Sr. Director, HR Tech & Operations — Strategy & Service

Panera Bread; St. Louis (MO); Hybrid; USD 215,000 - 301,000; Full time

Job summary

Panera Bread in Saint Louis is seeking a Sr. Director, HR Technology & Operations to lead the HR tech ecosystem and deliver scalable employee services.

This senior role drives the HR technology roadmap, governance, and execution to optimize processes, automate workflows, and improve data quality. The position partners with HR, IT, payroll, and business leaders to enable operational excellence and an outstanding employee experience across the organization, including centralizing Tier 1 support

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in HR, IS, Business or related field.
• 10+ years of progressive HR technology/HR operations experience.
• 5+ years of people leadership experience.
• Deep experience with enterprise HRIS platforms, preferably Workday.
• Experience leading HR digital transformation and process optimization initiatives.
• Strong understanding of HR operations, service delivery models, and shared services environments.
• Experience managing complex cross-functional projects and enterprise-level implementations.
• Proven ability to translate business requirements into scalable technology and operational solutions.
• Strong analytical and problem-solving capabilities, with experience leveraging workforce data and reporting to drive decisions.
• Excellent executive communication and stakeholder management skills.

Responsibilities

• Develop and execute a multi-year HR Technology strategy and roadmap aligned with business 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 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 high-quality service while reducing complexity for employees and HR partners.
• Establish service delivery standards, metrics, SLAs, escalation processes, and continuous improvement practices.
• Evaluate opportunities to centralize Tier 1 support and expand self-service capabilities.
• 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 agility.
• Establish governance with data privacy and security controls.
• Lead HR data governance and workforce analytics development.

Skills

HRIS expertise

Leadership

Analytics

Executive communication

Strategic thinking

Stakeholder management

Education

Bachelor's degree in HR, IS, Business

Master's degree (preferred)

Tools

Workday

Power BI

Job description

Panera Bread in Saint Louis is seeking a Sr. Director, HR Technology & Operations to lead the HR tech ecosystem and deliver scalable employee services.

This senior role drives the HR technology roadmap, governance, and execution to optimize processes, automate workflows, and improve data quality. The position partners with HR, IT, payroll, and business leaders to enable operational excellence and an outstanding employee experience across the organization, including centralizing Tier 1 support