HR Shared Services Senior Manager

Western Governors University
life insurance, flexible benefit account, parental leave, paid time off, paid holidays, sick time
United States, Utah, Salt Lake City
3949 South 700 East (Show on map)
Jul 02, 2026
If you're passionate about building a better future for individuals, communities, and our country-and you're committed to working hard to play your part in building that future-consider WGU as the next step in your career. Driven by a mission to expand access to higher education through online, competency-based degree programs, WGU is also committed to being a great place to work for a diverse workforce of student-focused professionals. The university has pioneered a new way to learn in the 21st century, one that has received praise from academic, industry, government, and media leaders. Whatever your role, working for WGU gives you a part to play in helping students graduate, creating a better tomorrow for themselves and their families. The salary range for this position takes into account the wide range of factors that are considered in making compensation decisions including but not limited to skill sets; experience and training; licensure and certifications; and other business and organizational needs. At WGU, it is not typical for an individual to be hired at or near the top of the range for their position, and compensation decisions are dependent on the facts and circumstances of each case. A reasonable estimate of the current range is: Grade: Management_Executive 609 Pay Range: $116,600.00 - $209,900.00 Job Description The HR Shared Services Center Senior Manager (People & Talent People Center) is a dynamic and challenging role that meaningfully impacts Western Governors University's (WGU) employee experience and People & Talent operations. This position serves as a champion of the employee experience within People & Talent (P&T) and leads a team of P&T People Center representatives. These representatives are at the heart of providing answers and guidance to employees, encouraging self-service where appropriate, and supporting a wide range of behind-the-scenes functions vital to the delivery of P&T services, programs, and policies. The team works alongside and continuously collaborates with subject matter experts (SMEs) throughout P&T. In addition to supervising this team, the People Center Senior Manager is a key contributor to ongoing benchmarking and strategy development in support of WGU's employee experience, including participation in cross-functional initiatives and coordination with external advisers. Accordingly, this position requires prior experience in human resources including operations, analytics, or strategic planning within a large organization. This role operates in a high-pace, high-growth environment and demands positive passion and enthusiasm. Essential Functions and Responsibilities: Champions the employee experience, ensuring employees can easily find information and perform actions related to work and life events. Leads a team of P&T People Center representatives to ensure effective execution of designated P&T operations and related employee interactions. Hires, trains, provides work direction, performance evaluation, recognition, and development of team. Ensures P&T People Center is staffed appropriately based upon hours of operation, expected call volume, and expected transaction volume. Creates a collaborative environment for the team through coaching, recognition and team building activities. Plans, organizes, and prioritizes simultaneous operational and strategic activities within the P&T People Center's scope. Writes, reads, and interprets technical HR materials, contracts, plans, policies, and related documents. Trains representatives on, and maintains data integrity of case management tool, while recommending and implementing enhancements to support customer service level agreements. Acts as problem-solving resource for escalated inquiries. Monitors types of inquiries or issues to determine and recommend improvements in processes, communication, and systems. Collaborates with appropriate technologists to monitor/maintain People Center communication channels (email, chat, telephones) making sure each are operational and functioning properly. Ensures that the P&T People Center team is achieving designated metrics and service levels (SLAs); mentors team to achieve improvement where needed. Maintains and communicates accurate metric statistics. Suggests and implements new metrics and SLAs as needed in partnership with P&T SMEs and leadership. Takes responsibility for team's accurate data entry in HR systems to enable accurate reporting, metrics, machine learning, and AI. Presents at 'Town Hall' and 'All Hands' meetings to keep the University informed of initiatives that impact the employee experience or process changes, as necessary. Acts as a backup to members of team when necessary. Identifies opportunities for process improvement and implementation of best-practice solutions. Works in close coordination with other P&T SMEs to train representatives on policies, programs, processes, systems, and customer service skills. Partners with business and P&T SMEs to evolve and document HR processes, procedures, timelines, and requirements; identify opportunities for process and experience improvements that align with WGU priorities and culture. Partners with other WGU stakeholders to support the design, administration, and communication of programs. Collaborates with Internal Communications team as needed. Anticipates unintended consequences and broader impacts of recommendations and proposed process changes. Performs root cause analysis associated with P&T service delivery issues or problems from across the organization. Identifies and recommends process or system improvements regarding the same. Stays abreast of current and emerging market trends to identify potential employee experience opportunities