HR Ops - SEA & NEA ELCM Team Lead

The Opportunity:

We are looking for a dynamic and experienced Team Lead - HR Operations (Employee Lifecycle Management) to join our global HR Services organization and manage SEA and NEA, HR operations teams. This role is critical in driving seamless employee lifecycle delivery while leveraging deep Workday expertise to enhance processes, ensure data accuracy, and deliver best-in-class HR operations. As a team lead, you will own end-to-end service delivery for ELCM processes, lead a high-performing team, and drive continuous improvement through automation, standardization, and transformation initiatives. This role operates in a night shift model, supporting global stakeholders and ensuring round-the-clock operational excellence.

How you'll make an impact:

• Own and drive end-to-end HR Operations delivery for Employee Lifecycle (ELCM) processes, ensuring seamless execution during night shift operations.
• Deliver high-quality HR services, ensuring timely and accurate processing of complex transactions across job changes, transfers, master data, compensation, documentation, offboarding, and employee queries.
• Champion service excellence, consistently meeting SLAs, KPIs, and quality benchmarks while leveraging data to monitor volumes, backlogs, and turnaround times.
• Lead resolution of critical escalations, ensuring timely closure and driving root-cause fixes for recurring challenges.
• Lead, coach, and inspire a team of 10-15 HR Service Specialists (including Deputy Team Lead), fostering a high-performance, accountable, and growth-oriented culture.
• Drive team capability building and succession planning, ensuring strong bench strength and continuous skill development.
• Provide operational oversight on shift planning, workload allocation, attendance, and productivity, ensuring optimal team performance.
• Act as a key stakeholder interface, building strong partnerships with HRBPs, Payroll, managers, employees, and global HR teams.
• Enable seamless cross-geography collaboration, ensuring alignment and smooth service delivery across regions and functions.
• Enhance employee experience by delivering responsive, solution-oriented HR support and building trust with stakeholders.
• Lead transformation and stabilization initiatives across ELCM processes, driving continuous improvement and operational maturity.
• Identify and implement automation, standardization, and process optimization opportunities to improve efficiency and scalability.
• Ensure audit readiness and compliance excellence, supporting audits, data validations, and adherence to company policies and controls.
• Maintain exceptional data quality standards, ensuring accuracy, completeness, and integrity across employee lifecycle processes.
• Drive data governance and quality improvements, proactively identifying gaps and implementing corrective actions.
• Standardize processes globally, enabling consistency, scalability, and alignment with shared services best practices.
• Ensure strict data confidentiality and security, managing employee information across platforms such as Workday and HiNext.
• Leverage global best practices to continuously enhance operational efficiency and service delivery.
• Lead Workday ELCM module governance and optimization, ensuring robust HR master data management.
• Drive enhancements in Workday workflows, reporting, and analytics, enabling better decision-making and insights.
• Establish strong governance frameworks, managing audits, risk identification, and mitigation for HR processes.
• Ensure compliance with internal policies and regulatory standards, maintaining a strong control environment.
• Stay ahead of industry trends and HR technology advancements, bringing innovative ideas into operations.
• Lead key projects in digital transformation, system upgrades, and automation, continuously elevating service delivery standards.
• Excel in a fast-paced environment, effectively managing multiple priorities with strong attention to detail and execution rigor.
• Responsible for ensuring compliance with applicable external and internal regulations, procedures, and guidelines.
• Living Hitachi Energy's core values safety and integrity, which means taking responsibility for your own actions while caring for your colleagues and the business.

Your background:

• Bachelor's or Master's degree in HR or related field.
• Willingness to work in flexible shifts (day shifts) in an office-based environment (On-site).
• 7-8 years of experience in HR Operations, with strong exposure to Employee Lifecycle Management & Master data management.
• Deep expertise in Workday HR module and Hire-to-Retire processes.
• 4-5 years of team management experience, managing high-performing teams.
• Proven ability to drive projects, transformations, and cross-functional initiatives.
• Strong communication skills in spoken and written English.
• Lean/Six Sigma certification is an added advantage.
• Demonstrated ability to work independently, with strong ownership and process orientation.
• Proficiency in both spoken & written English language is required.