2025-08-26
Zendesk
Other
/yr
employee
contract
Austin
Texas
78701
United States
Location: Austin, Texas, United States of America | Mexico City, Mexico | Madison, Wisconsin, United States of America
Requisition ID: R32315
Position_Type: Full time
Love helping people? Well, Zendesk is looking for a Director of HRIS who is a sharp go-getter! You should be customer-centric, a problem solver, caring, honest, observant, humble, rational and above all else self-aware. To be successful here you should not be shy and be ready to address any task big or small. We are looking for someone who is collaborative, has a good work ethic and enjoys being part of a diverse team across the globe.
About Zendesk
At Zendesk, we believe outstanding customer experiences come from exceptional service and collaborative teamwork. We lead with empathy, innovate with purpose, and celebrate diversity and inclusion in everything we do. Join us as a Director of HRIS you will be part of a global team that cares deeply about our people and the technology that powers them.
The Role
We are seeking a forward-thinking Director of HRIS to lead the strategy, governance, and optimization of our Workday platform for a global SaaS organization of 6,000+ employees. In this role, you will be responsible for ensuring Workday is leveraged to deliver an exceptional employee experience, streamline HR processes, and provide actionable insights that enable our People team and business leaders to make informed decisions.
You will partner closely with HR, Finance, IT, and business leaders to maintain platform integrity, drive system enhancements, oversee integrations, and guide a high-performing HRIS team. This is both a strategic and hands-on role balancing long-term platform vision with execution excellence.
What You’ll Do
Key Responsibilities
Platform Strategy & Governance
Own the strategic roadmap for Workday, ensuring it aligns with business priorities, scalability needs, and best practices for a high-growth SaaS environment.
Establish and enforce governance processes for configuration, data integrity, security, and change management.
Evaluate new Workday modules, features, and releases to drive platform evolution.
Leadership & Team Management
Lead, mentor, and develop a team of HRIS analysts and administrators.
Foster a culture of innovation, collaboration, and continuous improvement within the HRIS function.
Build strong partnerships with HR, IT, Finance, Payroll, and business stakeholders.
Operations & Optimization
Oversee daily Workday operations, including HCM, Recruiting, Talent, Compensation, Absence, Time Tracking, and Payroll modules.
Drive process automation, self-service adoption, and user experience improvements.
Lead the design, testing, and deployment of enhancements, integrations, and reporting solutions.
?Maximize the value on existing investment within our platform(s)
Data & Insights
Ensure high-quality HR data is available for analytics, compliance, and business insights.
Partner with People Analytics to deliver dashboards and metrics that inform workforce decisions.
Maintain compliance with data privacy regulations (e.g., GDPR, CCPA).
Vendor & Stakeholder Management
Manage Workday vendor relationships, contracts, and escalations.
Serve as the primary liaison for Workday release management, ensuring smooth adoption of new features.
Represent the HRIS function in cross-functional technology initiatives.
What You Bring
Required
10+ years of HRIS experience, including 5+ years in Workday leadership roles.
Proven experience leading Workday for a large-scale organization (5,000+ employees).
Deep expertise across Workday HCM and multiple modules (e.g., Recruiting, Talent, Compensation, Payroll, Absence).
Strong leadership skills with experience managing and developing HRIS teams.
Excellent project management, stakeholder engagement, and communication skills.
Preferred
SaaS or high-growth tech industry experience.
Experience with global Workday deployments and multi-country configurations.
Familiarity with API-based integrations and data governance practices.
Workday certifications in relevant modules.
Why Zendesk?
Lead with exceptional customer service: Every interaction matters. We do more than fix tech issues — we create seamless experiences for our colleagues.
Deliver the simplest solution: We cut through complexity with clarity and efficiency. Less is more.
Show pride in our work: You own your impact and bring your best every day.
Care for each other: We support and celebrate one another’s successes and challenges.
Collaborate and innovate: Diverse voices and ideas fuel our creativity and growth.
Commit to inclusion: We’re building a workplace where everyone can thrive and belong.
Hybrid: In this role, our hybrid experience is designed at the team level to give you a rich onsite experience packed with connection, collaboration, learning, and celebration - while also giving you flexibility to work remotely for part of the week. This role must attend our local office for part of the week. The specific in-office schedule is to be determined by the hiring manager.
The intelligent heart of customer experience
Zendesk software was built to bring a sense of calm to the chaotic world of customer service. Today we power billions of conversations with brands you know and love.
Zendesk believes in offering our people a fulfilling and inclusive experience. Our hybrid way of working, enables us to purposefully come together in person, at one of our many Zendesk offices around the world, to connect, collaborate and learn whilst also giving our people the flexibility to work remotely for part of the week.
Zendesk is an equal opportunity employer, and we’re proud of our ongoing efforts to foster global diversity, equity, & inclusion in the workplace. Individuals seeking employment and employees at Zendesk are considered without regard to race, color, religion, national origin, age, sex, gender, gender identity, gender expression, sexual orientation, marital status, medical condition, ancestry, disability, military or veteran status, or any other characteristic protected by applicable law. We are an AA/EEO/Veterans/Disabled employer. If you are based in the United States and would like more information about your EEO rights under the law, please click here.
Zendesk endeavors to make reasonable accommodations for applicants with disabilities and disabled veterans pursuant to applicable federal and state law. If you are an individual with a disability and require a reasonable accommodation to submit this application, complete any pre-employment testing, or otherwise participate in the employee selection process, please send an e-mail to peopleandplaces@zendesk.com with your specific accommodation request.
Zendesk is on a mission to simplify the complexity of business and make it easy for companies and customers to create connections.
Our customer experience software unlocks the power of billions of interactions, enabling businesses to build rich, meaningful relationships with their customers.
What’s it like to work here? Our offices reflect the global cities we call home, and have spaces for collaboration, quiet, and events.
With our hybrid approach, you’ll experience flexibility and connection, collaboration, and learning with your team.
We’re aware of an increase in recruitment scams where individuals falsely claim to represent Zendesk. These scammers may ask for money or personal information by offering fake job opportunities through e-mail, text message or social media. Please verify the source of any job-related communications carefully. All official Zendesk communications are conducted through "@zendesk.com" email addresses. If you encounter suspicious messages, do not respond and report them to peopleandplaces@zendesk.com
PI277572347
