AI & Automation Lead, People Technology

About the role

Avalara is an AI-first company operating on a global scale in a private-equity environment that demands increasing efficiency, talent density, and execution rigor. As our workforce grows and complexity increases, manual processes, fragmented workflows, and inconsistent employee experiences create cost, risk, and scalability constraints. The Lead, People Technology – AI & Automation exists to fundamentally modernize how People Technology operates by embedding AI and automation into the employee lifecycle. This role ensures AI is applied responsibly and measurably to reduce manual effort, improve workforce insights, elevate employee and manager experiences, and increase the operating leverage of the People & Culture function. This is not an experimentation role. It is a performance role. Success is measured by measurable improvements in efficiency, adoption, decision quality, and workforce outcomes.

Responsibilities

• Own and evolve the AI and automation strategy for People Technology, aligned to business and workforce priorities.
• Identify and prioritize high-impact use cases that drive measurable improvements in efficiency, experience, quality, or risk reduction.
• Establish scalable AI workflow, agent, and automation standards to ensure repeatable enterprise value.
• Move initiatives from experimentation to production through disciplined governance and measurable validation.
• Own prioritization, sequencing, and value realization of the People Technology AI roadmap.
• Define and track measurable success metrics (e.g., % manual effort reduced, cycle time improvement, adoption rates, quality improvements).
• Balance innovation with long-term maintainability, governance, security, and enterprise alignment.
• Maintain clear accountability for business impact and roadmap outcomes.
• Influence the design and optimization of core HR platforms (including Workday) to simplify, standardize, and modernize workforce experiences.
• Partner cross-functionally with IT (AvaTech), Security, Legal, Privacy, and TPM to ensure responsible AI implementation.
• Improve employee and manager self-service experiences through AI-enabled knowledge retrieval, approvals, triage, and workflow orchestration.
• Design AI-enabled workflows and automation solutions across People Technology systems.
• Prototype and implement targeted internal tools or automations that accelerate measurable value.
• Ensure all AI-enabled solutions meet enterprise architecture, security, privacy, and compliance standards.
• Document reusable patterns and standards to scale AI capability across the function.
• Elevate AI and automation literacy across People Technology and People & Culture.
• Mentor peers and influence stakeholders without formal authority.
• Raise performance standards and drive disciplined execution across initiatives.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in computer science, engineering, or a closely related technical discipline.
• 6+ years of relevant experience in People Technology, HR Technology, HRIS, or enterprise workforce systems aligned to the scope of this role.
• Demonstrated experience leading strategic, cross-functional technology initiatives.
• Strong familiarity and experience with Workday HCM, business processes, security, and data structures.
• Experience designing and implementing workflow automation or low/no-code solutions in enterprise environments.
• Practical experience applying AI or generative AI tools to real business workflows with measurable outcomes.
• Experience integrating SaaS platforms using APIs, webhooks, or connectors.
• Prominent ability to influence stakeholders across technical and non-technical audiences without direct authority.

Skills

• Applied AI capability — not just tool familiarity.
• Deliver quantifiable business impact through AI-enabled solutions.
• Embed AI into how People Technology operates at scale.
• Identify AI opportunities tied to revenue enablement, efficiency, workforce quality, or risk reduction.
• Apply AI responsibly, securely, and ethically.
• Elevate AI maturity and best practices across the function.

Benefits

• Total Rewards
• Health & Wellness Benefits
• Inclusive culture and diversity

Pay

TBD

Schedule

TBD