HR Systems, Data & Automation, Team Lead
About the Role
Are you looking to have an impact on the daily life of millions of entrepreneurs in France (and tomorrow in Europe)?
Are you looking for a work environment that values trust, proactivity, and autonomy?
Then Pennylane is the right place for you !
OUR VISION
We aim to become the most beloved financial Operating System of French SMEs and Accounting Firms (and soon, European ones).
We help entrepreneurs rid themselves of time-consuming tasks related to accounting and finance while providing them with access to key financial information to assist in making the best decisions for their business.
ABOUT US
Pennylane is one of the fastest growing Fintechs in France (and soon to be in Europe!)
In 6 years of existence, we’ve managed to :
💻 Make ourselves known as a groundbreaking accounting and financial software for small businesses and their accountants
💰 Raise a total of €400 millions, including from Sequoia, the famous fund from the Silicon Valley who invested early in companies like Google, Facebook, Airbnb, Stripe, Paypal and much more...
👨👩👧👦 Grow from 7 cofounders to 1000 happy Pennylaners : we’re now recognized as one of the greatest places to work in France (and also remotely), with a 4.6/5 rating on Glassdoor https://www.glassdoor.fr/Avis/Pennylane-France-Avis-E4171708.htm.
🌍 Build an international environment with more than 25 nationalities, with a strong remote-friendly culture, where 30% of the employees are already working from all parts of Europe
🤝 Earn the trust of thousands of customers and accounting firms and obtain outstanding ratings https://www.google.com/search?q=pennylane&ei=O9pOYvm0Co-blwSmhKmIAw&ved=0ahUKEwi5vsWL-4H3AhWPzYUKHSZCCjEQ4dUDCA4&uact=5&oq=pennylane&gs_lcp=Cgdnd3Mtd2l6EAMyDQgAEIAEELEDEIMBEAoyCwguEIAEEMcBEK8BMgcIABCABBAKMgcIABCABBAKMgUIABCABDIFCAAQgAQyBQgAEIAEMgcIABCABBAKMgcIABCABBAKMgcIABCABBAKOgcIABBHELADOgkIABCwAxAKEEM6CgguEMcBEK8BEAo6BggAEBYQHjoICAAQFhAKEB46DQguEIAEEMcBEK8BEApKBAhBGABKBAhGGABQ7QFY6wVgugdoAXABeACAAUiIAbMCkgEBNZgBAKABAcgBCcABAQ&sclient=gws-wiz
🚀 Already more than 1 500,000 small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and over 8000 accounting firms use Pennylane in France!
ABOUT THE ROLE
Drive AI-powered HR transformation and better employee experiences, with HRIS Workday at the core.
We are a fast-growing scale-up in the midst of an exciting international expansion. We are looking for an HR Systems, Data & Automation Lead to shape the next chapter of our People technology ecosystem.
Your mission is to make HR processes simpler, smarter, and more scalable, improving employee, manager, and People team experiences through reliable systems, actionable data, AI, and automation.
With Workday as our core HCM platform, you will lead two Workday HRIS Experts and one HR Data Analyst. Working closely with IT, Finance, and business teams, you will combine product thinking, team leadership, and hands-on delivery to turn business needs into intuitive, secure, and effective solutions.
You will own the roadmap, prioritization, and quality of our HR systems and data solutions, building on the configuration expertise of our Workday specialists. Deep Workday configuration expertise is a plus, not a prerequisite. We welcome experienced HR systems leaders from other enterprise HCM environments who can challenge solution design, connect systems, and build Workday fluency.
