Director, People Planning Operations

Apple•Austin, TX

17h

About The Position

Apple Retail’s People Planning Organization (PPO) shapes workforce management and delivers optimized schedules and scheduling tools to support customer experiences. The Director leads PPO, including Workforce Strategy and Planning, and sets the global strategic direction for planning, allocating, and optimizing Apple Retail workforce resources. The role defines how Apple plans and deploys its retail workforce while balancing customer experience, team engagement, and long-term business sustainability. The leader will develop a multi-year vision for employee scheduling and modernize scheduling, forecasting, and resourcing models. The scope includes evolving planning tools and processes, enabling workforce flexibility, managing seasonal hiring strategies, and implementing organizational models to improve efficiency and business outcomes across global regions. The role partners with Retail, Finance, People teams, Regional leads, and executive leadership to align operational plans, policies, and programs with Retail’s strategic priorities and connect workforce decisions to broader business impact. This is a strategic and operational leadership role requiring the ability to anticipate future business needs, identify where existing models may fail at scale, and design sustainable workforce strategies. The Director leads operational execution at scale and builds a multi-layer leadership team, developing talent and succession depth while fostering trust, continuous improvement, forward-looking problem solving, and excellent execution.

Requirements

15+ years of progressive experience in Retail Operations, Retail Stores, Contact Center, or high-volume customer service operations at scale.
10+ years of experience leading leaders of leaders, with demonstrated success developing talent and building succession depth.
Demonstrated success leading in large-scale, global, or matrixed organizations.
Ability to translate ambiguous business priorities into clear operational roadmaps and executable programs.
Strong cross-functional partnership and negotiation skills to align diverse stakeholders behind a strategy.
Demonstrated ability to originate and lead innovative workforce strategies rather than only optimize existing models.
Agility navigating complex business challenges and leveraging technology to deliver sustainable operational solutions.
Ability to evaluate tradeoffs between service levels, resourcing models, and operational investment to guide leadership decisions.
Track record of leading large organizations through change management involving new technology, tools, or organizational change with minimal ramp time.
Working knowledge of applying AI, machine learning, or advanced analytics to workforce forecasting, scheduling, or demand planning.
Strong command of workforce analytics and data storytelling to influence long-term planning and executive decision-making.
Experience partnering with Finance, HR organizations, and regional or international teams, such as EMEIA and APAC, to define and localize global strategy.
Track record of challenging convention and driving strategic alignment with senior executives on forward-looking workforce models.

Nice To Haves

MBA or advanced degree.

Responsibilities

Define and deliver a multi-year vision for Retail employee scheduling, anticipating changes in business needs, technology, and customer expectations.
Modernize scheduling, forecasting, and resourcing models to improve workforce allocation and investment across the business.
Sponsor and scale innovative workforce solutions through cross-functional partnerships.
Lead a complex business planning process to optimize weekly tasks and available resources.
Build and develop a multi-layer leadership team and cultivate continuous improvement, forward-thinking problem solving, and excellent execution.
Partner with Regional leads to align global strategy with local execution and ensure programs are innovative and operationally sustainable.
Drive strategic workforce decisions with executive leadership, connecting design choices to broader business impact and long-term organizational success.
Lead the People Planning Organization, including Workforce Strategy and Planning, and set global direction for workforce planning, allocation, and optimization.
Evolve planning tools and processes, enable workforce flexibility, manage seasonal hiring strategies, and implement organizational models that improve efficiency and business outcomes.
Partner across Retail, Finance, and People teams to align operational plans, policies, and programs with Retail’s strategic priorities.