Director | Strategic Workforce Planning

Gundersen Health System•La Crosse, IA

3d•Hybrid

About The Position

Emplify Health is seeking a strategic, data-driven leader to establish and advance enterprise workforce planning and management across its growing healthcare system. The Director will shape workforce strategy to support high-quality patient care, fiscal stewardship, and long-term organizational growth, translating complex workforce data into actionable insights for senior leaders and enterprise decisions. The role partners with executives and teams across HR, Finance, Operations, ITDS, and other functions to ensure the organization has the right talent in the right place at the right time. Key priorities include building workforce planning capabilities, advancing human capital management systems, and helping define the future use of Workday Adaptive Planning across HR and Finance. The position is hybrid, with occasional on-site needs. Candidates must reside in an eligible state at the time of hire.

Requirements

Bachelor’s degree in Human Resources, Business Administration, Business Analytics, Healthcare Administration, or a related field.
8 or more years of experience in strategic workforce planning, healthcare operations, or leadership, or equivalent proven experience.
Strong analytical skills and the ability to interpret complex data and make data-driven decisions.
Excellent communication and interpersonal skills, including the ability to influence stakeholders at all levels.
Demonstrated leadership, project management, and agile execution experience.
Familiarity with workforce planning tools and human capital management systems.

Nice To Haves

Master’s degree in Human Resources, Business Administration, Business Analytics, Healthcare Administration, or a related field.
Certification in workforce planning or human resources management.
Experience in a healthcare setting.
Experience with Workday Adaptive Planning in HR and Finance.
Knowledge of labor market trends and regulatory considerations.
Direct experience in healthcare analytics, preferably tied to workforce planning.
Hands-on experience with Workday Adaptive Planning.
Deep analytical rigor and ability to turn dense data into clear, compelling business narratives.
Strong executive presentation skills and confidence presenting to senior leaders.
Experience influencing strategy, optimizing headcount, and supporting long-range talent decisions.
Collaborative, forward-thinking mindset and ability to build something new and shape a function from the ground up.

Responsibilities

Set the strategic direction for enterprise workforce planning and management in alignment with organizational goals, market trends, and evolving workforce needs.
Partner with executive leadership to translate business priorities into workforce strategies supporting patient care, operational performance, and financial stewardship.
Analyze workforce data to identify trends, risks, gaps, and opportunities, and develop solutions for current and future talent needs.
Build forecasting structures integrating business forecasts, strategic initiatives, operational demands, external economic factors, market trends, and organizational growth.
Lead deployment, adoption, and capability-building for human capital management and time scheduling systems, including UKG and Workday.
Help lead the introduction of Workday Adaptive Planning for HR and Finance.
Define business requirements and partner with ITDS to ensure systems support efficient scheduling, timekeeping, and workforce planning.
Develop staffing models and resource allocation strategies to improve workload balance, patient experience, workforce engagement, and cost control.
Collaborate with leaders to determine staffing levels, skill mix, scheduling approaches, and workload distribution.
Support talent acquisition, retention, development, and succession planning strategies for critical roles and future skill needs.
Develop and maintain KPIs, dashboards, reports, and presentations to inform senior leadership and support data-driven decision-making.
Lead scenario planning and workforce analysis to help the organization anticipate and prepare for future workforce needs.
Partner with HR business partners, Organizational Development, Talent Acquisition, Finance, and the Business Strategy & Innovation Office to align workforce planning with enterprise priorities.
Drive process improvement, change management, and continuous improvement across workforce planning and management practices.
Provide direction, coaching, and accountability to teams and partners, focusing on outcomes, collaboration, and servant leadership.