[Hiring] Manager, HRIS @Direct Travel

Role Description

The Manager, HRIS leads the team that keeps Workday running smoothly for HR and Payroll worldwide. You will direct the work of an HRIS Support Coordinator and an HR Technology & Compliance Coordinator. You will set priorities, coach the team, and own the Workday product roadmap and overall quality of Workday administration, configuration, testing, documentation, and compliance.

This is a player-coach role during an active global rollout. You will personally handle complex or escalated issues and complex configuration, while building the processes, service levels, and team capability needed to support new countries and acquisitions as they come onto Workday.

Key Responsibilities

• Team Leadership
  • Lead, coach, and develop the HRIS Support Coordinator and the HR Technology & Compliance Coordinator, including goal setting, workload planning, and performance reviews.
  • Assign and prioritize the team's work across support, configuration, testing, data, and compliance activities.
  • Set clear standards for ticket handling, documentation, change control, and quality review, and hold the team accountable to them.
  • Build team capability through cross-training, knowledge sharing, and clear escalation paths.
  • Serve as the primary escalation point for the team and as the HRIS voice with HR, Payroll, IT, and implementation partners.
  • Report on support performance, open issues, and system health to HR leadership.
• Workday Administration & Configuration
  • Manage day-to-day Workday functional operations and system support, keeping the tenant stable, accurate, and compliant.
  • Configure and maintain Core HCM and related modules, including Recruiting, Talent, Performance, Compensation, Absence, and future modules as they are deployed.
  • Maintain business processes, workflows, notifications, condition rules, eligibility rules, and calculated fields.
  • Manage configuration changes through a controlled process, including impact analysis, approvals, and documentation.
• Support & Service Management
  • Oversee the Workday support model.
  • Define and monitor service levels, ticket categories, routing, and escalation rules.
  • Personally resolve support issues and complex configuration issues for global HR and Payroll teams.
  • Review ticket trends to find root causes of recurring issues and drive permanent fixes.
  • Coordinate with Workday Support and integration partners to resolve vendor-related issues.
• HR Technology Compliance
  • Direct the HR Technology & Compliance Coordinator in maintaining compliance across Workday and connected HR systems.
  • Oversee security role reviews, access audits, and segregation of duties for HR and Payroll data.
  • Ensure configuration supports data privacy and country-specific requirements (e.g., GDPR and local employment rules) as new countries go live.
  • Support internal and external audits with accurate evidence and documentation.
• Testing & Release Management
  • Lead Workday planning and preparation for semi-annual release reviews, including impact assessment, regression testing, and validation of new functionality.
  • Support user acceptance testing, defect tracking and resolution, and post-go-live stabilization.
  • Validate configuration and data after changes, mass updates, and new deployments.
• Data Management
  • Support data loads, EIBs, mass updates, and routine system maintenance.
  • Audit data quality and partner with HR and Payroll teams to correct issues.
  • Support reporting needs and help maintain data integrity across integrations.
• Documentation & Enablement
  • Develop and maintain configuration notes, process documentation, job aids, and knowledge articles.
  • Train HR, Payroll, and other users on new and changed functionality.
• Continuous Improvement & Growth
  • Partner with functional workstream leads to identify process improvements and future enhancements.
  • Support acquisition integration, organizational restructures, and expansion into new countries, including country-specific configuration.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in Human Resources, Information Systems, Business, or a related field, or equivalent experience.
• 5+ years of hands-on Workday functional configuration experience, including Core HCM.
• 2+ years leading, supervising, or directing the work of others, such as HRIS staff or a support team.
• Configuration experience in at least two additional modules: Recruiting, Talent, Performance, Compensation, or Absence.
• Strong working knowledge of business processes, condition rules, notifications, security groups, and calculated fields.
• Experience with EIBs, mass data loads, and data validation.
• Experience with Workday semi-annual releases, regression testing, and UAT.
• Experience building or running a tiered support model with defined service levels and escalation paths.
• Experience with HR system compliance, such as security audits, access reviews, or data privacy requirements.
• Experience supporting HR and Payroll users across multiple countries.
• Strong documentation skills and the ability to explain technical topics to non-technical users.

Preferred Qualifications

• Workday Pro certification in HCM, Compensation, Recruiting, Absence, or Talent & Performance.
• Experience with a Workday implementation or multi-country phased deployment.
• Experience supporting mergers, acquisitions, or organizational restructures in Workday.
• Familiarity with Workday Payroll or third-party payroll integrations.
• Working knowledge of Workday reporting, integrations (EIB, RaaS, Core Connectors), and security configuration.
• Experience with ticketing tools such as ServiceNow, Service Desk Plus, or Jira.
• Experience in travel, hospitality, or professional services organizations.

Key Competencies

• Leadership: Sets direction, delegates effectively, and develops team members' skills.
• Problem solving: Diagnoses issues methodically and fixes root causes, not just symptoms.
• Ownership: Takes accountability for the team's results and follows issues through to resolution.
• Attention to detail: Protects data accuracy and ensures changes are tested before they reach users.
• Communication: Writes clear documentation and explains system changes in plain language to all levels.
• Prioritization: Balances urgent support needs with project, release, and compliance work across the team.
• Collaboration: Works well with HR, Payroll, IT, implementation partners, and colleagues across time zones.
• Confidentiality: Handles sensitive employee and payroll data with discretion and models that standard for the team.

Work Environment

• Full-time role based in the United States, supporting colleagues across multiple time zones.
• Occasional early-morning or evening meetings to support global teams, and some after-hours work during releases, deployments, and payroll-critical periods.
• Standard office environment or home office with reliable internet access.