Your New Role:

The Manager, Program Management – WFM & Payroll, oversees program management, application support, and development within the Enterprise Technology department, supporting the HR Shared Services Organization. This role manages the strategic roadmap and governance of enhancements for HR and Payroll systems, including Workday, Fieldglass, ServiceNow, Infor Workbrain, and Case IQ. This position combines technical expertise with strategic leadership to ensure the successful delivery and support of enterprise HR and Payroll applications.

Your Role Accountabilities:

• Managing projects and system enhancements, from scope definition to deployment, ensuring alignment with business goals.
• Collaborating with stakeholders to gather requirements, approve functional designs, and oversee development, testing, and deployment processes.
• Driving cross-functional collaboration to deliver technical solutions and streamline application support.
• Leading stakeholder workshops and client interviews to document requirements and align priorities.

Program Planning & Strategy

• Manges roadmap of key strategic initiatives for the HR Technology roadmap
• Lead the planning and execution of key HR Technology program and projects (Workbrain/WFM, Workday, Case IQ, ServiceNow etc.)
• Define project scope, objectives, success metrics and roadmap in collaboration with stakeholders
• Establishes short- and long-term objectives and roadmaps for applications within the portfolio to lower total cost of ownership (TCO) and improve operational efficiency.
• Develops optimization strategies for cloud-based applications.
• Oversees governance processes, data quality, and security to ensure compliance with data privacy and security regulation and WBD standards.

Project Execution

• Leads application development projects and related activities while ensuring proper governance exists for all technology solutions.
• Oversees the performance of internal and external service providers for application portfolio support and projects for client groups.
• Gather, document, and prioritize business requirements from HR stakeholders, translating them into clear technical specifications for developers and IT team
• Manage the day-to-day Scrum and Agile operations, including sprint planning, backlog grooming, daily stand-ups, and retrospectives to keep projects on track
• Proactively identify and resolve blockers, dependencies, and risks to ensure timely delivery of HR technology solutions
• Oversee testing, validation, and deployment of HR system changes, coordinating with QA teams and business users to ensure accuracy and compliance
• Bridge the gap between HR and technology teams by facilitating discussions, clarifying requirements, and ensuring seamless execution of system enhancements
• Manages vendor due diligence, analysis, procurement, acquisition, and integration of complex software applications and systems, including creation and review of statements of work.

Stakeholder Communication & Leadership

• Track and report on key program metrics, milestones, and deliverables, providing regular updates to leadership and stakeholders
• Communicate project status updates to key stakeholders, including clients, executives, and team members, ensuring alignment and addressing concerns.
• Facilitate meetings, document key decisions and risks, and ensure follow ups on actions
• Prepare executive level presentation (strategy decks, status decks, etc.)
• Serve as the primary point of contact for project and business stakeholders, ensuring alignment of expectations
• Develop and create the change management plan to ensure adoption of key changes, including communication strategies, training programs, and user support initiatives.

Resource Planning

• Develop and manage project budget and resource allocations
• Ensure efficient allocation of resources to project and tasks
• Ensure projects are developed within project scope

Continuous Improvement

• Develops strategies to optimize technology solutions and enhance processes to meet evolving business needs.
• Identify opportunities to enhance HR processes through automation, self-service tools, and AI-driven solutions
• Leverage analytics and reporting tools to drive data-driven decision-making.
• Monitor system performance, gather feedback, and implement improvements to enhance efficiency.

Qualifications & Experiences:

• Bachelor´s degree in correlated areas
• 7+ years of experience in a leadership role managing multi-faceted technical/functional organizations, including portfolios across multiple platforms.
• 3–5 years of management experience with both employees and on/offshore resources.
• Strong knowledge of HR systems, including HCM, Payroll (preferably in union environments), and integrations.
• Experience with WFM, ERP, SaaS software, and master data management.
• Knowledge of software development life cycles, process reengineering, and system optimization.
• Familiarity with data governance, data quality, and data warehousing concepts.
• Expertise in planning, implementing, and optimizing process/system changes to existing live applications.
• Experience in project management, change management, and building business cases to secure project funding.
• Knowledge of common project methodologies (e.g., waterfall and agile) and well versed in popular project management tools such as Jira and Confluence
• In-depth knowledge of key phases of design, development, testing, deployment, and operational support
• Demonstrated ability to construct high-level project plans, estimate efforts, and manage resources effectively.
• Experience integrating acquired businesses into enterprise systems and operationalizing financial processes.
• General knowledge of budgeting and financial controls.
• Strong data management, analysis, and reporting skills.
• Creative and resourceful approach to solving business challenges and delivering value-added solutions.
• Outstanding documentation, presentation, and interpersonal skills, with a customer-focused mindset.

Not Required but preferred experience:

• Project Management Certification
• Product Owner Certification (Scrum Master, Prod, CSPO)
• Entertainment industry experience is highly desirable, with a strong understanding of technology trends and tools.
• Familiarity with the entertainment industry, including accounting practices and processes.
• Broad knowledge across technology disciplines such as infrastructure access, identity management, provisioning, data optimization, application upgrades, and cloud migration.
• Expertise in enterprise security standards, application controls, and best practices for application development.