Head of Employee Services Operations

Work Your Magic with us  Ready to explore, break barriers, and discover more? We know you've got big plans – so do we Our colleagues across the globe love innovating with science and technology to enrich people's lives with our solutions in Healthcare, Life Science, and Electronics. Together, we dream big and are passionate about caring for our rich mix of people, customers, patients, and planet. That's why we are always looking for curious minds that see themselves imagining the unimaginable with us.  The holder of this position is responsible for providing strategic and operational leadership to the India Employee Services organization, ensuring high-quality HR service delivery across multiple domains while driving innovation, efficiency, and excellence.Key Accountabilities:Lead and empower the Employee Services team to deliver outstanding support to internal customers through effective goal setting, coaching, and performance management.Foster a culture of engagement, accountability, and continuous development.Oversee service performance and productivity across all teams; analyze KPIs and metrics to identify improvement opportunities. Initiate and execute quality, automation, and transformation projects to enhance service delivery and scalabilityChampion employee experience within Employee Services by driving participation and follow-through on Employee Engagement Survey (EES) insights, ensuring consistent action planning and visible improvement.Strengthen partnership with business and functional stakeholders by understanding needs, co-creating solutions, and driving measurable outcomes. Promote process simplification, digital enablement, and data-driven decision making.Act as a change catalyst—model and encourage a growth mindset, inspire innovation, and lead the organization through change aligned with enterprise transformation priorities.The India Employee services team is made up of 4 sub-teams including1. Global HRIS:System Governance: Oversee HRIS implementation, maintenance, and compliance.Process Automation: Enhance HR operations through automation, analytics, and digital transformation.Data Integrity & Security: Ensure accuracy, security, and compliance of HR data across all regions.Stakeholder Collaboration: Attending MBRs/QBRs and process KPI review meetingsVendor Management: Managing the Payroll vendorUser Experience & Training: Improve system usability, training, and support to enhance adoption and efficiency.Projects: M&A execution support in terms of payroll processing and data stewardship2. HR Reporting Operational HR reporting using various source systems (mainly SAP SuccessFactors)3. HR Data Stewardship Oversee the integrity and accuracy of HR data across various systems and platforms.Contribute to data governance initiatives to enhance data reliability and compliance.Expand service offerings to data domains beyond HR Ø Data Cataloging (incl. Zeenea tool)Run the data cataloging process using Zeenea to ensure easy data discovery.Collaborate with data owners to document metadata and data lineage for enhanced transparency.Regularly update the catalog to reflect changes in data sources and structures.4. Data Quality Management (Excel, Tableau, Palantir Foundry) Establish data quality metrics to monitor and improve data accuracy and consistency.Utilize tools like Excel, Tableau, and Palantir Foundry to perform data validation and cleansing.Conduct regular audits and assessments to identify and rectify data quality issues.Proactively collaborate with various stakeholders in data quality issue resolution 5. Data Product and Asset Management on Palantir Foundry, incl. access mgmt. Manage the lifecycle of data products, from creation to retirement, ensuring alignment with business needs.Administer user access controls and permissions within Palantir Foundry to safeguard sensitive data.Collaborate with IT and security teams to enforce data governance and co 6. Data Privacy and Retention operations, incl. running deletion cycles Implement and monitor data retention policies in accordance with legal and regulatory requirements, as a joint effort with data owners.Coordinate and execute regular deletion cycles to ensure compliance with data privacy standards.7. Data Access Requests in GDPR context Process and manage data access requests in compliance with GDPR and other applicable regulations.Liaise with legal and compliance teams to ensure all data access requests are handled appropriately. 8. Payroll, Benefits, Taxation & related Compliance (India): Payroll Execution/Ops: Lead end-to-end payroll operations, ensuring accuracy, timeliness, and compliance with Indian labor laws.Benefits & Compensation: Manage statutory and voluntary employee benefits to enhance employee well-being and engagement.Taxation & Statutory Compliance: Ensure adherence to Income Tax, PF, ESIC, Gratuity, PT, and other regulatory requirements. Audit Participation: Participate in internal and external audits, provide necessary explanations and documentation.Process Optimization: Drive automation, efficiency for seamless payroll and benefits administration.Stakeholder Collaboration: Engage with HR, Finance, Legal, and government authorities for compliance and regulatory updates.Employee Experience: Enhance payroll and benefits delivery to drive transparency, satisfaction, and trust. 9. Employee Lifecycle Operations (India): End-to-End HR Operations:  Oversee the entire employee lifecycle, from onboarding to exit, ensuring seamless processes.Onboarding & Integration: Drive efficient new hire onboarding, documentation, and compliance with regulatory requirements.Employee Records Management: Ensure accurate, secure, and compliant maintenance of HR data and personnel records including cases related to data update owing to internal/global mobility and role changes.HR Service Excellence: Optimize employee query resolution, self-service platforms, and process automation for efficiency.Exit & Offboarding: Manage smooth offboarding, full & final settlements, and compliance-driven clearances. 10. Training and Consultancy (India, Poland, Philippines): Strategic Leadership: Shape the vision for L&D, engaging with stakeholders and executives across Global Enterprise Solutions and Enabling functions.Team Management: Lead and manage the People Development Partners (PDP) and trainers to ensure the delivery of high-quality, compliant services.Performance Monitoring: Track productivity and performance against KPIs, implementing improvement measures as necessary.Operational Efficiency: Drive process transformation and standardization in collaboration with BPE L&D, enhancing service delivery through qualitative and quantitative feedback.Stakeholder Engagement: Build strong relationships with internal clients, external providers, and senior stakeholders, addressing concerns and gathering feedback.Growth Initiatives: Identify and pursue growth opportunities for L&D services, including the development of new training delivery services.Integration Support: Facilitate the integration of learning services from newly acquired scopes into the existing pipeline. Work Experience 15+ years in HR leadership roles within corporate or consulting environmentsExperience in the pharmaceutical, life sciences, or technology industries preferredInternational exposure with proven ability to collaborate across geographies and leadership levelsDemonstrated impact in capability-building and transformation initiativesExperience working with HR stakeholders at country, regional, and global levelsProficiency in HR tools, learning administration systems, and data analyticsTrack record of leading diverse global teamsCompetencies & Skills:Excellent leadership capabilitiesExcellent stakeholder management skills incl. business partneringBusiness acumen and entrepreneurial thinkingService Management backgroundExcellent customer- and experience orientationExperience in matrix organizationsStrong Process Excellence Skills (Performance Management, Continuous Improvement)Strong intercultural & virtual team management skillsStrong project management skillsStrong communication, change management and influencing skillStrong advocacy for future orientation and new approachesVery good understanding of HR, Finance, Procurement and IT processes and impact, alsoGBS global trends and benchmarksFluent in English languageWhat we offer: We are curious minds that come from a broad range of backgrounds, perspectives, and life experiences. We believe that this variety drives excellence and innovation, strengthening our ability to lead in science and technology. We are committed to creating access and opportunities for all to develop and grow at your own pace. Join us in building a culture of inclusion and belonging that impacts millions and empowers everyone to work their magic and champion human progressApply now and become a part of a team that is dedicated to Sparking Discovery and Elevating Humanity