Regional Leader People Operations - APAC

The Regional Leader People Operations, APAC, is accountable for leading People Operations execution across the Asia-Pacific region, including direct leadership of HR Country Partners in China, Japan, and India, regional HR Shared Services (MyHR), and Payroll Operations teams largely based in China and India. This role translates Fortive’s global People Operations standards, service expectations, and operating model requirements into effective, compliant, and scalable execution across APAC countries.

The role operates with significant autonomy within defined global standards, APAC priorities, and functional objectives. It applies business judgment to align consistent People Operations practices with country-specific requirements, including China, Japan, and India employment, payroll, statutory, regulatory, and compliance considerations, while partnering across HR, Legal, Finance, IT, Compliance, and external vendors to deliver reliable, risk-managed people services. This leader is expected to strengthen APAC operating discipline, improve service delivery, and use data, standard work, and continuous improvement to drive measurable performance outcomes.

As one of three peer regional leaders across EMEA, APAC, and the Americas, this role contributes APAC insight and execution feedback to global People Operations governance, standards, and operating model improvements. The role remains primarily accountable for disciplined regional execution across APAC, including service quality, compliance outcomes, SLA performance, payroll accuracy, case resolution quality, employee and manager experience, and consistent adoption of global practices across a complex, multi-country regional environment.

RESPONSIBILTIES:

Regional Leadership and End-to-End Execution

• Provide APAC regional leadership for People Operations across HR Country Partners in China, Japan, and India, regional Payroll Operations, and HR Shared Services (MyHR), ensuring aligned execution across countries, functions, and stakeholder groups.


• Own APAC execution of global HR programs, policies, service standards, and operating routines, applying judgment to balance global consistency, China, Japan, and India country requirements, business needs, and risk considerations.


• Serve as the senior regional escalation and decision leader for complex employee matters, compliance risks, payroll issues, vendor performance concerns, and cross-functional operational matters.


• Champion a service-oriented culture that prioritizes responsiveness, clarity, and ease of engagement.Establish, monitor, and improve regional SLAs, KPIs, controls, and quality standards, using operational data to drive accountability and performance improvement.

HR Country Partner Leadership and Compliance  

• Lead, coach, and develop HR Country Partners in China, Japan, and India to strengthen country-level compliance, risk management, employee relations support, statutory execution, and operational excellence across core people processes.


• Set APAC governance expectations for country-level processes, including China, Japan, and India labor law adherence, statutory obligations, local reporting, documentation, employee relations support, and escalation protocols.


• Partner with Global COEs to ensure effective, timely, and compliant delivery of COE programs within the region, where required.


• Define and reinforce clear role boundaries, governance routines, and handoffs across HRBPs, Country Partners, COEs, Payroll, MyHR, Legal, and Finance to reduce ambiguity and improve execution quality.

HR Shared Services (MyHR) and Service Delivery Excellence

• Lead the APAC MyHR organization with accountability for service quality, operational efficiency, scalability, customer experience, and alignment to global shared services standards, with key service delivery teams largely based in China and India.


• Establish and manage APAC SLAs, KPIs, case quality expectations, knowledge management standards, and service routines aligned to global MyHR expectations.


• Lead regional standardization, automation, process simplification, and knowledge management initiatives that improve speed, accuracy, consistency, and customer experience.

Payroll and Operational Accuracy

• Provide APAC leadership for payroll vendors and in-house payroll operations, with accountability for payroll processing, validation, correction, audit readiness, control effectiveness, and risk mitigation across the region, supported by Payroll Operations teams largely based in China and India.


• Serve as the senior APAC escalation point with ADP and other payroll partners across payroll processing and multi-country payroll execution, driving issue resolution, vendor accountability, statutory compliance, regulatory change management, and audit-ready documentation across in-scope jurisdictions, including China, Japan, and India.


• Oversee APAC payroll delivery, ensuring accuracy, timeliness, controls, and compliance with local regulations, statutory requirements, and country-specific payroll calendars.


• Partner with Finance, Legal, Compliance, IT, and external vendors to maintain strong controls, reconciliations, audit practices, issue resolution routines, and continuous improvement plans.


• Drive improvements in payroll inputs, data quality, and handoffs across HR, Shared Services, and vendors.


• Ensure payroll processes are effectively integrated with broader regional HR operations.

Employee and Manager Experience

• Use employee, manager, and HR partner feedback to identify and remove friction points across end-to-end people processes, prioritizing improvements that reduce effort and increase confidence in HR service delivery.