and gaps. Develops skills for presenting ideas and influencing stakeholders at all levels, including those at the senior level of the organization. Consistently applies strong analytical orientations, attention to detail, and business acumen. Coaches, develops, and provides actionable feedback to drive optimal performance and ongoing development of team members. Maintains confidentiality, neutrality, and calm in addressing sensitive situations. Promotes continuous improvement. Drives best practices and standardization of P&T People Center operational processes. Ability to influence cross-functional domains. Performs other job-related duties as assigned. Job Description Disclaimer: This position description provides the major duties/responsibilities, requirements and working conditions for the position. It is intended to be an accurate reflection of the current position, however management reserves the right to revise or change as necessary to meet organizational needs. Other responsibilities may be assigned when circumstances require. Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities: Demonstrated prior experience and knowledge across strategic, design and operational aspects of human resources. Very strong work ethic, cultural competency, collaborative orientation, and eagerness to take on new assignments, with the ability to excel in a very fast-paced environment with frequently changing priorities. Ability to work with and present to senior leadership and stakeholders. Strong interpersonal skills in dealing proactively with all levels of internal and external individuals including, employees, senior leadership, fellow team members and external administrators and advisers. Keen interest in contributing to the success of teams and growth of individuals. Actively contributes to a feeling of belonging among individuals in the organization. Ability to make professional presentations and to communicate technical matters effectively and persuasively in writing, through emails and reports, or verbally. Ability to play an active role in employee communication, including assisting with announcements and webinars. Comfortable presenting information to employees at all levels of the organization. Data-driven orientation with ability to diagnose root causes, identify primary drivers of outcomes, and recommend positive changes. Collaborate with People Analytics experts as needed. Ability to evaluate employee inquiry data on an ongoing basis; analyze and interpret data for trends, improvements, and efficiencies. Working knowledge of human resources trends, laws, and regulations. Ability to assist with peer and industry benchmark analysis, survey responses, and preparation of program design comparisons to other companies. Demonstrated strong proficiency with MS Office products. Strong understanding of HRIS and related processes associated with employment-related transactions, employee benefits, payroll, and the cross-functional impacts with other enterprise systems. Knowledge of help desks, including help desk support software, such as ServiceNow Strong knowledge and prior experience with HRIS/payroll systems. Excellent written, verbal, and interpersonal skills; exceptional attention to detail. Job Qualifications: Minimum Qualifications: Bachelor's degree 7+ years Human Resources experience including 2+ years leading a team of direct reports and a shared services or operational function within an organization of 4,000+ employees Demonstrated proficiency in MS Office Products Knowledge of help desks, including help desk support software, such as ServiceNow Experience with process automation through technology Preferred Qualifications: Experience with employee benefits administration and communication Workday experience ServiceNow experience strongly preferred Experience in lieu of education Equivalent relevant experience performing the essential functions of this job may substitute for education degree requirements. Generally, equivalent relevant experience is defined as 1 year of experience for 1 year of education and is the discretion of the hiring manager. A minimum of a high school diploma/GED is required. Travel: This position requires occasional travel of up to 20%, including required attendance at designated company summits (typically one to two per year). Additional travel may include conferences, visits to company locations, and other business-related events as needed. Additional travel may be assigned as needed to support business requirements. #LI-JB3 #LI-Onsite Position & Application Details Full-Time Regular Positions (classified as regular and working 40 standard weekly hours): This is a full-time, regular position (classified for 40 standard weekly hours) that is eligible for bonuses; medical, dental, vision, telehealth and mental healthcare; health savings account and flexible spending account; basic and voluntary life insurance; disability coverage; accident, critical illness and hospital indemnity supplemental coverages; legal and identity theft coverage; retirement savings plan; wellbeing program; discounted WGU tuition; and flexible paid time off for rest and relaxation with no need for accrual, flexible paid sick time with no need for accrual, 11 paid holidays, and other paid leaves, including up to 12 weeks of parental leave. How to Apply: If interested, an application will need to be submitted online. Internal WGU employees will need to apply through the internal job board in Workday. Additional Information Disclaimer: The job posting highlights the most critical responsibilities and requirements of the job. It's not all-inclusive. Accommodations: Applicants with disabilities who require assistance or accommodation during the application or interview process should contact our Talent Acquisition team at recruiting@wgu.edu. Equal Employment Opportunity: All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to any protected characteristic as required by law.