Global Leave & Accommodation Program Manager

Zendesk; Austin (TX); Hybrid; USD 118,000 - 178,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Hybrid work model

Job summary

Zendesk is seeking a senior Global Leave & Accommodation Program Manager to own the end-to-end strategy for US Leaves of Absence and ADA/Reasonable Accommodations. Lead scalable, compliant processes, partner with Legal, HRBP, Payroll, and ER, and drive AI-enabled improvements while managing high-stakes escalations with empathy.

You will influence policy, monitor regulatory changes, and ensure audit-ready operations across regions in a highly autonomous, strategic role.

Qualifications

• Extensive experience with FMLA, ADAAA, leaves, and reasonable accommodations.
• Ability to build scalable, compliant processes across jurisdictions.
• Experience partnering with Legal, HRBP, Payroll, and ER teams.

Responsibilities

• Lead end-to-end strategy for US leaves and accommodations.
• Design and automate scalable workflows to reduce risk.
• Resolve highly sensitive escalations with empathy.
• Act as SME for Tier 3 leave tickets.
• Provide data-backed insights to leadership.
• Review and update policies to align with laws.
• Explore AI opportunities in Total Rewards and Leave workflows.
• Manage relationships with leave vendors.
• Collaborate with Legal and ER; guide issue escalation.
• Maintain BPMs across regions.

Skills

HR Strategy

FMLA/ADA expertise

Leaves of Absence

ADA accommodation

Regulatory compliance

Data analytics

Vendor management

Cross-functional collab

AI automation

Education

Bachelor's degree in HR or related field

Tools

HRIS systems

Payroll software

Data analytics tools

Job description

Location: Remote, Texas, United States of America | Remote, Louisiana, United States of America | Remote, Arizona, United States of America | Remote, Tennessee, United States of America | Remote, Georgia, United States of America

Position_Type: Full time

Job Description

Are you ready to own the strategy, not just the task?

We are looking for a high-impact Global Leave & Accommodation Program Manager to lead our Global Leave and ADA/Accommodation strategy. This is a critical senior level role for someone who thrives on complexity, demands operational excellence, and wants to shape how we support our employees at their most vulnerable moments.

Why this role?

This is not a "task-completion" role. We are looking for a strategic owner who can operate with high autonomy—someone who views the "manager tax" as an inefficiency to be eliminated. You will be the architect of our compliance infrastructure, a trusted advisor to Legal and HR Business Partners, People Service Team and the final point of escalation for high-stakes employee cases.

What you'll do:

• Own the Outcome: Lead the end-to-end strategy for US Leaves of Absence and ADA/Reasonable Accommodations.

• Drive Scalability: Move us beyond manual processes by designing, automating, and implementing scalable workflows that reduce risk and improve accuracy.

• Solve the Complex: Act as the primary point of resolution for the most sensitive and complex employee escalations involving work restrictions and medical privacy.

• Tier 3 Escalations: Act as the subject matter expert for and respond to high-level Tier 3 leave tickets, ensuring sensitive escalations are handled with precision and empathy.

• Partner with Leadership: Influence our HRBP, Legal, and Payroll strategy by providing data-backed insights rather than just administrative support.

• Policy & Compliance: Regularly review and update policies and procedures to ensure they align with evolving business needs and global statutory changes. Proactively monitor platforms and professional networks to stay ahead of legislative updates.

• AI & Innovation: Seek and implement opportunities to integrate AI models into Total Rewards and Leave workflows to drive efficiency.

• Vendor & Operations: Manage relationships with leave vendors to ensure service levels meet expectations on outcomes. Coordinate closely with payroll, leave vendors, and People Service teams to ensure accurate pay and process execution.

• Cross-Functional Partnership: Act as a trusted advisor to Legal and Employee Relations (ER), knowing when to scale issues and how to partner effectively.

• Regional Maintenance: Keep Business Process Maps (BPMs) in regions updated as necessary.

Who you are:

You are an experienced HR professional with a passion and technical ability to identify HR Operational gaps in Total Rewards, a deep background in FMLA, ADAAA, leaves, and reasonable accommodations, and exposure to global leave regulations. You are a leader by nature but remain mindful of the key partners to consult with before taking critical action to mitigate risk. You are a forward-thinking technologist who is passionate about leveraging AI and modern tech to reimagine how we operate within the benefits space. You thrive at the intersection of creative problem-solving and rigorous compliance, constantly challenging the "why" behind existing workflows to build more intelligent, scalable solutions. You aren't just looking to manage processes; you are eager to build them from the ground up, ensuring we work thoughtfully within necessary boundaries while delivering a seamless, high-care experience for our employees. With 710 years of experience in Benefits, HRBP, and heavily regulated environments, you possess a proven track record of handling sensitive situations with empathy and confidence. You deeply understand how to apply this experience to leave and accommodation support, including leading or supporting employee relations investigations and providing recommendations on outcomes. You pair this with the operational rigor required to ensure all processes remain compliant, consistent, and audit-ready. You speak the language of 'risk mitigation' and 'process transformation,' and have deep expertise in leading and supporting reasonable accommodation and Leave of Absence (LOA) requests across a variety of jurisdictions and global statutory laws.

The US annualized base salary range for this position is $118,000.00-$178,000.00. This position may also be eligible for bonus, benefits, or related incentives. While this range reflects the minimum and maximum value for new hire salaries for the position across all US locations, the offer for the successful candidate for this position will be based on job related capabilities, applicable experience, and other factors such as work location. Please note that the compensation details listed in US role postings reflect the base salary only (or OTE for commissions based roles), and do not include bonus, benefits, or related incentives.

The intelligent heart of customer experience

Zendesk software was built to bring a sense of calm to the chaotic world of customer service. Today we power billions of conversations with brands you know and love.

Zendesk believes in offering our people a fulfilling and inclusive experience. Our hybrid way of working, enables us to purposefully come together in person, at one of our many Zendesk offices around the world, to connect, collaborate and learn whilst also giving our people the flexibility to work remotely for part of the week.

As part of our commitment to fairness and transparency, we inform all applicants that artificial intelligence (AI) or automated decision systems may be used to screen or evaluate applications for this position, in accordance with Company guidelines and applicable law.

Zendesk is an equal opportunity employer, and we're proud of our ongoing efforts to foster global diversity, equity, & inclusion in the workplace. Individuals seeking employment and employees at Zendesk are considered without regard to race, color, religion, national origin, age, sex, gender, gender identity, gender expression, sexual orientation, marital status, medical condition, ancestry, disability, military or veteran status, or any other characteristic protected by applicable law. We are an AA/EEO/Veterans/Disabled employer. If you are based in the United States and would like more information about your EEO rights under the law, please click here.

Zendesk endeavors to make reasonable accommodations for applicants with disabilities and disabled veterans pursuant to applicable federal and state law. If you are an individual with a disability and require a reasonable accommodation to submit this application, complete any pre-employment testing, or otherwise participate in the employee selection process, please send an e-mail to [e-mail] with your specific accommodation request.

About Us

Zendesk is on a mission to simplify the complexity of business and make it easy for companies and customers to create connections.

Our customer experience software unlocks the power of billions of interactions, enabling businesses to build rich, meaningful relationships with their customers.

More meaningful moments. Fewer Zoom calls.

What's it like to work here? Our offices reflect the global cities we call home, and have spaces for collaboration, quiet, and events.

With our hybrid approach, you'll experience flexibility and connection, collaboration, and learning with your team.