Director, People Technology

Westerndigital; San Jose (CA); On-site; USD 190,000 - 260,000; Full time

Job summary

WD is seeking a strategic and hands-on Director of People Technology to lead a team of Business Systems Analysts delivering scalable HR technology solutions across People functions. You will mentor a high-performing team, translate business needs into design, and drive multi-year roadmaps across the HR tech stack.

The role requires deep HR technology expertise, strong stakeholder management, and the ability to balance quick wins with long-term transformation to improve employee experience.

Qualifications

• Proven experience leading and growing a team of analysts/HRIS professionals.
• Deep expertise in requirements management, process design, testing, and optimization.

Responsibilities

• Lead and develop a high-performing team of Business Systems Analysts/HRIS Analysts.
• Drive HR technology vision, roadmap, and execution across HR domains.
• Partner with People, IT, and cross-functional stakeholders to align priorities and enable business value.
• Champion process simplification, automation, and scalable technology solutions.

Skills

Team leadership

Business analysis

HR technology

SaaS HR systems

Roadmap planning

Stakeholder management

Tools

Workday HCM

ServiceNow

Job description

At WD, we are transforming the way technology enables HR services and the employee experience. We are looking for a strategic and hands on Director, People Technology to lead a team of Business Systems Analysts responsible for delivering scalable, business focused technology solutions across People functions. This leader will mentor and grow a high performing business analysis team. This team is responsible for translating business needs into effective process and technology solutions across HR domains.

ESSENTIAL DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITES

Team Leadership

This role leads, mentors, and develops a team of Business Systems Analysts by fostering accountability, continuous improvement, collaboration, and user centric problem solving. The Director establishes clear expectations, creates meaningful development plans, and opens career growth opportunities for team members while defining the capabilities and skills required for a strong business systems analysis function. Just as importantly, this leader builds a culture of knowledge sharing, constructive challenge, innovation, and impact.

Technology Leadership

The Director is responsible for driving our HR technology vision, roadmap, and execution. They provide direction and oversight across the full tech lifecycle, including requirements discovery, process analysis, functional design, testing, implementation, and post-launch optimization. This leader ensures consistent standards for documentation, quality controls, and delivery methods across the team, while coaching analysts to translate complex business challenges into clear, scalable, and sustainable process and technology solutions. The role also requires functional and technical depth to evaluate tradeoffs, challenge solution approaches, and engage credibly with business and technology partners.

Stakeholder Partnership

This leader serves as a trusted advisor to the People team, our IT technology partners, and company cross‑functional stakeholders. The Director owns strong relationships across the organization to understand strategy, clarify priorities, and identify opportunities for transformation and optimization. They facilitate complex discussions, resolve ambiguity, align stakeholders, and drive decisions on requirements and solution direction, while creating transparency around priorities, dependencies, risks, tradeoffs, and expected business outcomes.

Improvement & Innovation

This leader drives continuous improvement through process simplification, standardization, automation, and thoughtful technology enablement. They encourage the team to identify root causes, question legacy practices, and recommend solutions that improve employee experiences. They also champion responsible adoption of emerging capabilities and new ways of working to create measurable business value.

Required:

• Proven experience leading and developing Business Systems Analysts/HRIS Analysts. Success building high performing teams, developing talent, and creating clear accountability for outcomes.
• Deep expertise in business analysis practices, including requirements management, process design, functional solution design, testing, implementation, and optimization. Establishing and improving operating models, user enablement, and governance frameworks.
• Strong understanding of enterprise HR technology, the HR domain, and its processes. The ability to connect company business priorities to HR programs and deliver meaningful, impactful outcomes.
• Demonstrated experience with Workday HCM & ServiceNow specifically, and broader HR tech SaaS solutions in general. Familiarity with operating in shared models where configuration and administration is co-owned between HR and IT.
• Expertise in modern SaaS HR systems architecture, integration principles, data quality practices, and emerging technologies such as AI.
• Significant experience and ability in designing and then delivering multi-year roadmaps, balancing quick wins with longer term transformative work.
• Exceptional communication, facilitation, influencing, stakeholder management, and problem solving skills.

About you:

• The People Gardener. You elevate capability through clear expectations, candid coaching, meaningful opportunities, and active investment in team growth. You're known for growing future leaders.
• The Cartographer. You are comfortable operating in ambiguity and building as you go. If the map doesn't exist you make it.
• The Dot Connector. You analyze processes, data, user experience, technology, and operating realities before recommending a path forward. You understand both technology and HR deeply enough to keep the focus on business outcomes and employee experience. You deliver user‑centric holistic outcomes, not fra