Senior Manager, HRIS

Description

Sprout Social is seeking a highly motivated and experienced Senior Manager, HRIS to join our growing team. In this role, you will be the operational owner of our HRIS platforms, with a strong emphasis on Workday administration, configuration, and process optimization. You'll partner closely with cross-functional teams to streamline workflows, enhance user experience, and ensure system alignment with organizational needs, maximizing Workday's potential to drive innovative solutions that support business goals. You will ensure that Workday is not just "running," but is a strategic enabler of efficient HR operations, data-driven decision-making, compliance, and employee experience.

Why join Sprout's People Operations team?

As members of the Sprout People Operations team, we are champions of Sprout's unique culture. Doing our jobs effectively means every candidate has an incredible experience with Sprout Social, every team member is successful from day one, and every business unit has the talent and support needed to meet and exceed aggressive goals.

What you'll do

Strategic HR Technology Leadership

• Guide the transition to a hybrid HRIS operating model that balances central expertise with distributed ownership.
• Advise leadership on emerging Workday functionality and HR technology trends.
• Align Workday strategy with broader People Team and business priorities.
• Drive innovation in HR technology to improve employee experience and business outcomes.
• Lead and mentor a team of HRIS analysts (if applicable), fostering a culture of continuous learning and development

System Ownership & Optimization

• Serve as the primary owner and administrator of Workday, ensuring the system is configured, maintained, and optimized for business needs.
• Own and drive the Workday strategy, roadmap, and execution across HR modules.
• Lead the design, testing, and deployment of new Workday modules, features, and enhancements.
• Continuously improve processes by leveraging Workday functionality and best practices based on metrics and user feedback

Process Design & Standardization

• Partner with People Operations, Finance, IT, and business leaders to streamline and optimize core HR processes (e.g., onboarding, performance, compensation, benefits, payroll).
• Lead the design, testing, and deployment of new Workday modules, features, and enhancements.
• Ensure workflows are scalable, efficient, and aligned to compliance requirements.

Reporting, Data Governance & Quality

• Establish and maintain data governance frameworks to ensure data accuracy, consistency, and security.
• Monitor data quality, resolve discrepancies, and implement controls to protect sensitive employee data.
• Partner with People Ops Analyst and leadership to deliver data-driven insights that connect people outcomes to business performance. Enable self-service dashboards and reporting that provide reliable insights for decision-making.

Compliance & Security

• Ensure Workday configuration and processes comply with local, state, federal, and international labor laws and regulations.
• Manage system security, role-based access, and audits.
• Support risk management and internal/external audit reviews.

Change Management & Enablement

• Act as a champion for HR technology adoption across the organization.
• Train HR teams, managers, and employees on Workday functionality, ensuring effective system use.
• Provide ongoing support and troubleshooting for end-users.

Project & Vendor Management

• Lead Workday-related projects (upgrades, releases, new modules, integrations with payroll, benefits, ATS, etc.) from conception to completion, including requirements gathering, vendor selection, testing, training, and change management.
• Collaborate with Business Systems on integrations and data flows between Workday and other enterprise wide business systems.

What you'll bring

The minimum qualifications for this role include:

• 7+ years of hands-on experience administering and configuring Workday HCM.
• Strong functional knowledge of core HCM plus at least 2-3 additional modules (e.g.,, Performance, Absence, Benefits, Advanced Reporting preferred).
• Proven experience leading system optimization projects, upgrades, or new module implementations.
• Ability to translate business needs into system solutions and improve core HR processes.
• Strong reporting and Workday Prism/Advanced Reporting skills to deliver workforce insights.
• Experience working in a cross-functional environment (HR, Finance, IT, Legal, Payroll).
• Excellent stakeholder management and change management capabilities.
• Experience leading or mentoring HRIS analysts or serving as the go-to Workday subject matter expert.

Preferred qualifications for this role include:

• Workday Pro or Workday certification in key modules.
• Familiarity with Workday integrations (e.g., payroll providers, ATS, benefits platforms, identity management).
• Experience leading HR technology projects
• Exposure to data visualization tools (Tableau, Power BI) in addition to Workday reporting.
• Demonstrated ability to evaluate emerging HR technologies and recommend adoption.
• Background in SaaS, tech, or high-growth companies where scaling HR operations was key.

How you'll grow

Within 1 month, you'll plant your roots, including:

• Gain a deep understanding of Sprout's People Team structure, processes, and distributed HRIS operating model.
• Develop familiarity with current Workday configuration, integrations, security design, and reporting landscape.
• Establish relationships with key stakeholders in People Ops, Total Rewards, Payroll, Finance, Business Systems, and Legal.
• Identify quick wins to improve data accuracy, streamline reporting, or enhance user experience.

