Vice President, Global People Services

Workday•Pleasanton, CA

1d•Hybrid

About The Position

The Vice President of Global People Services at Workday is a transformative executive leader responsible for architecting and scaling a world-class HR ecosystem. At Workday, we believe in "Workday on Workday"—using our own industry-leading technology to create a frictionless, digital-first experience for our global "Workmates." This role oversees the full lifecycle of HR operations including HR technology innovation, employee relations service delivery and global compliance. You will report to the Chief People Officer and partner with the HR leadership team to translate Workday’s high-growth business strategy into a scalable people operations foundation. You will be the champion of operational rigor, ensuring our systems and processes are inclusive, compliant, and optimized to deliver an extraordinary employee experience across all global regions.

Requirements

Professional Tenure: 15+ years of progressive HR operations leadership, with significant experience in a global, high-growth SaaS or technology environment.
Global Scale: Demonstrated success managing HR operations across 20+ countries with diverse regulatory environments.
Workday Expert: Deep, hands-on experience implementing and optimizing the Workday suite (HCM, Payroll, Time, etc.) is required.
Transformational Leadership: Proven track record of driving large-scale digital transformations and process automation within a global People function.
Strategic Vision: Ability to translate C-suite business goals into operational plans that scale globally.
Financial Acumen: Deep understanding of labor cost dynamics, payroll budgeting, and the ROI of technology investments.
Executive Influence: Exceptional communication skills with the ability to influence senior executives across HR, Finance, and Legal.
Compliance Expertise: In-depth knowledge of global employment regulations and risk mitigation

Responsibilities

Strategic Leadership & Workday on Workday Innovation
Global Strategy: Design and execute a multi-year global HR operations roadmap that supports Workday’s growth into ever expanding global markets.
Technology Champion: Lead the Workday on Workday strategy, ensuring we are the first and best users of our own technology to drive automation, AI-native workflows, and seamless interoperability.
Operational Cadence: Drive a global operating model that ensures consistency and accuracy in HR processes while remaining agile to regional nuances and local labor cultures.
Employee Experience & Service Delivery
Digital-First Experience: Architect a global HR service delivery model that prioritizes the employee experience. Ensure that every Workmate interaction—from onboarding to career movement—is customer experience focused, efficient, and data-informed.
Continuous Improvement: Establish and monitor global SLAs and OKRs, utilizing employee feedback and sentiment data to continuously simplify workflows and enhance trust in P&P services.
HR Technology Ecosystem Governance: Oversee the global HR technology stack, ensuring data integrity and the strategic optimization of tools supporting timekeeping, talent processes, and payroll.
HR Compliance, Payroll & Risk Management
Global Governance: Ensure compliance with employment laws, taxation rules, GDPR/data privacy, and audit requirements across all operating regions (AMER, EMEA, APJ), developing a risk management framework for prioritization of work.
Policy Leadership: Oversee global HR policy governance, ensuring policies are modern, inclusive, and consistently applied, particularly those impacting payroll administration and global mobility.
Cross-Functional Partnership & People Leadership
Strategic Alignment: Collaborate across Finance, IT, Legal, and other functions to ensure the P&P operational foundation supports company-wide initiatives like M&A integration and geographic expansion.
Team Development: Lead and develop a high-performing, geographically dispersed team of HR operations, Employee Relations and Compliance, fostering a culture of innovation, accountability, and Workmate success.