Senior People Experience Specialist

Stepan Company•Northbrook, IL

1d•$77,000 - $100,000•Hybrid

About The Position

The Senior People Experience Specialist provides advanced HR Operations and people experience support across employee lifecycle processes, HR service delivery, and case management. This role serves as a senior resource for complex employee and manager inquiries, higher-risk transactions, data quality reviews, process improvement, knowledge management, and escalation support. The position applies strong HR judgment, system expertise, and operational discipline to deliver accurate, timely, compliant, and employee-centered HR services while helping strengthen HR service center practices, controls, and user experience.

Requirements

Typically 4+ years of experience in HR operations, HR shared services, employee lifecycle administration, HR service center, HRIS support, payroll/benefits administration, employee relations or a similar service-oriented HR environment.
Demonstrated experience resolving complex HR inquiries, reviewing employee data, processing HR transactions, and applying HR policies or procedures with accuracy and discretion.
Strong working knowledge of HR operations processes such as onboarding, offboarding, employment changes, position or job changes, manager changes, employee data management, payroll/benefits coordination, employee relations and case management.
Experience using HRIS/HCM systems such as SAP SuccessFactors, Workday, Oracle, or similar platforms, including transaction processing, reporting, workflow review, and data validation.
Strong analytical and problem-solving skills with the ability to identify root causes, evaluate process gaps, recommend improvements, and support implementation of practical solutions.
Advanced customer service orientation with the ability to communicate clearly and professionally with employees, managers, HR colleagues, and cross-functional partners.
High attention to detail and strong commitment to confidentiality, data accuracy, documentation quality, audit readiness, and follow-through.
Ability to manage multiple priorities, meet service standards, work through ambiguity, and exercise sound judgment in determining when to resolve, consult, or escalate.
Proficiency with Microsoft Office tools, including Outlook, Teams, Word, PowerPoint, and Excel; intermediate Excel skills preferred for tracking, analysis, and reporting.

Nice To Haves

Experience in a global, multi-site, manufacturing, chemical, industrial, or similarly complex operating environment.
Experience with HR case management, service management, ticketing, or knowledge management platforms.
Experience supporting SAP SuccessFactors Employee Central, Recruiting, Onboarding, or related modules.
Experience creating or improving SOPs, knowledge articles, process maps, job aids, templates, and service center documentation.
Exposure to HR compliance, audit requests, data privacy practices, internal controls, and employment-related documentation standards.
Experience mentoring, training, or coaching junior team members or serving as a subject matter expert for HR operations processes.
Experience supporting HR technology enhancements, process standardization, automation, reporting, or continuous improvement initiatives.
Professional certification such as SHRM-CP, SHRM-SCP, PHR, SPHR, or HR process/continuous improvement certification preferred but not required.

Responsibilities

Serve as a senior point of contact for employee and manager HR inquiries received through the HR service portal, email, or other service channels, including inquiries requiring broader HR operations knowledge or judgment.
Provide accurate, professional guidance on HR policies, programs, procedures, and employee lifecycle processes using approved documentation, SOPs, FAQs, knowledge articles, and escalation protocols.
Resolve more complex HR cases and transactions, including new hires, employment changes, job and manager changes, terminations, onboarding administration, employee relations issues, offboarding support, employee data updates, and related data requests.
Review, validate, and process higher-impact employee data changes in HRIS platforms such as SAP SuccessFactors, Workday, Oracle, or similar HCM systems, ensuring appropriate documentation, approvals, data accuracy, and audit readiness.
Act as an escalation resource for junior specialists or service center team members by helping troubleshoot HRIS issues, transaction errors, policy questions, workflow gaps, and case resolution barriers.
Monitor case volume, service level performance, aging cases, recurring issues, and employee experience themes; partner with HR Operations leadership to identify risks, bottlenecks, or improvement opportunities.
Support quality assurance activities, including data audits, transaction reviews, case documentation reviews, compliance checks, and root-cause analysis of recurring errors or employee experience concerns.
Develop, update, and maintain HR knowledge content, SOPs, job aids, templates, FAQs, scripts, decision trees, and service center documentation to improve consistency and self-service adoption.
Partner with HR Business Partners, Payroll, Benefits, Talent Acquisition, Total Rewards, HRIS, Legal, and other stakeholders to coordinate timely resolution of cross-functional employee lifecycle matters.
Support implementation of new HR processes, HR service delivery enhancements, system releases, automation opportunities, reporting improvements, and change management activities.
Apply sound judgment when handling sensitive, confidential, compliance-related, executive, employee relations, or policy interpretation matters; escalate appropriately while maintaining service continuity.
Contribute to service center training and onboarding by coaching peers, sharing best practices, reinforcing process discipline, and helping build capability across the HR Operations team.
Prepare and analyze routine HR operations reports, including case metrics, data quality trends, service level performance, volume drivers, and process improvement opportunities.
Maintain strong internal controls, confidentiality, data privacy practices, and compliance with company policies, local labor requirements, and HR operating procedures.