judgment, and executive stakeholder management skills, with the ability to translate business needs into technology, data, and operating-model decisions.
• Strong portfolio, product, program, service, and change-management capabilities, with the ability to manage competing priorities, anticipate enterprise impacts, and deliver with accuracy and sound judgment.

Nice To Haves

• ADP or other third-party payroll integration experience preferred where applicable.
• Experience leading systems integrators or application management services (AMS) partners preferred.
• Third-party payroll integration experience, including ADP, preferred where applicable.
• Workday People Analytics and/or Prism Analytics experience preferred.
• Experience with Workday Extend and the Workday Build developer platform, and evaluating Workday Data Cloud or other governed data-sharing and analytics capabilities, preferred.
• Working knowledge of Sana from Workday, Workday AI agents, Workday Agent System of Record, Workday Agent Passport, and responsible AI governance; experience with AI-enabled talent and learning capabilities, including HiredScore, Paradox, or Workday Learning powered by Sana, preferred when relevant to the licensed footprint.

Responsibilities

• Lead execution of the People Technology strategy and multi-year roadmap, with Workday HCM as the core system of record, aligning investments, architecture, feature adoption, and platform improvements with HR and business priorities.
• Own the Workday platform operating model, including governance, solution design, configuration standards, demand prioritization, release and change management, technical debt, service levels, and value realization.
• Lead implementations, optimizations, integrations, and major platform changes from discovery and design through testing, deployment, adoption, stabilization, and benefits realization.
• Maintain scalable, secure, and compliant People Technology architecture, data, reporting, analytics, integrations, and controls in partnership with HR, Payroll, Finance, IT, Cybersecurity, Legal/Privacy, Internal Audit, and Compliance.
• Lead production operations and continuous improvement, including incident, problem, and change management; integration and scheduled-process monitoring; root-cause analysis; release readiness; service performance; and user adoption.
• Partner with HR Centers of Excellence and business leaders to optimize the Workday footprint, improve employee and manager experiences, and translate workforce priorities into scalable technology and data solutions.
• Evaluate and responsibly govern emerging capabilities, including AI-enabled tools, Workday Extend, analytics, and automation, using clear business cases, appropriate security and privacy controls, human oversight, and measurable outcomes.
• Build and develop a high-performing People Technology team and strategic partner ecosystem through clear accountabilities, coaching, cross-training, succession planning, knowledge transfer, and vendor performance management.
• Other duties as assigned.

Benefits

• retirement savings plan (with company match)
• paid vacation, holiday and personal days
• paid caregiver/parental and medical leave
• health benefits to include medical, prescription drug, dental and vision coverage

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Manager