Director, HR Operational Excellence and Compliance

Bayer•St. Louis, MO

2d•$144,640 - $216,960•Onsite

About The Position

The Director, HR Operational Excellence and Compliance will lead North America-wide governance, execution, and modernization across critical HR compliance, immigration, onboarding, and other Talent Acquisition compliance processes. The role strengthens Bayer's License to Operate by ensuring disciplined execution while building a more scalable operating model that uses clear ownership, AI agents, automation, knowledge management, external partners, and fit-for-purpose outsourcing models. This leader will be expected to move beyond issue management and become the organizing force for a future-state North America support model, including progressive evolution of Canadian support, stronger TA compliance and onboarding controls, improved service expectations, and practical deployment of AI-enabled support that reduces manual work while preserving compliance, privacy, and employee trust.

Requirements

Significant progressive leadership experience in HR Compliance, HR Operations, Talent Acquisition Operations, Immigration/Talent Mobility, Payroll, Benefits, Risk Management, Governance, Operational Excellence, or related disciplines.
Demonstrated success leading director-level operating model transformation, cross-functional governance, resource model design, outsourcing/vendor strategy, and execution of complex enterprise initiatives.
Strong understanding of U.S. HR compliance requirements and governance frameworks; ability to learn and navigate cross-border U.S./Canada implications.
Working knowledge of ERISA/DOL governance, pension and savings plan oversight, Form 5500 processes, SPD controls, employment tax interfaces, I-9 governance, and regulatory audit management.
Experience partnering with Legal, Audit, Tax, Payroll, Benefits, Finance, HR Operations, and external advisors.
Strong analytical, problem-solving, and systems-thinking capabilities.
Excellent executive communication, stakeholder management, facilitation, and influencing skills.
Comfort operating in ambiguity and leading through change in a matrixed environment.

Nice To Haves

Bachelor's degree in Human Resources, Business Administration, Finance, Legal Studies, Public Policy, Risk Management, Organizational Effectiveness, or a related field; advanced degree preferred.
Experience supporting both U.S. and Canadian HR compliance environments.
Experience with Workday or comparable HR technology ecosystems.
Experience applying Lean, Six Sigma, Operational Excellence, Process Management, Design Thinking, or similar methodologies.
Experience implementing automation, workflow tools, analytics, AI-enabled solutions, or digital process improvements.
Vendor governance or external advisor management experience.
Formation leadership.

Responsibilities

Lead North America-wide HR compliance governance across U.S. and Canadian support structures, with accountability for execution, risk visibility, and sustainable operating discipline.
Oversee critical compliance domains including ERISA governance, regulatory body interactions, SOP and Internal Control System expectations, audit readiness, I-9 management, reasonable accommodations, HR investigations, immigration, talent mobility, and TA/onboarding compliance controls.
Establish governance forums and decision frameworks that clarify accountability across HR, Talent Acquisition, Payroll, Benefits, Legal, Finance, Tax, Operations, Digital, and external partner interfaces.
Strengthen preventive and detective controls across federal, state, provincial, and local requirements, ensuring that compliance work is documented, assigned, measurable, and resilient.
Serve as a trusted advisor during internal and external audits and help establish consistent audit response frameworks.
Identify control gaps, process fragmentation, ownership ambiguity, and single points of failure; drive sustainable remediation plans.
Own delivery of priority initiatives while organizing the team, routines, escalation paths, documentation, and decision rights needed to support ongoing compliance enablement work at scale.
Design a future-state resource model that blends core internal expertise, AI-enabled agents, workflow tools, shared services, external vendors, and outsourcing support where appropriate.
Improve service quality and scalability through clear SLAs, intake standards, change control, governance routines, and vendor/partner accountability, including Ruveon-related change control expectations.
Lead progressive evolution of Canadian support to ensure the North America model is integrated where appropriate while respecting country-specific compliance, employment, privacy, and operational differences.
Strengthen documentation standards, knowledge management practices, and cross-training expectations across critical compliance processes.
Partner with functional owners to transition selected operational activities into Payroll and Benefits where ownership more naturally aligns.
Lead practical deployment of AI agents, automation, workflow technology, analytics, and knowledge tools to improve compliance execution, employee support, TA/onboarding experiences, and operational decision-making.
Identify work that should remain internally owned versus work that can be supported through outsourced resources, managed services, vendors, or AI-enabled self-service models.
Partner with HR Technology, Workday, Paradox, Ruveon, Payroll, Benefits, Legal, Digital, TA Operations, and Operational Excellence teams to design scalable, governed, and user-centered solutions.
Apply emerging AI capabilities to improve process documentation, knowledge management, risk identification, employee support, and operational decision support.
Promote responsible experimentation with AI and automation while maintaining appropriate governance, privacy, data quality, and compliance discipline.
Build a culture of curiosity, continuous learning, and practical innovation around future-of-work capabilities.
ERISA compliance, regulatory body coordination, SOP governance, Internal Control System discipline, and audit-ready documentation.
I-9 management for Talent Acquisition, TA and Paradox-related reasonable accommodations, onboarding controls, and service delivery issue resolution.
HR investigations, immigration, talent mobility, SLA governance, change control, and vendor/resource model effectiveness.
Partner closely with Payroll, Benefits, HR Business Partners, Legal, Finance, Tax, Internal Audit, and external vendors or advisors.
Influence stakeholders across a complex matrix environment without relying solely on formal authority.
Facilitate alignment across multiple functions involved in compliance-related activities and controls.
Lead governance forums, stakeholder discussions, and executive-ready updates on compliance priorities, operational risk, and modernization of progress.
Translate complex compliance, audit, and process topics into clear recommendations and practical action plans.
Develop and implement strategies that reduce single points of failure across critical compliance work.
Establish knowledge transfer, documentation, and cross-training plans for critical processes and stakeholder relationships.
Coach leaders and teams on compliance ownership, governance expectations, audit readiness, and operating discipline.
Support organizational transformation as North America HR Foundations evolves its operating model and modernizes service delivery.