Executive Vice President, Global People Operations Lead

djeholdings; New York (NY); Hybrid; USD 230,000 - 320,000; Full time

Job summary

Edelman seeks an EVP, Global People Operations Lead to guide the People Operations function across the employee lifecycle, partnering across Finance, IT, and HR to enhance experiences and outcomes.

The role leads the Workday HCM multi‑phase rollout, aligning strategy, governance, and data stewardship with the organization’s people agenda. Hybrid work in NYC or Chicago with global impact.

Qualifications

• Lead the global People Operations strategy, roadmap, and service delivery models.
• Build and lead a high‑performing, globally distributed People Operations team.
• Oversee budget planning and forecasting for People Operations.
• Partner with CoEs, IT, Finance, and other stakeholders to ensure integrated, scalable employee processes.

Responsibilities

• Define and evolve global People Operations strategy and roadmap.
• Lead a high-performing global People Operations team.
• Manage operating budget with forecasting cadence.
• Partner with CoEs, HR Talent Partners, IT, and other stakeholders to ensure globally consistent processes.

Skills

People Operations leadership

Workday HCM

Change management

Budget management

Cross-functional collaboration

Talent management

Data analytics

Employee experience

HR technology

Tools

Workday HCM

HRIS

Job description

We are in relentless pursuit of an equitable and inspiring workplace that is respectful of all, reflects and represents the world in which we live, and fosters trust, collaboration and belonging. Consistent with this approach, we hire the best qualified candidates for all positions.

Level: EVP (Level 10)

Position Type: Full-Time

Location: NYC or Chicago (Hybrid)

Reporting to Global Chief People Officer

Dotted line to Global Chief Technology & Shared Operations Officer

Position Summary

The EVP, Global People Operations Lead is a member of the Global People Leadership Team and is responsible for leading Edelman's People Operations function. This function is primarily responsible for the executive leadership, performance and development of the Global People Operations team, accountable for delivering a seamless, consistent, and employee-centered experience across key moments in the employee lifecycle, including onboarding, offboarding, and employee changes.

Edelman is undertaking a multi-phase global Workday implementation, with Phase 1 of Workday HCM successfully deployed and significant implementation work remaining across future phases. This role will serve as the senior People business owner for Workday HCM, accountable for leading the People-side strategy, and partnering on the design and delivery of the remaining implementation roadmap. Representing the People Team Centers of Excellence (CoEs) and partnering closely with our Shared Operations PMO and other business owners across Finance, PSA, FP&A, and IT the role will lead the deployment of additional Workday modules and capabilities, including Talent and Advanced Compensation, alongside the continued implementation and integration of core People processes and programs into Workday. The role will also build a People Operations capability that gets the full value from Workday, including the processes, data stewardship and expertise the People Team needs, working in partnership with Global Applications, which leads Workday platform support, governance and the operating model, as the organization moves from implementation through stabilization and optimization.

Key Responsibilities

Global People Operations Strategy & Leadership

• In line with the wider business strategy, define and continuously evolve the global People Operations strategy, roadmap, organizational design and service delivery models
• Lead and develop a high performing global People Operations team building the capabilities, leadership bench, and culture of accountability, continuous improvement, and change needed to support the evolving needs of the organization.
• Working with the finance partner, effectively manage the People Operations operating budget in line with agreed targets and established forecasting cadence. This includes our annual budget process and investment planning.
• Partner with People CoE's, HR Talent Partners, IT, and other stakeholders to ensure employee-facing processes, policies, technology, and support experiences are integrated, globally consistent and operate effectively and efficiently.

People Experience & Service Delivery

• Deliver operational excellence and measurable continuous improvement across People Operations, leveraging operational data, employee feedback, service metrics, and root cause analysis to simplify processes, improve service delivery, increase efficiency, scalability, and effectiveness.
• Working closely with the CoE's, provide the operational support for agreed activities to support regular program cadence and approved one-off projects.
• Oversee the employee and manager support channels including the employee portal for HR-related questions, ensuring intuitive access to timely, accurate information, resources, self-service tools and support.
• Continuously improve the employee and manager experience by developing and simplifying processes, reducing friction, expanding effective self-service, and leveraging technology, automation, and AI where appropriate.
• Establish globally consistent processes, service standards, SLAs, KPIs, and governance while enabling appropriate regional and local flexibility.
• Establish and monitor service delivery and employee experience metrics, including employee satisfaction, portal utilization, resolution effectiveness, self-service adoption, onboarding experience, and process cycle times, using insights to identify and prioritize improvements.

Workday HCM Business, Product, and Technology Ownership

• Serve as the senior People Business Owner for the multi-phase Workday HCM implementation and broader People technology ecosystem, accountable for functional strategy, roadmap, design principles, implementation priorities, adoption and business outcomes.
• Represent and drive the People Team's priorities in the Workday roadmap, working with Global Applications and fellow Business Owners on the sequencing of future phases and new capabilities through Workday program governance.
• Drive Workday optimization, automation, process improvement