Senior Director, HR Tech & AI Strategy

Blackline Systems Inc; Pleasanton (CA); Hybrid; USD 260,000 - 325,000; Full time

Job summary

BlackLine seeks a Senior Director of HR Technology to lead the HR IT team through stabilization of Workday post-go-live and to define the company's AI roadmap for HR services. You will mentor managers, partner with HR and IT to advance AI-driven HR delivery, and govern security, data privacy, and vendor relationships.

In this role, you will build a scalable, AI-centric operating model across recruiting, onboarding, payroll support, and case management, while measuring ROI and ensuring compliance

Qualifications

• Proven experience leading HR Information Technology or HRIS operations, ideally through a Workday implementation or post-go-live stabilization.
• Hands-on experience with Workday (HCM, payroll, recruiting) and the broader HR technology ecosystem.
• Strong understanding of end-to-end hire-to-retire HR processes and how technology and AI support each stage.
• Familiarity with Workday's integration platform and Workday Illuminate AI platform.
• Demonstrated experience building and deploying AI agents, automations, or AI-driven solutions in an enterprise setting (HR domain preferred).
• Strong understanding of AI/ML, generative AI, and agentic AI concepts, and how to apply them responsibly to HR processes and data.
• Technical proficiency with APIs and agent-integration protocols to connect AI agents securely with Workday and other enterprise systems.
• Experience developing and executing a technology or AI strategy and roadmap, with the ability to translate it into an actionable plan for stakeholders.
• Experience building business cases and quantifying ROI for technology and AI investments.
• Strong leadership and people management skills.
• Experience managing offshore or distributed teams across time zones.
• Ability to communicate complex technical concepts to executives and HR stakeholders.
• Experience managing vendor relationships and evaluating HR technology/AI platforms.
• Familiarity with data privacy, security, and compliance considerations related to employee data and AI systems.
• Working knowledge of application security practices within enterprise SaaS environments.
• Strong compliance orientation and hands-on, roll-up-your-sleeves approach.
• Excellent project management and change management abilities.

Responsibilities

• Oversee day-to-day operations and support for the HR Technology team, aligning IT service delivery with HR's operational needs.
• Own post-go-live stabilization of Workday, driving adoption, issue resolution, and optimization.
• Manage and mentor HR IT managers and staff, including onshore and offshore team members.
• Define and lead BlackLine's HR AI strategy and build-out of AI agents and automation.
• Build and maintain an AI-centric HR technology roadmap with ROI and value drivers.
• Design, build, and deploy AI agents and automation across core HR processes to move HR toward an AI-centric operating model.
• Partner with HR leadership and enterprise IT/AI teams to identify use cases and prioritize the HR AI roadmap.
• Evaluate emerging HR AI technologies and make build-vs-buy recommendations.
• Establish governance, security, and data-privacy guardrails for AI agents and automations.
• Own application security for Workday and broader HR tech ecosystem.
• Oversee provisioning and operation of HR end-user services, integrations, and applications.
• Develop and monitor performance, adoption, and ROI metrics; report trends to executives.
• Manage the HR Technology budget, including AI tooling and vendor investment.
• Establish and maintain vendor relationships, negotiate SLAs with Workday and AI vendors.
• Support audit, compliance, and data governance activities related to HR systems and AI use.
• Partner with enterprise IT and security teams to extend HR IT expertise beyond HR as needed.

Skills

HR IT leadership

Workday expertise

AI strategy for HR

Vendor management

Offshore teams management

Security and compliance

APIs and integration

Roadmap & ROI

Stakeholder communication

Tools

Workday

Workday Integration Cloud

Workday Studio

REST/SOAP APIs

Model Context Protocol (MCP)

Job description

BlackLine seeks a Senior Director of HR Technology to lead the HR IT team through stabilization of Workday post-go-live and to define the company's AI roadmap for HR services. You will mentor managers, partner with HR and IT to advance AI-driven HR delivery, and govern security, data privacy, and vendor relationships.

In this role, you will build a scalable, AI-centric operating model across recruiting, onboarding, payroll support, and case management, while measuring ROI and ensuring compliance