Senior Director, People Analytics and Workforce Planning

Freshworks; California (MO); Hybrid; USD 251,000 - 310,000; Full time

Job summary

Freshworks in San Mateo, CA seeks a Senior Director of People Analytics & Workforce Planning to lead analytics, workforce planning and AI-enabled HR transformation. Build a high-performing team and partner with HR leadership to drive strategic workforce decisions and governance. Hybrid role with in-office presence three days a week.

The role requires 15+ years in People Analytics or related fields, with proven leadership, executive communication, and experience in a SaaS/tech environment.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in Business, Human Resources, Analytics, Economics, Statistics or a related discipline.
• 15+ years of progressive experience in People Analytics, Workforce Planning, Business Analytics or a related discipline, including significant people leadership experience.
• Demonstrated success building and scaling enterprise People Analytics and Workforce Planning capabilities with a strong understanding of workforce analytics, organizational design and strategic workforce planning.
• Experience partnering with senior business leaders and leading cross-functional initiatives in a global organization to influence strategic decisions through data-driven insights.
• Excellent analytical, communication and executive presentation skills.

Responsibilities

• Lead the People Analytics function, establishing its strategy, operating model and roadmap.
• Develop enterprise workforce analytics, executive dashboards, AI-driven insights and strategic reporting to support business and talent decisions.
• Advance the function from operational reporting to predictive analytics, AI-enabled decision support and strategic workforce intelligence.
• Establish governance, standards and enterprise workforce metrics to ensure consistent, accurate reporting across the organization.
• Leverage AI and advanced analytics to automate reporting, improve data quality, uncover workforce trends and enable faster decision-making.
• Identify opportunities to improve organizational effectiveness through data-driven insights.
• Establish and lead Freshworks' enterprise workforce planning capability.
• Develop workforce planning methodologies, AI-assisted capacity models and scenario planning frameworks.
• Partner with Finance, Corporate Strategy and other stakeholders to align workforce plans with business priorities and long-term growth objectives.
• Deliver insights and recommendations on workforce composition, organizational design, productivity and future talent demand.
• Leverage AI to enhance workforce forecasting, skills planning and organizational modeling.
• Partner with HR leadership to operationalize and advance the HR AI roadmap in alignment with the company's enterprise AI strategy.
• Identify, prioritize and implement AI-enabled capabilities that improve HR productivity, decision-making and employee experience.
• Establish governance, adoption measures and success metrics for AI initiatives across the People function.
• Evaluate emerging AI technologies and recommend opportunities to enhance people analytics, workforce planning and HR operations.
• Build, develop and lead a high-performing People Analytics & Workforce Planning team.
• Establish priorities, operating rhythms and delivery standards for the function.
• Lead, coach and develop managers and individual contributors while fostering a culture of analytical rigor, AI adoption, innovation and continuous improvement.
• Build organizational capability in analytics, workforce planning and the effective use of AI across the People function.
• Serve as a strategic advisor to senior HR and business leaders on workforce strategy, organizational effectiveness and people analytics.

Skills

People Analytics

Workforce Planning

Business Analytics

Executive Presentation

Cross-functional Leadership

Education

Bachelor's degree in Business, HR, Analytics, Economics, Statistics or related

Tools

Workday

Visier

Tableau

Power BI

Job description

Organizations everywhere struggle under the crushing costs and complexities of “solutions” that promise to simplify their lives. To create a better experience for their customers and employees. To help them grow. Software is a choice that can make or break a business. Create better or worse experiences. Propel or throttle growth. Business software has become a blocker instead of ways to get work done.

There’s another option. Freshworks. With a fresh vision for how the world works.

At Freshworks, we build uncomplicated service software that delivers exceptional customer and employee experiences. Our enterprise-grade solutions are powerful, yet easy to use, and quick to deliver results. Our people-first approach to AI eliminates friction, making employees more effective and organizations more productive. Over 72,000 companies, including Bridgestone, New Balance, Nucor, S&P Global, and Sony Music, trust Freshworks’ customer experience (CX) and employee experience (EX) software to fuel customer loyalty and service efficiency. And, over 4,500 Freshworks employees make this possible, all around the world.

