Sr Director - People Operations & Technology

Fossil Group, Inc.; Richardson (TX); On-site; USD 180,000 - 260,000; Full time

Job summary

Fossil Group, Inc. is seeking a Sr Director of People Operations & Technology to architect and scale the HR backbone globally. You will drive HR service delivery, Dayforce optimization, and workforce analytics to support growth toward 5,000 employees.

This role partners with HR, IT, and Finance to ensure data integrity, compliance, and a data-driven employee experience. You will lead a team of HR Operations, HRIS, and People Analytics professionals and champion AI-enabled process improvements.

Qualifications

• 8+ years in HR Operations and HRIS leadership.
• Experience leading global HRIS implementations and governance.
• Strong understanding of HR data, privacy, and compliance.

Responsibilities

• Architect end-to-end HR operational processes with data integrity and compliance.
• Standardize onboarding, changes, transfers, leave, and offboarding workflows.
• Manage HR data, analytics, dashboards, and workforce insights.
• Oversee HR content, policies, programs, and Q&A.
• Automate workflows to replace manual processes.
• Lead Dayforce roadmap, configuration, testing, and go-live readiness.
• Build advanced analytics and dashboards to guide leadership decisions.
• Lead and develop HR Operations, HRIS, and People Analytics teams.
• Partner with IT, Payroll, Finance, and vendors; manage stakeholder expectations.

Skills

HR Operations Leadership

HRIS Governance

Dayforce Expertise

People Analytics

Cross-functional Leadership

Change Management

Data Analytics

Leadership & Mentoring

Education

HRIS Certification (Dayforce)

SHRM-CP/SHRM-SCP

Bachelor’s in HR/Business

Tools

Dayforce

Power BI

Tableau

Excel

Job description

Make An Impact

We are seeking a visionary, results-oriented leader to architect and scale the operational and technological backbone of our People function. As the Sr Director People Operations & Technology, you will operate at the critical intersection of HR strategy, digital transformation, and workforce analytics to drive organizational excellence.

In this pivotal role, you will champion a seamless employee experience by leading global HR service delivery and spearheading the continuous optimization of Dayforce. You will be a strategic partner to HR leadership, IT, and Finance, ensuring our systems and processes are not just functional, but are powerful catalysts for growth as we scale toward 5,000 employees.

This is an opportunity for a technical expert and transformation leader to build a data-driven culture that prioritizes efficiency, compliance, and human-centric design.

What you will do in this role:

HR Operations & Process Leadership

• Architect and govern end-to-end HR operational processes, ensuring a high-touch "hire-to-retire" experience backed by robust data integrity and compliance.
• Design and standardize processes across onboarding, employee changes, transfers, compensation changes, leave administration, offboarding, and other key employee lifecycle activities.
• Manage HR data and analytics, including reporting tools, dashboards, and workforce insights.
• Oversee employee content and resources, including policies, SPDs, programs, and employee Q&A.
• Identify inefficiencies and manual workarounds, replacing them with automated, auditable workflows.
• Champion a culture of continuous improvement by leveraging AI and automation to eliminate friction in HR workflows and elevate the employee journey.
• Establish and monitor HR operations metrics and SLAs to ensure timely, accurate, and consistent service delivery.
• Ensure strong HR compliance, data governance, employee records, data privacy, and audit readiness.

HRIS Implementation & Optimization (Dayforce)

• Act as the global business owner for Dayforce, driving its strategic roadmap to maximize ROI and system performance across all HR modules.
• Lead business requirements, configuration decisions, testing, data validation, and go-live readiness across HR, Payroll, Time & Attendance, Benefits, Talent, and other modules.
• Develop and manage a roadmap for continuous improvement, future module rollouts, and system enhancements.
• Partner with IT to support integrations between Dayforce and other business platforms.
• Own HR system governance, including security roles, workflows, data integrity, and change management.
• Drive user adoption through effective communications, training, and ongoing support.

People Analytics & Reporting

• Transform raw HR data into a strategic asset by building advanced analytics capabilities and intuitive dashboards that guide executive decision-making.
• Build and maintain reporting on key workforce metrics, including headcount, turnover, recruiting, compensation, DEI, and other business priorities.
• Partner with HR and business leaders to turn business questions into data-driven insights and recommendations.
• Establish data governance standards to ensure HR data is accurate, consistent, and reliable across systems and reporting tools.
• Deliver proactive workforce insights that identify trends, risks, and opportunities, enabling a predictive approach to talent management.
• Evaluate and implement reporting and analytics tools, including Power BI and other solutions, to expand reporting capabilities.

Leadership & Cross-Functional Partnership

• Lead and develop a team of HR Operations, HRIS, and/or People Analytics professionals.
• Serve as a trusted advisor to HR leadership on how processes, technology, AI, automation, and data can support the broader People and business strategy.
• Partner closely with IT, Payroll, Finance, HR teams, and business leaders.
• Manage relationships with external vendors and consultants.
• Present project updates, risks, priorities, and roadmaps to senior leadership.

Who You Are:

• A Seasoned Leader: 8+ years of progressive HR Operations and HRIS leadership, with a proven track record of managing high-performing teams.
• Technical Expert: Deep expertise in Dayforce (or comparable Tier 1 HRIS) with successful experience leading complex, global implementations and system governance.
• Proven experience designing and improving HR processes at scale, ideally in a global organization.
• Strong understanding of employee lifecycle processes, HR data, integrations, system governance, and data privacy.
• Experience leading complex, cross-functional projects involving multiple stakeholders and vendors.
• Strategic Problem Solver: Ability to translate complex business challenges into elegant process and technology solutions that scale.
• Demonstrated experience building dashboards and reports that turn HR data into actionable insights.
• Strong communication and change management skills, with the ability to influence senior leaders and drive adoption.
• Experience leading and developing teams.

Preferred Qualifications

• Dayforce or other relevant HRIS certification.
• SHRM-CP/SCP, PHR/SPHR, or similar HR certification.
• Experience with global payroll, timekeeping, and compliance.
• Experience working in a multi-country environment.
• Experience with Power BI, Tableau, or similar reporting and analytics tools.