Senior People Operations Specialist

The Opportunity

The Senior People Operations Specialist is responsible for the accurate and timely execution of core People Operations and employee lifecycle activities, primarily supporting employees in the U.S. and Canada while partnering with People Operations colleagues globally. The role reports to and works in close partnership with the Associate Director, People Operations, Benefits & Compliance. The Senior Specialist serves as a subject matter resource across assigned People Operations processes including employee life cycle and Workday transactions, resolving operational and data issues and identifying opportunities to improve processes, controls, and employee experience. This role partners closely with HR, Finance, Payroll, IT, and other stakeholders to support scalable processes, resolve operational issues, and contribute frontline operational insight to process, systems, and automation initiatives.

Key Duties and Responsibilities

• Own and execute day-to-day employee lifecycle activities, including hires, employee changes, transfers, terminations, other employee updates, and related Workday transactions.
• Support employee transitions, including onboarding and offboarding, coordinating with relevant stakeholders, and proactively identifying and resolving issues to support a consistent employee experience.
• Manage assigned employee inquiries and People Operations requests through closure, resolving day-to-day operational issues, coordinating follow-up, and escalating judgement-heavy or specialized matters to your manager, HRBPs, legal, or other appropriate partners.
• Maintain employee data integrity through audits, exception reporting, reconciliations, investigation of discrepancies, and coordination of timely corrective actions.
• Create standard and ad hoc Workday reports and analyze employee data to support operational, audit, and cross-functional needs.
• Troubleshoot routine Workday transactions and process issues, partnering with the appropriate stakeholders on more complex matters.
• Support compliance activities including maintaining employee records and documentation as well as internal or external audits through accurate data, reporting, documentation, and timely completion of assigned activities.
• Support preparation, cutoff management, validation, and follow-up for People Operations inputs to Payroll, including employee changes, exceptions and issue resolution.
• Develop and maintain SOPs, job aids, FAQs, and other operational resources that enable consistent execution, self-service, and business continuity.
• Identify process gaps, recurring trends, and execution improvements within assigned processes; recommend and support approved process, knowledge, automation, and AI initiatives through requirements, documentation, testing, and operational feedback.
• Partner with People Operations colleagues globally and cross-functional stakeholders to coordinate employee lifecycle activities, resolve operational issues, and contribute to broader People Operations priorities, projects, and process improvements as business needs require.
• May support benefits administration activities, including eligibility, enrollment, qualifying life events, billing support, vendor discrepancy resolution, and reconciliations.

Required Skills, Experience and Education

• Bachelor's degree in human resources, Business Administration, a related field, or equivalent practical experience.
• 3+ years of experience in People Operations, HR operations, HR systems, or related operational roles, ideally in high-growth, scaling, and dynamically changing environments.
• Experience with U.S. employee lifecycle transactions and related People Operations activities, including HR data management, employee support, reporting, audits, and operational projects.
• Experience with Workday or similar HR systems supporting transactions, data maintenance, reporting, and audits.
• Strong analytical and problem-solving skills, with the ability to investigate and resolve operational and data issues, identify trends, and recommend practical solutions.
• Exceptional attention to detail and data accuracy, with a high level of confidentiality and integrity when managing sensitive employee information.
• Strong organizational and prioritization skills, adapting effectively to competing and changing priorities while maintaining strong follow-through.
• Strong collaboration, communication, and Excel/data analysis skills.
• Demonstrated ability to learn new processes and systems quickly and apply systems, data, and employee-support skills across multiple People Operations priorities and operational projects.
• Ability to quickly build operational knowledge on people operations and employee life cycle execution in Canada.

Preferred Skills

• Experience supporting People Operations in a rapidly scaling organization and/or across multiple geographies.
• Experience supporting Canadian employee lifecycle and People Operations activities.
• Experience with ADP Workforce Now, ServiceNow, Smartsheet, or similar HR technologies.
• Experience supporting multiple People Operations disciplines, with the ability to apply systems, data, and employee-support skills across new process areas and cross-functional operational projects.
• Experience leveraging AI, automation, or other technology to improve operational efficiency, data validation, self-service, or case triage.