Director, HR Tech & Data Governance

Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC); New York (NY); On-site; USD 171,000 - 200,000; Full time

Job summary

Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) seeks a Senior Director, HR Technology to own NRDC’s HRIS ecosystem, including Dayforce, and to drive strategy, governance, and optimization across HR systems and data.

You will lead a team focusing on governance, documentation, and scalable workflows, partnering with HR, IT, Finance, and Legal to ensure secure, compliant, and integrated solutions that enable the people function to focus on mission‑critical work.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in a related field, or equivalent combination of education and experience.
• 10+ years of HR technology experience within a complex, global growth-focused business, including direct HRIS administration and management.
• 5+ years of people management experience
• Experience managing Dayforce HCM, payroll tie-ins, and benefits integrations.
• Experience overseeing HRIS integrations (payroll, benefits, recruiting, time & attendance, learning, etc.) and ensuring end-to-end data accuracy.
• Experience in managing HR data governance, including audits, controls, and error prevention processes.
• Experience leading high-performing HRIS teams, including talent evaluation, hiring, and capability upgrades.
• Experience managing HR technology and systems in a unionized environment.
• Strong project and stakeholder management skills, with a track record of partnering effectively across HR, IT, Finance, and Legal functions.
• Strong knowledge of employment law and experience supporting multi-state organizations and navigating related compliance requirements.
• Experience managing and developing team members and building team capacity
• Demonstrated experience assessing, consolidating, or rationalizing HR technology portfolios;
• Strong collaboration and partnership skills with the ability to work credibly across HR, Payroll, Finance, Benefits, and IT.
• Equal comfort as a strategic thought partner and an operational driver.

Responsibilities

• Define and lead the strategy, roadmap, and adoption for HR systems, integrations, and workflows across the employee lifecycle, serving as the primary HR business owner and partnering with IT to ensure systems are secure, reliable, compliant, and consistently used.
• Design, document, and continuously improve core HR operational processes by translating policies and program requirements into executable, scalable workflows, leveraging technology, automation, standardization, and responsibly governed AI-enabled tools.
• Partner with HR leaders, IT, and the Office of General Counsel to advise leadership on system capabilities, risks, governance, and opportunities, and to lead effective configuration, integrations, and ongoing system support.
• Serve as the primary resource for HR users, optimizing user experience, delivering training, and advocating for usability and best practices.
• Oversee core HR operational workflows across onboarding, benefits, payroll, and offboarding, ensuring efficiency, accuracy, and high-quality employee experience.
• Standardize and automate HR workflows to balance speed, compliance, and quality, while ensuring NRDC values.
• Develop scalable processes and operational infrastructure to support organizational growth.

Skills

HRIS management

Data governance

Stakeholder management

HR analytics

Policy knowledge

Education

Bachelor’s degree

Tools

Dayforce HCM

Tableau/Power BI

Job description

Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) seeks a Senior Director, HR Technology to own NRDC’s HRIS ecosystem, including Dayforce, and to drive strategy, governance, and optimization across HR systems and data.

You will lead a team focusing on governance, documentation, and scalable workflows, partnering with HR, IT, Finance, and Legal to ensure secure, compliant, and integrated solutions that enable the people function to focus on mission‑critical work.