Manager, HR Operations

Who will you be working with?

The HR Operations Regional Leader is part of the HR Shared Services Team. The role leads an organization of professionals and vendors to deliver regional HR transactional and process support for the employee lifecycle and payroll.

Additionally, the HR Operations Regional Leader leads and delivers enhancements to employee experience through process and system enhancements, transformation, and implementations. The Regional Leader manages team delivery of operational and system support to the Region and works collaboratively with other Centers of Expertise (Talent Acquisition, HRIS, Comp & Benefits, Legal) to design and deliver HR business processes.

How will you make a difference?

As the HR Operations Regional Leader, you will play a key role in shaping an exceptional employee experience by driving efficient, scalable, and compliant HR and payroll operations across the region. Through strong leadership, process optimization, and collaboration with HR Centers of Expertise and business stakeholders, you will enhance service delivery, lead transformative initiatives, and leverage technology to simplify and improve the employee lifecycle. Your ability to balance operational excellence with continuous improvement will help build a high-performing HR function that supports both business growth and employee success.

In this role you will:

• Lead and manage people and processes essential to the employee lifecycle and payroll for Indonesia, China, Australia, and New Zealand.
• Manage, develop, and engage a high-performing regional team; build functional and leadership capability within the team and bench-strength for future needs; deploy resources to fit business needs.
• Develop strategic partnerships with local HR to evaluate and evolve relationship in the region and ensure performance in accordance with SLAs. Lead quarterly service reviews.
• Partner with regional stakeholders to identify regional projects and process improvements; prioritize, plan, scope out projects and work with team to implement.
• Serve as a point of escalation for service issue themes, identifying root cause and path to resolution to ensure continued service improvement.
• Lead team projects regionally and/or globally to evolve HR processes that span across the employee life cycle; drive process improvements and standardization in partnership with Continuous Improvement Team.
• Provide support to cross-functional workstreams in the region, such as Acquisitions, Reorganizations, Legal Entity Changes.
• Ensure local processes are documented thoroughly and team understands processes fully. Communicate and provide change management to team and HR community when changes are implemented.
• Monitor best practices, industry standards, local requirements; implement changes to internal processes as needed.

• What We Want to Know About You

• Bachelor’s degree in human resources, Business, Information Systems, or relevant field. Equivalent work experience in a similar position may be substituted for education requirements.
• 10-15 years of experience in Human Resources, preferably in a Shared Services environment and should have experience managing APAC countries.
• Experience with HR administration, payroll, and systems within a large, complex enterprise, ideally across a range of geographies and businesses.
• Experience identifying areas for continuous improvement
• Strong experience working within HR systems, preferably Workday. Experience with a ticketing system such as ServiceNow.
• 3+ years of team management and development.
• Proficient with Microsoft Office Suite with intermediate Excel skills (pivot tables & charts, vlookups).

Key Competencies

• Excellent communication skills, with ability to motivate and influence without direct authority.
• Strong customer-focus; ability to build and maintain effective relationships with stakeholders.
• Ability to operate autonomously and make quality decisions within ambiguous situations.
• Continuous-improvement mindset and enthusiasm for problem-solving and improving customer experience.
• Ability to create focus for self and team through rigorous prioritization of activities.
• Comfortable presenting to stakeholders, business leaders, and HR community. Able to analyse data, draw business insights, and present to stakeholders in a meaningful way.
• Ability to set direction, align operational priorities with business goals, and drive regional HR service excellence.
• Proven capability to lead, coach, and develop high-performing teams, build bench strength, and foster employee engagement.
• Strong understanding of end-to-end employee lifecycle processes, payroll operations, compliance requirements, and shared services delivery models.
• Ability to identify inefficiencies, standardize processes, implement best practices, and drive continuous improvement initiatives.
• Experience leading organizational change, system implementations, process transformation, and adoption of new ways of working.
• Act as a key partner to the HR Operations Director in driving regional priorities and operational excellence.
• Ability to build trusted partnerships, collaborate across HR Centers of Excellence and business functions, and influence outcomes at multiple levels.
• Strong capability in managing third-party providers, monitoring SLAs, conducting service reviews, and ensuring high-quality service delivery.
• Ability to analyse complex issues, identify root causes, make sound decisions, and effectively resolve escalations.
• Skilled in leading regional and global projects, managing competing priorities, and delivering results within timelines.
• Experience leveraging HR systems such as Workday, ServiceNow, and payroll platforms to improve efficiency, reporting, and employee experience.
• Strong understanding of regional employment, payroll, and data privacy requirements, with a focus on maintaining compliance and mitigating risk.

What will your typical day look like?

• Lead and support the regional HR Operations team, ensuring efficient delivery of employee lifecycle and payroll services across Indonesia, China, Australia, and New Zealand and Global Contingent worker process.
• Partner closely with the HR Operations Director to execute regional priorities, drive operational excellence, and support strategic initiatives.
• Monitor service delivery performance, address escalations, and ensure adherence to service level agreements (SLAs) and compliance requirements.
• Collaborate with HR Business Partners, Talent Acquisition, HRIS, Compensation & Benefits, Legal, and Payroll teams to deliver seamless HR processes and employee experiences.
• Identify opportunities to simplify, standardize, and improve HR processes, leveraging technology and best practices to enhance efficiency.
• Lead regional and global projects, including system implementations, business transformations, acquisitions, reorganizations, and process redesign initiatives.
• Oversee relationships with payroll and HR service vendors, conduct service reviews, and drive continuous improvements in service quality and performance.
• Analyze operational metrics and trends to identify risks, opportunities, and areas for improvement, providing recommendations to leadership.
• Ensure HR policies, procedures, and operational documentation are maintained, up to date, and aligned with local regulatory requirements.
• Drive change management activities and communications to support successful adoption of new processes, systems, and ways of working.
• Coach, mentor, and develop team members, fostering a culture of accountability, collaboration, and continuous learning.

What could you accomplish in a place that puts People First?

At Wabtec, it’s not just about a job - it’s about the impact you make. When our people come together, we’re Expanding the Possible by continuously improving what we do and how we do it - for our clients and each other.

If you’re ready to revolutionize how the world moves for future generations, Wabtec is the place for you.

Who are we?

Wabtec is a leading global provider of equipment, systems, digital solutions, and value-added services for the freight and transit rail sectors. Drawing on more than 150 years of experience, we are leading the way in safety, efficiency, reliability, innovation, and productivity. Whether it’s freight, transit, ports, logistics, mining, industrial, or marine, our expertise, technologies, and people together - are accelerating the future of transportation. With roots that date back to George Westinghouse, Thomas Edison, and Louis Faiveley, Wabtec has always built technologies and implemented solutions for a variety of sectors that are critical to meeting the needs of customers and governments alike.

Our global team of about 30,000 employees worldwide delivers performance that moves the world forward. We’re lifelong learners, obsessed with better. Learn more at www.WabtecCorp.com.

Culture powers us and the possibilities.

We believe the best ideas come from a mix of experiences and backgrounds. At Wabtec, we strive every day to create a place where everyone belongs. We’re building a culture where leadership, inclusion and your unique perspective fuel progress.

We’re proud to be an Equal Opportunity Employer. We welcome talent of all backgrounds, experiences, and identities, including race, gender, age, disability, veteran status and more.

Need accommodation? Just let us know - we’ve got you.