Workday

Head of Global People Relations

Workday$250K — $375K *
Business Services
11 - 15 years of experience
Job Overview by Ladders

Qualifications

  • 12+ years of executive experience in Employee Relations, HR Risk & Compliance, and People Consulting globally.
  • Proven ability to leverage AI and agentic workflows for enterprise modernization.
  • Expertise in building People Analytics capabilities for operational insights.
  • Solid understanding of global labor standards, employment law, and ethical HR governance.

Responsibilities

  • Transform People Relations workflows to integrate AI and improve advisory services.
  • Oversee global Employee Relations and Consulting teams to ensure fairness and empathy.
  • Direct compliance strategy to adhere to international employment laws and data privacy.
  • Turn workplace data and sentiment into intelligence for organizational improvement.
  • Establish responsible AI frameworks to maintain employee trust and company values.
  • Lead and mentor a global team in fostering a culture of trust and career development.

Benefits

  • Flexible work schedule with a blend of remote and in-office days.
  • Opportunities for professional development and career growth.
  • Access to a collaborative and high-performing team environment.
  • Health and wellness programs supporting employee wellbeing.
  • Participation in a bonus plan or stock grants as part of compensation.
Full Job Description
About the Team
Our People & Purpose organization fosters high-performing teams and exceptional workplace experiences. We are pioneering the next era of People Operations by integrating agentic AI, intelligence at scale, and Human-Centered design. Grounded in trust, fairness, and our core commitment to employees, we deliver global support that continuously elevates both organizational health and business performance.

About the Role

As the Head of Global People Relations, you will lead the strategic evolution of our People Consultant, Employee Relations, and Risk & Compliance organizations - a global team of 40 domain experts - into an AI-first, data-driven engine. You will re-engineer core processes-from performance management and coaching to employee relations and risk mitigation-by harnessing our agentic technology. Balancing continuous automation with empathy and legal rigor, you will build a global framework where employee trust remains our paramount metric.

Strategic Priorities & Key Responsibilities:

Agentic & AI-First Transformation
  • Re-wire end-to-end People Relations workflows using agentic automation to scale advisory services, performance coaching support, and intake systems seamlessly across all operating regions.


Modernized ER & Investigations
  • Oversee global Employee Relations and People Consulting teams, embedding AI-driven triage and standardized quality frameworks while maintaining absolute fairness, objectivity, and empathy.


Risk, Compliance & Governance
  • Direct global compliance strategy, Labor Relations, and automated risk models to navigate evolving international employment laws and data privacy standards.


Strategic Intelligence & Insights
  • Transform case data and workplace sentiment into scalable, and actionable intelligence, creating a virtuous cycle of organizational improvement for leaders and employees globally.


Trust & Responsible AI Guardianship
  • Establish and reinforce responsible AI frameworks for Global People Operations, ensuring every AI or automated system upholds employee trust, non-bias, and company core values.


People Leadership & Development
  • Lead, mentor, and inspire a high-performing global team of People Consultants, ER specialists, and Risk & Compliance experts; foster continuous capability building, a culture of trust, and clear career growth pathways.


Key Stakeholder Ecosystem & Relationship Capital

To drive transformation and align cross-functional priorities, this leader will actively build trust and strategic influence across key global stakeholders:
  • Legal & Employment Law: Partner to navigate complex employment regulations, investigations, workplace privacy, and ethical AI compliance frameworks.
  • HR Business Partners (HRBPs) & Talent Experience: Align People Relations strategy with broader organizational talent strategy, leadership coaching, and performance management enablement.
  • People Analytics & HR Technology / Systems: Collaborate to architect data pipelines, predictive models, and agentic AI integrations into daily People operations.
  • Business Unit & Regional Executive Leaders: Serve as a trusted advisor to senior business executives across AMER, EMEA, and APJ to drive consistent workplace practices and de-risk organizational change.
  • Works Councils, Labor Unions & Employee Representative Bodies: Build collaborative, transparent relationships across international jurisdictions to navigate global labor relations smoothly.


About You

Basic Qualifications:
  • Enterprise Leadership: 12+ years of progressive executive experience leading global Employee Relations, HR Risk & Compliance, and People Consulting organizations across Americas, EMEA, and APJ


Other Qualifications:
  • AI & Process Re-engineering: Proven track record of leveraging AI platforms, agentic workflows, or digital transformation models to modernize enterprise workflows at scale.
  • Data & Strategic Acumen: Demonstrated ability to build People Analytics capabilities that translate operational performance management and ER data into business-critical organizational insights.
  • Legal, Responsible AI, and Regulatory Mastery: Subject matter expertise in global labor standards, employment law, and ethical HR governance.


Workday Pay Transparency Statement

The annualized base salary ranges for the primary location and any additional locations are listed below. Workday pay ranges vary based on work location. As a part of the total compensation package, this role may be eligible for the Workday Bonus Plan or a role-specific commission/bonus, as well as annual refresh stock grants. Recruiters can share more detail during the hiring process. Each candidate's compensation offer will be based on multiple factors including, but not limited to, geography, experience, skills, job duties, and business need, among other things. For more information regarding Workday's comprehensive benefits, please click here.

Primary Location: USA.CA.Pleasanton

Primary Location Base Pay Range: $250,600 USD - $375,800 USD

Additional US Location(s) Base Pay Range: $211,600 USD - $375,800 USD

Our Approach to Flexible Work

With Flex Work, we're combining the best of both worlds: in-person time and remote. Our approach enables our teams to deepen connections, maintain a strong community, and do their best work. We know that flexibility can take shape in many ways, so rather than a number of required days in-office each week, we simply spend at least half (50%) of our time each quarter in the office or in the field with our customers, prospects, and partners (depending on role). This means you'll have the freedom to create a flexible schedule that caters to your business, team, and personal needs, while being intentional to make the most of time spent together. Those in our remote "home office" roles also have the opportunity to come together in our offices for important moments that matter.

Are you being referred to one of our roles? If so, ask your connection at Workday about our Employee Referral process!

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Please be aware of sites that may ask for you to input your data in connection with a job posting that appears to be from Workday but is not.

In addition, Workday will never ask candidates to pay a recruiting fee, or pay for consulting or coaching services, in order to apply for a job at Workday.

About Workday

Workday, Inc. is a provider of enterprise cloud applications for finance and human resources. The Company delivers financial management, human capital management and analytics applications designed for various companies, educational institutions and government agencies. As part of its applications, the Company provides embedded analytics that capture the content and context of everyday business events, facilitating informed decision-making from wherever users are working. Its applications include Workday Financial Management, Workday Human Capital Management (HCM) and Other Applications. It also provides open, standards-based Web-services application programming interfaces, and pre-built packaged integrations and connectors. Workday, Inc. is headquartered in Pleasanton, California.
Learn more about Workday
Size
15,932 employees
Market Cap
$42.2 billion
Industry
Net Income
-$282.4 million
Founded
2005
5 Year Trend
+26.7%
Revenue
$4.3 billion
NASDAQ

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