People Systems Lead - HRIS

Lambda•San Francisco, CA

1d•$279,000 - $310,000•Hybrid

About The Position

Lambda, The Superintelligence Cloud, is a leader in AI cloud infrastructure serving tens of thousands of customers. Our customers range from AI researchers to enterprises and hyperscalers. Lambda's mission is to make compute as ubiquitous as electricity and give everyone the power of superintelligence. One person, one GPU. If you'd like to build the world's best AI cloud, join us. Note: This position requires presence in our San Francisco or San Jose office location 4 days per week; Lambda’s designated work from home day is currently Tuesday. We are seeking an experienced Senior EPM Architect to own and scale our Enterprise Performance Management platform, with Pigment as the core tool. This role will be central to building out Lambda's financial planning, forecasting, and reporting capabilities as the company prepares for and operates as a public company. You will partner closely with FP&A, Accounting, and Business Technology to design and deliver planning models, reporting frameworks, and cross-functional workflows that give leadership real-time visibility into business performance. Your responsibilities will include architecting Pigment's data model and integration layer, building and maintaining planning and forecasting models, and establishing governance and change management standards for the platform. This role requires deep EPM domain expertise, strong technical chops in Pigment, and the ability to translate finance team needs into scalable, auditable solutions.

Requirements

10+ years in HRIS / People Systems, with at least 4+ years of hands-on Workday HCM and Payroll implementation and administration experience.
At least one full-cycle Workday implementation including Payroll go-live as the customer-side architect or in-house owner.
Prior experience at a high-growth or pre-IPO / public company strongly preferred.
Deep proficiency in Workday's data model, business process framework, security model, calculated fields, EIBs, Core Connectors, and Studio integrations.
Working knowledge of SQL or Workday Report Writer, and familiarity with data pipelines (BigQuery, dbt, Fivetran, Workato).
Strong understanding of People processes including onboarding, offboarding, compensation planning, benefits open enrollment, leaves of absence, performance management, and US payroll tax and compliance.
Comfortable speaking the language of HR Business Partners, People Ops, and Finance stakeholders.
Practical knowledge of SOX requirements as they apply to HRIS and Payroll systems, including change management, segregation of duties, access controls, and documentation.
Experience working with external auditors.
Ability to work directly with senior People and Finance leadership and translate ambiguous requirements into structured, scalable solutions.
Comfortable presenting to executives, managing competing priorities independently, and holding implementation partners accountable.
Experience hiring, mentoring, or leading a People Systems team.
Player-coach orientation: comfortable being hands-on while also growing a function.
Hands-on experience leveraging AI/ML tools to enhance People workflows, whether through native HRIS capabilities, custom-built solutions, or third-party AI integrations.

Nice To Haves

Prior experience with Workday's API and programmatic integrations (REST, SOAP, RaaS).
International payroll experience (LATAM, Canada, India, EMEA).
Experience building internal AI-powered apps or prototypes (e.g., on AWS, Vercel, or similar) that augment People workflows.
Hands-on familiarity with NetSuite GL posting, Okta/Lumos identity governance, Greenhouse, Lattice, Carta, or Workato.
Prior experience migrating from Rippling, BambooHR, ADP, UKG, or SAP SuccessFactors to Workday.

Responsibilities

Own the end-to-end design, build, and administration of Workday HCM, including tenant configuration, supervisory orgs, business processes, security model, and environment management across implementation, sandbox, and production tenants.
Lead the deployment of Workday Payroll (US first, international as scoped) with full SOX-compliant controls over pay calculation, tax filing, GL posting to NetSuite, and off-cycle processing. Own ongoing payroll operations partnership with the People and Accounting teams.
Design and manage integrations between Workday and upstream/downstream systems (NetSuite, BigQuery, Okta/Lumos, benefits carriers, 401(k), ATS, perf, equity admin) using Workday Studio, EIBs, Core Connectors, and Workato as appropriate.
Lead the Workday implementation partner relationship end-to-end: scope, SOW, sprint cadence, UAT, cutover, hypercare. Hold the partner accountable to deliverables and timeline.
Build the People reporting and analytics layer: headcount close, attrition, comp planning, DEI, payroll register reconciliation. Feed clean headcount actuals into Pigment EPM for FP&A.
Establish and enforce controls around payroll, comp, terminations, access provisioning, and master data changes. Partner with external SOX advisors on ITGC and IPE design for the People stack.
Hire and grow a small in-house People Technology team (2-3 ICs over 12-18 months) covering Workday HCM/Payroll admin, integrations and reporting, and adjacent People Ops tooling.
Train and support end users across the People team, drive adoption, and build documentation and governance standards for tenant changes and release management.
Develop and maintain a multi-quarter platform roadmap aligned with Lambda's People function maturity goals, partnering with Business Technology and People leadership to prioritize enhancements.