• Improve clarity, usability, transparency, and consistency of HR services for employees, managers, HRBPs, COEs, and country teams.


• Partner closely with Payroll, IT, Legal, Finance, and HR Operations to support coordinated execution and issue resolution.

Compliance, Risk, and Controls

• Ensure APAC People Operations comply with country-specific labor laws, data privacy requirements, statutory obligations, payroll regulations, internal controls, and Fortive policy expectations, with particular focus on China, Japan, and India country execution.


• Partner with Legal, Compliance, Finance, Risk, and business leaders to identify, assess, mitigate, and escalate operational, regulatory, and employee-related risks.


• Maintain strong controls, documentation, and audit readiness across the region.

Global Standards and Operating Model Adoption

• Partner with peer regional leaders across EMEA, APAC, and the Americas to support consistent adoption of global People Operations standards and shared services practices while representing APAC operational realities and country-specific requirements.


• Provide regional input into global operating model improvements, governance forums, metrics, standard work, service catalogs, and escalation paths


• Define clear regional roles, responsibilities, and handoffs across HRBPs, COEs, Payroll, Country Partners, and Shared Services.


• Lead regional adoption of global standards while identifying where local flexibility is required to meet business, regulatory, works council, and employee experience needs.

People Leadership

• Build and lead high-performing APAC teams across HR Country Partners in China, Japan, and India, MyHR, Payroll Operations, and regional HR operations, including leaders of teams and specialist capabilities where applicable.


• Set clear expectations, decision rights, performance standards, and accountability mechanisms that reinforce operational discipline and ownership.


• Coach leaders and teams through change, operating model adoption, service delivery improvements, and complex regional stakeholder dynamics.

ROLE QUALIFICATIONS:

Basic Qualifications:

12+ years of progressive HR leadership experience, including significant experience leading regional or multi-country People Operations, HR shared services, payroll, or HR operations teams in APAC or a comparable multinational environment.

Deep understanding of HR operations in a shared services model, including case management, payroll operations, employee lifecycle processes, regional benefits administration, labor regulations, compliance requirements, and service delivery governance.

Proven success leading managers, professional employees, and geographically distributed teams across multiple countries, cultures, and regulatory environments.

Demonstrated experience leading regional transformation, operating model adoption, shared services, payroll, or HR process improvement initiatives with measurable business, service, compliance, or experience outcomes.

Strong executive communication, stakeholder management, analytical, and decision-making capabilities, with the ability to influence senior leaders and align cross-functional teams.

Fluency in English required; Mandarin, Japanese, and/or Hindi language capability strongly preferred given China, Japan, and India country scope.

Accomplished HR operations leader with a demonstrated commitment to operational excellence, process discipline, continuous improvement, and customer-centered service delivery.

Outstanding communicator with the ability to simplify complex operational issues, build trust, and influence senior-level partners across HR, Finance, Legal, IT, Compliance, vendors, and business leadership.

Comfortable operating as a regional leader and player-coach, with the ability to set direction while engaging directly in complex escalations, operational problem solving, and execution when needed.

Demonstrated track record running HR shared services or People Operations at regional scale, evidenced by measurable improvements in SLA attainment, case resolution time, employee or manager satisfaction, payroll accuracy, compliance outcomes, or service productivity.

Proficiency with ADP platforms (GlobalView, Celergo, and/or Workforce Now) as the primary payroll solution, alongside broader HRIS fluency across Workday, SAP SuccessFactors, or Oracle HCM.

Hands-on experience operating within ADP as a managed payroll service, including day-to-day escalation management, payroll accuracy and on-cycle delivery, statutory filings, regulatory change management, audit-ready documentation, and measurable outcomes such as reduced payroll error rates, improved on-time payment performance, or decreased escalation volume.

Preferred Qualifications:

Demonstrated ability to coach, influence, and solve complex operational and organizational issues with senior leaders, HR partners, country teams, and cross-functional stakeholders.

Broad HR knowledge across organizational design, talent management, employee relations, compensation, employee engagement, learning, performance management, benefits, payroll, and employee lifecycle operations.

Strong business acumen with the ability to connect People Operations performance to business priorities, risk management, productivity, employee experience, and scalable growth.

Proven ability to operate with autonomy, discretion, sound judgment, and accountability in complex, sensitive, and ambiguous situations.

Exceptional ability to influence and partner with HRBPs, COEs, Payroll, Legal, Finance, IT, Compliance, country leaders, and external vendors across functions, geographies, and operating models.

Willingness to travel up to 25%.

Proficient in Oracle HCM and ServiceNow systems.