Head of HR Technology & Operations

Panera Bread; Fenton (MO); Hybrid; USD 166,000 - 199,000; Full time

Job summary

Panera Bread is seeking a Director, HR Technology & Operations in St. Louis, MO. This leader will own the HR tech roadmap, governance, and operationalizing scalable, employee-centric services across HR systems including Workday and analytics platforms.

The role partners with HR peers, IT, payroll, finance, and vendors to drive transformation, optimize processes, and deliver top-tier employee experiences while ensuring compliance and data governance.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in HR, IS, Business Administration, Technology, or related field.
• 10+ years of progressive experience in HR Technology, HR Operations, Shared Services, HRIS, or related functions.
• 5+ years of people leadership experience managing teams and leaders.
• Deep experience with enterprise HRIS platforms, preferably Workday.

Responsibilities

• Develop and execute a multi-year HR Technology strategy and roadmap aligned with business and people priorities.
• Serve as the senior business owner for Workday and the broader HR technology ecosystem.
• Partner with HR, IT, Security, Payroll, Benefits, Compensation, Talent, and external vendors to deliver technology solutions that improve efficiency, compliance, and employee experience.
• Evaluate emerging technologies, automation tools, AI-enabled solutions, and workforce technologies to improve HR effectiveness and scalability.
• Establish governance processes for technology investments, prioritization, release management, testing, and user adoption.
• Lead vendor selection, contract management, and ongoing vendor performance reviews.
• Lead the HR Service Center organization responsible for employee, manager, and HR support.
• Design and implement a scalable operating model that delivers consistent, high-quality service while reducing complexity for employees and HR Business Partners.
• Establish service delivery standards, metrics, SLAs, escalation processes, and continuous improvement practices.
• Evaluate opportunities to centralize and streamline Tier 1 support activities while expanding self-service capabilities for employees and managers.
• Drive operational excellence through process redesign, automation, knowledge management, and service optimization initiatives.
• Lead enterprise HR process improvement initiatives across the employee lifecycle.
• Identify and eliminate manual, redundant, and inefficient processes through workflow redesign and technology enablement.
• Develop standardized, scalable processes that improve accuracy, compliance, and employee experience.
• Implement continuous improvement methodologies to increase efficiency and organizational agility.
• Establish strong operational controls and governance frameworks to support sustainable growth and operational excellence.
• Lead HR data governance efforts to improve data quality, integrity, security, and compliance.
• Partner with HR and business leaders to support development of people analytics, dashboards, and actionable workforce insights.
• Advance the organization's HR reporting capabilities through Workday, Power BI, and related technologies.
• Establish metrics and reporting frameworks that support workforce planning, operational performance, and strategic decision-making.
• Ensure compliance with data privacy requirements and maintain appropriate system security controls.

Skills

Executive leadership

HR tech strategy

Stakeholder management

Process optimization

Change management

Education

Bachelor's degree in HR, IS, Business Administration, Technology

Master's degree preferred

Tools

Workday

Power BI

Job description

Panera Bread is seeking a Director, HR Technology & Operations in St. Louis, MO. This leader will own the HR tech roadmap, governance, and operationalizing scalable, employee-centric services across HR systems including Workday and analytics platforms.

The role partners with HR peers, IT, payroll, finance, and vendors to drive transformation, optimize processes, and deliver top-tier employee experiences while ensuring compliance and data governance.