Director, HR Projects & Transformation - Chicago or Decatur, IL

Job Description

• Lead strategic HR initiatives and transformation programs that improve organizational effectiveness, employee experience, scalability, and operational performance.
• Develop business cases, implementation roadmaps, governance structures, and success metrics for enterprise HR initiatives.
• Identify opportunities to simplify, standardize, and enhance HR service delivery and operating models.
• Provide strategic counsel to HR leadership and business leaders on workforce, organizational, and operational challenges.
• Lead cross-functional teams and influence stakeholders across HR, Payroll, Finance, Technology, Legal, and business functions.

• Lead strategic planning initiatives for HR, ensuring organizational structures, resources, and capabilities are aligned with evolving business requirements, service delivery expectations, and enterprise priorities.
• Evaluate and optimize the operating model across HR to improve efficiency, scalability, and service quality.
• Assess organizational structures, reporting relationships, resource allocation, and team capacity within HR to ensure effective service delivery and operational excellence.
• Develop workforce and capacity planning models that support growth, transformation initiatives, service expansion, and changing business demands across HR.
• Establish and monitor operational metrics, workforce analytics, and service delivery measures to evaluate organizational effectiveness, productivity, customer experience, and operational performance.
• Lead assessments of HR processes, roles, and governance frameworks, recommending organizational improvements that enhance accountability, collaboration, standardization, and decision-making effectiveness.
• Support the design and implementation of organizational changes associated with HR transformations, service delivery model enhancements, system implementations, acquisitions, and divestitures affecting HR.
• Drive continuous improvement of organizational capabilities within HR by identifying opportunities to enhance skills, processes, technologies, and service delivery models.
• Partner with HR leadership to ensure the HR organizations are appropriately structured and resourced to deliver sustainable, efficient, and globally consistent HR services.

• Lead HR due diligence efforts related to mergers, acquisitions, joint ventures, and divestitures.
• Assess workforce demographics, compensation programs, benefits plans, labor agreements, HR operations, payroll processes, HR systems, organizational structures, and people-related risks.
• Partner with Corporate Development, Legal, Finance, Payroll, and business leaders to evaluate transaction-related costs, risks, synergies, and integration requirements.
• Develop and execute comprehensive HR integration and separation strategies.
• Lead Day One readiness planning, payroll integration, benefits harmonization, talent assessments, and communication planning.
• Lead employee transfer, HR systems separation, payroll transition, and transition service agreement activities associated with divestitures and carve-outs.
• Establish integration governance, milestone tracking, executive reporting, and synergy realization processes.

• Develop and execute change management strategies supporting transformational initiatives.
• Lead stakeholder engagement, communication, training, and adoption efforts.
• Influence business decisions through data-driven recommendations and workforce insights.
• Build strong partnerships across HR functions and business teams to drive alignment and successful implementation.

• Ensure appropriate controls, governance processes, and compliance requirements are embedded within HR and payroll initiatives.
• Partner with Internal Audit, Legal, Compliance, Payroll, and Finance teams to mitigate operational and regulatory risks.
• Support SOX-compliant payroll and HR process design, documentation, and control environments.
• Establish monitoring and reporting mechanisms to ensure ongoing compliance and operational effectiveness.

• Bachelor's degree in Human Resources, Business Administration, Organizational Development, Finance, Information Systems, or a related field.
• 10+ years of progressive leadership experience in Human Resources, HR Operations, transformation, , consulting, payroll, or finance.
• Demonstrated success leading large-scale transformation initiatives and complex cross-functional projects.
• Experience in organizational design, process optimization, and change management.
• Experience supporting mergers, acquisitions, divestitures, and organizational integration activities.
• Experience implementing or upgrading HRIS and payroll systems.
• Strong analytical, strategic thinking, and executive communication skills.
• Proven ability to influence senior leaders and drive enterprise change initiatives.

• Master's degree in Human Resources, Business Administration, , or related field.
• Lean Six Sigma or comparable certification.
• Experience in a global, matrixed organization.
• Experience with SAP, SuccessFactors, Workday, Oracle HCM, UKG, ADP, or other enterprise HR and payroll solutions.

• : $156,000.00 - $235,100.00
• Salaried Incentive Plan: The total compensation package for this position will also include annual bonus and a long-term incentive plan