Fresh vision. Real impact. Come build it with us.

The Senior Director, People Analytics & Workforce Planning is responsible for leading Freshworks' People Analytics function, establishing enterprise workforce planning capabilities, and advancing the adoption of AI across HR in alignment with the company's broader AI strategy.

The role will define the strategy, operating model and governance for the function, delivering workforce insights that enable strategic business decisions, organizational effectiveness and long-term workforce planning. The Senior Director will build and lead a high-performing team responsible for analytics, workforce planning and strategic decision support.

Key Responsibilities

People Analytics

• Lead the People Analytics function, establishing its strategy, operating model and roadmap.
• Develop enterprise workforce analytics, executive dashboards, AI-driven insights and strategic reporting to support business and talent decisions.
• Advance the function from operational reporting to predictive analytics, AI-enabled decision support and strategic workforce intelligence.
• Establish governance, standards and enterprise workforce metrics to ensure consistent, accurate reporting across the organization.
• Leverage AI and advanced analytics to automate reporting, improve data quality, uncover workforce trends and enable faster decision-making.
• Identify opportunities to improve organizational effectiveness through data-driven insights.

Strategic Workforce Planning

• Establish and lead Freshworks' enterprise workforce planning capability.
• Develop workforce planning methodologies, AI-assisted capacity models and scenario planning frameworks.
• Partner with Finance, Corporate Strategy and other stakeholders to align workforce plans with business priorities and long-term growth objectives.
• Deliver insights and recommendations on workforce composition, organizational design, productivity and future talent demand.
• Leverage AI to enhance workforce forecasting, skills planning and organizational modeling.

AI Enablement

• Partner with HR leadership to operationalize and advance the HR AI roadmap in alignment with the company's enterprise AI strategy.
• Identify, prioritize and implement AI-enabled capabilities that improve HR productivity, decision-making and employee experience.
• Establish governance, adoption measures and success metrics for AI initiatives across the People function.
• Evaluate emerging AI technologies and recommend opportunities to enhance people analytics, workforce planning and HR operations.

Leadership

• Build, develop and lead a high-performing People Analytics & Workforce Planning team.
• Establish priorities, operating rhythms and delivery standards for the function.
• Lead, coach and develop managers and individual contributors while fostering a culture of analytical rigor, AI adoption, innovation and continuous improvement.
• Build organizational capability in analytics, workforce planning and the effective use of AI across the People function.
• Serve as a strategic advisor to senior HR and business leaders on workforce strategy, organizational effectiveness and people analytics.

• Bachelor's degree in Business, Human Resources, Analytics, Economics, Statistics or a related discipline.
• 15+ years of progressive experience in People Analytics, Workforce Planning, Business Analytics or a related discipline, including significant people leadership experience.
• Demonstrated success building and scaling enterprise People Analytics and Workforce Planning capabilities, with a strong understanding of workforce analytics, organizational design and strategic workforce planning.
• Experience partnering with senior business leaders and leading cross-functional initiatives in a global organization to influence strategic decisions through data-driven insights.
• Excellent analytical, communication and executive presentation skills.
• Experience in a high-growth SaaS or technology company, with expertise in Workday and modern people analytics platforms (e.g., Visier, Tableau or Power BI); experience leading AI-enabled transformation initiatives within HR is preferred.

Please note: This is a hybrid role that will be based in San Mateo, CA and requires an in-office presence three days per week (Tuesday - Thursday).

The annual base salary range for this position is$250,750 to $309,750 USD.

Compensation is based on a variety of factors including but not limited to location, experience, job-related skills, and level.

At Freshworks, we have fostered an environment that enables everyone to find their true potential, purpose, and passion, welcoming colleagues of all backgrounds, genders, sexual orientations, religions, and ethnicities. We are committed to providing equal opportunity and believe that diversity in the workplace creates a more vibrant, richer environment that boosts the goals of our employees, communities, and business. Fresh vision. Real impact. Come build it with us.