About Cognizant Corporate
Cognizant Corporate is a global community united by a shared purpose: to make a meaningful impact. We are committed to excellence and driven by outcomes that matter. Collaboration is at the heart of how we work, and our forward-thinking mindset fuels continuous learning, innovation, and growth.
At Cognizant, careers transcend titles. We empower our people to think strategically, inspire others, and lead with purpose, always guided by our core values.
About the role
As an Associate Director, HR Deal Lead, you will lead the people workstream across strategic bids and employee transitions, from early solution design and due diligence through contracting, consultation, employee transfer, and operational handover.
You will be a key member of the HR Strategic Deals & Transitions team, collaborating with Sales, Solutioning, Commercial, Finance, Legal, Delivery, and regional HR teams. You will independently support outsourcing opportunities across the Americas and other countries, escalating the most complex matters to senior HR Strategic Deals leadership.
This role reports to a Director or Senior Director and may require travel across the Americas and internationally.
In this role, you will:
- Lead HR input into people solution design for outsourcing pursuits, partnering with Sales, Solutioning, Commercial, Finance, Legal, Delivery, and regional HR teams.
- Assess regional sensitivities and regulatory employee-transfer implications. Define appropriate transfer, rebadge, rehire, restructuring, and integration approaches.
- Lead people due diligence and translate employee data into clear risks, assumptions, dependencies, liabilities, and mitigation actions. Develop HR cost inputs covering compensation and benefits, pensions, payroll, redundancy or severance, consultation, and transition activity to support deal pricing and approvals.
- Review people-related provisions in master services agreements, statements of work, transfer schedules, and related contractual documents while working closely with Legal and Commercial teams. Present the people solution to senior internal and client stakeholders, including C-suite stakeholders, provide practical guidance, and influence decisions where workforce risk may affect deal viability or delivery.
- Establish strong customer engagement and lead client-facing activities, including oral presentations, due diligence, solution design, town halls, Day One activities, offer letters, client status reporting, and meetings. Plan and deliver end-to-end employee transitions, including employee communications, onboarding, payroll and benefits readiness, stabilization, and HR handover. Contribute to team capability through reusable tools, playbooks, training, coaching, and knowledge sharing.
You will embrace our vibrant culture by striving for excellence, focusing on meaningful outcomes, and collaborating effectively. You will prioritize quality, stay curious, commit to continuous learning, take ownership, build relationships, and focus on personal growth to help drive business strategy and create meaningful career opportunities and impactful work.
What you must have to be considered
- Experience leading an HR deal workstream, including end-to-end people activities supporting outsourcing engagements.
- Experience in transformation, employee relations, or workforce transition, with demonstrated success independently leading complex workstreams.
- Strong practical knowledge of employment law.
- Experience in client-facing delivery, commercial risk assessment, contractual review, and cross-functional stakeholder management within a matrix organization.
- Commercial acumen and a solution-focused approach.
- Credibility with senior stakeholders, along with strong judgment and risk awareness.
- Clear written and verbal communication skills and confidence in negotiation.
- Strong program management skills and the ability to work effectively amid ambiguity, competing priorities, and deadlines.
- A collaborative and resilient working style, with the ability to work effectively across cultures.
- A strong sense of ownership, a desire to create meaningful outcomes, and a passion for work that serves customers, communities, or global challenges.
- Embodiment of Cognizant’s values: Work as One, Dare to Innovate, Raise the Bar, Do the Right Thing, and Own It.
These will help you succeed
- Working knowledge of European Acquired Rights Directive frameworks and representative body requirements.
- Experience in technology services or outsourcing.
- Exposure to multi-country employee transitions.
- The ability to deliver high-quality and timely bid support.
- The ability to develop accurate people costs and clearly defined risk positions.
- Strong client and internal stakeholder engagement skills.
- Experience delivering compliant, well-governed employee transitions and smooth operational handovers.
- A commitment to improving team capacity, consistency, and reusable capability.
Work model
We strive to provide flexibility wherever possible. Based on this role’s business requirements, this is a remote position open to qualified applicants in the United States. Regardless of your working arrangement, we are here to support a healthy work-life balance through our various wellbeing programs.
The working arrangements for this role are accurate as of the date of posting. They may change based on the project you are engaged in and business or client requirements. We will always be clear about role expectations.
We are excited to meet people who share our mission and can make an impact in a variety of ways. Do not hesitate to apply, even if you only meet the minimum requirements listed. Consider your transferable experiences and unique skills that could bring new and valuable perspectives to this role.
Salary and Other Compensation
Applications will be accepted until October 29, 2026.
The annual salary for this position is between $150,000 - $170,000, depending on experience and other qualifications of the successful candidate.
This position is also eligible for Cognizant’s discretionary annual incentive program, based on performance and subject to the terms of Cognizant’s applicable plans.
Benefits: Cognizant offers the following benefits for this position, subject to applicable eligibility requirements:
- Medical/Dental/Vision/Life Insurance
- Paid holidays plus Paid Time Off
- 401(k) plan and contributions
- Long-term/Short-term Disability
- Paid Parental Leave
- Employee Stock Purchase Plan
Disclaimer: The salary, other compensation, and benefits information is accurate as of the date of this posting. Cognizant reserves the right to modify this information at any time, subject to applicable law.
À propos de Cognizant
Cognizant (NASDAQ : CTSH) est un AI Builder et une entreprise de services numériques (ESN) élaborant des solutions complètes d’IA maximisant les investissements pour des résultats concrets. Sa profonde expertise des métiers, des processus et des technologies lui permet d’intégrer dans les systèmes technologiques le contexte unique de chaque organisation de l’ingénierie à la production à l’échelle. Son objectif : améliorer l’efficacité des équipes, créer de la valeur et permettre aux grandes entreprises de rester performantes dans un monde qui évolue rapidement. Pour en savoir plus : cognizant.ai ou @cognizant.
Renseignments suppplémentaires sur l'emploi
Les informations relatives à la rémunération du poste à pourvoir dépendent de la date de publication de l’offre de poste. Cognizant se réserve le droit de modifier ces informations à tout moment, sous réserve des lois applicables.
Cognizant est un employeur soucieux de l'égalité des chances entre candidats. Votre candidature sera étudiée indépendamment de votre race, couleur, sexe, religion, croyances, orientation sexuelle, identité de genre, origine, handicap, informations génétiques, grossesse, statut d'ancien militaire ou de toute autre critère jugé discriminant par les lois européennes ou françaises.
Vous êtes porteur d'un handicap, vous pouvez-nous contacter par courriel [email protected] si vous souhaitez préciser les aménagements nécessaires pour le poste ou les entretiens à venir.
Les candidats peuvent être invités à participer à des entretiens en face à face ou par vidéoconférence. En outre, les candidats peuvent être amenés à présenter une carte d'identité valide lors de chaque entretien.