KEY RESPONSIBILITIES
People systems product ownership & user experience
Own the People systems roadmap, balancing user needs, business impact, risk, and team capacity
Understand employee, manager, and HR team pain points through user feedback, journey mapping, support requests, and usage data
Simplify HR workflows and design intuitive self-service experiences across Workday and connected tools
Challenge whether a request calls for process simplification, configuration, automation, integration, or a change in user experience
Lead discovery, solution design, user testing, and adoption; measure success through user satisfaction, adoption, time saved, and reduced manual work
AI & automation innovation
Identify and prioritize practical AI and automation opportunities across HR processes, reporting, knowledge access, and employee and manager support
Map the AI and automation tools already used at Pennylane and assess how they can complement Workday and the wider HR ecosystem
Lead hands-on experimentation and delivery, from prototypes and business-case assessment to testing, deployment, and ongoing monitoring
Evaluate native Workday capabilities, including Workday Extend, alongside integration, workflow automation, and AI-enabled solutions; choose tools based on user needs, feasibility, maintainability, and business value
Partner with IT and Security to establish appropriate privacy, access controls, human oversight, and governance before deploying AI-enabled solutions
Build the team's capabilities through training, experimentation, documentation, and knowledge sharing
HR data, analytics & governance
Work with the HR Data Analyst to ensure data quality, consistency, and governance across the HR ecosystem
Translate stakeholder questions into actionable dashboards, KPIs, and reporting capabilities covering headcount, attrition, workforce planning, and other People priorities
Align metric definitions and data ownership with HR and Finance, and make reliable insights accessible to the right users
Champion a data-driven HR culture and help stakeholders turn workforce insights into decisions
Ensure GDPR compliance and appropriate controls across HR data access, use, and flows
Team leadership & delivery
Manage, mentor, and develop a team of two Workday HRIS Experts and one HR Data Analyst
Organize delivery through clear project plans, a transparent backlog, and pragmatic agile sprints
Balance business-as-usual support, compliance, release management, and strategic improvements
Set direction and challenge solution choices while empowering the Workday specialists to lead detailed configuration and the HR Data Analyst to lead analytical delivery
Stay hands-on in discovery, solution design, prototyping, delivery coordination, and problem-solving where you add the most value
Foster documentation and knowledge sharing in Notion; develop team capabilities across HR systems, data, automation, AI, and user experience
Core HRIS ownership - Workday
Own the post-go-live performance and evolution of Workday as our core HCM platform, ensuring reliability, scalability, and adoption
Translate HR needs into clear requirements and lead solution design, UAT, change management, deployment, and stabilization with the Workday experts
Challenge existing workflows and design choices, drawing on specialist expertise and platform best practices
Oversee support and Workday release management; assess new capabilities for their relevance and user value
Ensure robust role-based access, data privacy, audit controls, and segregation of duties in partnership with the Workday experts, IT, and Security
Integrations & HR technology ecosystem
Oversee secure, scalable integrations between Workday and third-party tools, including Ashby for recruitment, Silae for payroll, and other HR and Finance systems
Identify opportunities to remove duplicate data entry, improve data flows, and automate cross-system workflows
Partner with IT to ensure integration architecture, monitoring, incident ownership, and recovery processes are robust and maintainable
Maintain an up-to-date map of the HR technology stack and evaluate new tools based on user experience, interoperability, cost, and value
Stakeholder collaboration & prioritization
Partner with IT, Finance, HR Leadership, Talent Acquisition, and business teams to understand needs and align on priorities
Facilitate prioritization workshops and steering committees, making trade-offs and roadmap decisions transparent
Serve as the main point of contact between HR Operations and the broader technology organization
Constructively challenge requests and propose simpler, secure, and scalable alternatives grounded in user needs and business outcomes
International expansion support
Lead HR systems readiness for international growth, including new countries, legal entities, payroll connectors, and local requirements
Work with HR, payroll, IT, and the Workday experts to balance global standards with local needs
Ensure systems, data models, and processes scale as headcount and geographic footprint grow
YOUR PROFILE
Must-Haves
Strong experience leading HR systems, People technology, or HR digital transformation initiatives, including ownership of an enterprise HCM platform beyond implementation
A product and user-centric mindset, with credible examples of simplifying HR processes and improving employee, manager, or HR team experiences
Practical experience delivering automation and/or AI-enabled solutions in HR, data, or business operations, with evidence of business value and appropriate controls
Ability to translate business needs into requirements, challenge functional and technical design choices, and lead testing, change management, and delivery
Strong understanding of HR data, reporting, integrations, and governance, including data quality, access management, privacy, and GDPR principles
Proven experience managing a team or leading a project team, with a collaborative and empowering leadership style
Strong prioritization and project management skills: ability to manage a backlog, run pragmatic sprints, and balance operational support with longer-term improvements
Excellent communication and stakeholder management skills, including the ability to influence across IT, Finance, and HR Leadership
Curiosity, learning agility, and the ability to build Workday fluency while working effectively with specialist t