Associate Director, Absence Management

Job Description

Join our HR Solutions leadership team as Associate Director Absence Management. You will be accountable for the end-to-end design delivery and sustainment of Absence Management capabilities within our HCM landscape (primarily Workday). This role influences strategy roadmaps prioritization and operational models to implement and scale absence solutions globally and to ensure they remain robust compliant and well-integrated with Time & Attendance and Payroll. You will work in a complex matrixed environment and drive collaboration across HR Process leads Benefits and Payroll Centers of Excellence (CoEs) HR Operations regional HR teams IT and supplier partners to deliver end-to-end absence solutions and continuous improvement.

What You Will Do

Strategy & Roadmap: Help define the global Absence Management strategy multi-year roadmaps and prioritization frameworks that align with HR and business objectives; advocate for absence priorities across governance forums.
Solution Design & Configuration: Lead functional design and Workday configuration for Absence Management and related HCM data elements (e.g. absence types eligibility rules entitlement calculations absence balances); ensure design artifacts and configuration documents are created and maintained accurately and version-controlled.
Delivery & Implementation: Lead and govern implementations country rollouts enhancements and releases for absence capabilities. Build and coordinate cross-functional delivery teams (IT implementation partners vendors HR Ops regional leads) manage scope/timelines/risks and ensure successful cutover and adoption.
Testing & Controls: Define test strategies and plans for absence-related changes (unit integration UAT); ensure comprehensive test coverage remediation tracking and evidence for audit and compliance.
Data Governance & Privacy: Partner with Data Privacy Legal and data stewards to ensure absence data handling complies with GDPR and applicable local privacy laws; lead completion of privacy impact assessments and approvals as required.
Automation & Innovation: Identify and prioritize opportunities to leverage automation and AI-enabled capabilities pilot and scale approved innovations.

Required Qualifications

Education & Experience: Bachelors degree with a minimum of 8 years progressive experience in HR HRIS HR Operations or related functions including at least 4 years operating at a strategic or senior delivery level OR an equivalent combination of education and experience.
Absence & Time Domain Expertise: Deep knowledge of global absence/leave administration (statutory and contractual leave types) Time & Attendance interactions and absence entitlement/calculation concepts.
Workday Experience: Strong practical experience with Workday Absence Management and Workday HCM configuration design and operational support.
Integration & Payroll Knowledge: Proven experience designing and governing integrations between Absence Time and Payroll systems; familiarity with payroll providers and reconciliation practices.
Testing & Controls Experience: Experience defining and executing test strategies (including UAT and integration testing) and managing controls/audit requirements for HR systems.
Analytical & Problem-Solving Skills: Highly analytical with experience using metrics and root-cause analysis to drive decisions and continuous improvement.

Preferred Qualifications

Advanced Workday: Deep familiarity with advanced Workday configuration patterns for Absence Time and Payroll integrations including calculated fields and custom objects.
Regulatory Knowledge: Familiarity with regional absence regulations and statutory leave requirements across major geographies.
Automation & AI Experience: Prior experience implementing RPA intelligent automation or AI-enabled HR solutions related to absence.
Program Management: Experience with program governance resource planning and business case development.
People Leadership: Experience leading teams or managing cross-functional workstreams including mentoring and capability development.

Required Skills:

Preferred Skills:

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