Vice President, People & Purpose M&A

Workday • Pleasanton, CA

17h • Hybrid

About The Position

Workday is a Fortune 500 company and a leading AI platform for managing people, money, and agents, dedicated to shaping the future of work. The company fosters a culture rooted in integrity, empathy, and shared enthusiasm. This high-impact executive role is responsible for leading the global HR M&A function and driving the strategic integration success of critical People & Purpose (P&P) initiatives across the enterprise. The Vice President will serve as the primary P&P representative on all mergers and acquisitions, influencing the people strategy throughout the entire acquisition lifecycle from pre-letter of intent (LOI) to integration. Key responsibilities include facilitating organizational and cultural integration in partnership with senior HR Business Partners and executive leadership, ensuring that HR processes, policies, and systems are harmonized to maximize deal value and employee experience. The role aims to create remarkable employee experiences in M&A transactions and offers high visibility to the CEO, CPO, HR Leadership team, and Workday’s executive team. The successful candidate will manage a small team of PMs and M&A experts.

Requirements

• 15+ years of progressive leadership experience in HR within a global, fast-paced technology environment.
• Extensive experience leading HR M&A programs at scale, from due diligence through to full-scale integration.
• Proven ability to establish strong, trusted, cross-functional relationships up, down and across the organization and ability to drive execution both within and outside of their immediate team/reporting chain.
• Superior communication skills with the ability to influence C-level leaders and navigate complex, matrixed environments with grace and authority.
• Ability to see the "big picture" while ruthlessly prioritizing the most impactful work; comfortable with high levels of ambiguity and motivated by solving complex, multi-dimensional problems.
• A proven track record of using data and analytics to manage global portfolios, measure employee experience, and track the success of organizational transformations.
• Deep expertise in change management techniques and implementation for large-scale, global organizations.
• A "player-coach" who can dive deep into details when necessary while motivating and inspiring a high-performing, senior-level team.

Responsibilities

• Lead the global HR M&A function and drive the strategic integration success of critical People & Purpose (P&P) initiatives across the enterprise.
• Serve as the primary P&P representative on all mergers and acquisitions, influencing the people strategy across the entire acquisition lifecycle from pre-letter of intent (LOI) to integration.
• Facilitate organizational and cultural integration in partnership with senior HR Business Partners and executive leadership, ensuring that HR processes, policies, and systems are harmonized to maximize deal value and employee experience.
• Create remarkable employee experiences in M&A transactions.
• Represent the HR function on all aspects of Mergers & Acquisitions, serving as the primary liaison between acquired Founders/CEOs, HR, Corporate Development, Finance, and Legal.
• Drive strong, trusted, cross-functional relationships with key stakeholders across various business groups (Compensation, Benefits, HR Business Partners, Recruiting, Site Experience, Onboarding & Enablement, HRIS, Stock Administration, Legal, Corp Dev, etc.) with respect to all M&A activities.
• Drive strong execution through direct team as well as across members of the team that are outside of the roles’ reporting chain.
• Own and manage full M&A integration plan in partnership with executive HRBP’s and other key HR stakeholders.
• Partner with M&A Managers and Corp Dev during due diligence to provide executive-level recommendations on cultural diligence strategy, deal model assumptions, purchase agreement terms, and operational risks.
• Design and lead the comprehensive HR integration roadmap, facilitating organizational design and cultural alignment alongside HRBPs and key stakeholders.
• Research, recommend, and implement solutions to help overcome the challenges associated with M+A integration.
• Develop and manage project plans, including the identification of resourcing needs.
• Perform critical path analysis for transactions, developing robust action plans to mitigate risks and delivering high-stakes presentations to the executive team regarding deal objectives.
• Lead and mentor a high-performing team of PMs, and M&A experts fostering a culture of excellence and strategic thinking.
• Serve as a trusted advisor to the CPO and the broader executive team, providing data-driven insights.
• Drive sophisticated change management strategies across M&A activities to ensure behavior change is realized and measured.
• Be seen as an expert internal collaborator to P&P and other organizations, driving the most efficient and effective partnerships to allow for minimal disruption to run-the-business activities.
• Design and improve systems, practices, processes to deliver business results.

Benefits

• Workday Bonus Plan or a role-specific commission/bonus
• Annual refresh stock grants
• Comprehensive benefits
• Flexible Work (Flex Work) combining in-person time and remote, spending at least half (50%) of time each quarter in the office or in the field with customers, prospects, and partners
• Reasonable accommodations for qualified individuals with disabilities, disabled veterans, and others during the application process

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Executive
• Education Level: No Education Listed
• Number of Employees: 5,001-10,000 employees