Within 3 months, you'll start hitting your stride by:

• Complete an HRIS maturity assessment: identify process gaps, data quality issues, and governance challenges.
• Deliver an initial Workday optimization roadmap aligned to business priorities (e.g., reporting, compliance, user adoption).
• Partner with stakeholders to define standardized HR data metrics and improve reporting consistency.
• Begin implementing process improvements in core HR transactions (e.g., job changes, comp adjustments, security requests).
• Launch a hybrid HRIS model, clarifying ownership between People Ops, HRBP, Payroll, and Business Systems.

Within 6 months, you'll be making a clear impact through:

• Implement improved data governance and security protocols, reducing compliance risks.
• Lead a successful system enhancement or new module rollout (e.g.,, Performance, or onboarding/offboarding optimization).
• Establish regular HRIS governance and prioritization forums with cross-functional stakeholders.
• Show measurable improvements in data quality, process efficiency, and system adoption.

Within 12 months, you'll make this role your own by:

• Position Workday as a trusted system of record with reliable, consistent data across the business.
• Drive automation and process innovation that reduce manual work and enhance employee/manager experience.
• Build out a scalable HRIS roadmap supporting Sprout's growth and evolving People strategy.
• Partner with Analytics, Finance, and business leaders to connect people data with business outcomes.
• Mentor and develop internal team members, strengthening Sprout's HR technology capability.
• Be recognized as a strategic advisor on how HR technology can drive efficiency, compliance, and better decision-making.

Of course what is outlined above is the ideal timeline, but things may shift based on business needs and other projects and tasks could be added at the discretion of your manager.

Our Benefits Program

We're proud to regularly be recognized for our team, product and culture. Our benefits program includes:

• Insurance and benefit options that are built for both individuals and families
• Progressive policies to support work/life balance, like our flexible paid time off and parental leave program
• High-quality and well-maintained equipment-your computer will never prevent you from doing your best
• Wellness initiatives to ensure both health and mental well-being of our team
• Ongoing education and development opportunities via our Grow@Sprout program and employee-led diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives.
• Growing corporate social responsibility program that is driven by the involvement and passion of our team members
• Beautiful, convenient, and state-of-the-art offices in Chicago's Loop and downtown Seattle, for those who prefer an office setting

Whenever possible, Sprout wants to provide our team with the flexibility to work in the location that makes the most sense for them. Sprout maintains a remote workforce in many places in the United States. However, we are not set up in all states, so please look at the drop-down box in our application to see whether your state is listed. Few roles require an office setting. If your position requires a physical presence in a Sprout office, it will be evident in the job listing and your offer letter.

Individual base pay is based on various factors, including work location, relevant experience and skills, the responsibility of the role, and job duties/requirements. In the United States, we have two geographic pay zones. For this role, our current base pay ranges for new hires are:

• Zone 1 (New York, California, Washington): $151,976.00 (min), $190,000.00 (mid), $227,964.00 (max) USD annually
• Zone 2 (All other US states): $138,200.00 (min), $172,700.00 (mid), $207,200.00 (max) USD annually

The listed ranges represent the full earning potential in this position. Starting salaries for well-qualified new hires are typically around the midpoint of the range. These ranges were determined by a market-based compensation approach; we used data from trusted third-party compensation sources to set equitable, consistent, and competitive ranges. We also evaluate compensation bi-annually, identify any changes in the market and make adjustments to our ranges and existing employee compensation as needed.

Base pay is only one element of an employee's total compensation at Sprout. Every Sprout team member has an opportunity to receive restricted stock units (RSUs) under Sprout's equity plan. Employees (and their dependents) are covered by medical, dental, vision, basic life, accidental death, and dismemberment insurance, and Modern Health (a wellness benefit). Employees are able to enroll in Sprout's company's 401k plan, in which Sprout will match 50% of your contributions up to 6% with a maximum contribution. Sprout offers "Flexible Paid Time Off" and ten paid holidays. We have outlined the various components to an employee's full compensation package here to help you to understand our total rewards package.

Sprout Social is proud to be an Equal Opportunity Employer. We do not discriminate based on identity- race, color, religion, national origin or ancestry, sex (including sexual identity), age, physical or mental disability, pregnancy, veteran or military status, unfavorable discharge from military service, genetic information, sexual orientation, marital status, order of protection status, citizenship status, arrest record or expunged or sealed convictions, or any other legally recognized protected basis under federal, state, or local law. Because Sprout Social is a federal contractor, we affirmatively recruit individuals with a disability and protected veterans. Learn more about our commitment to diversity, equity and inclusion in our latest DEI Report.

If you require a reasonable accommodation for any part of the interview process or to submit your application, please email us at accommodations@sproutsocial.com. Include the nature of your request and your preferred contact information. We'll do everything we can to support your success during our recruitment process while upholding your privacy. Please note that only inquiries regarding accommodations will receive a response from this email address; other inquiries will not be addressed (e.g., you send your resume but are not requesting an accommodation).

For more information about our commitment to equal employment opportunity, please click here (1) Equal Opportunity Employment Poster and (2) Sprout Social's Affirmative Action Statement.

Additionally, Sprout Social participates in the E-Verify program in certain locations, as required by law.

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