Program Manager, People Operations (payroll implementation) (fixed term)

About Us

At Cloudflare, we are on a mission to help build a better Internet. Today the company runs one of the world’s largest networks that powers millions of websites and other Internet properties for customers ranging from individual bloggers to SMBs to Fortune 500 companies. Cloudflare protects and accelerates any Internet application online without adding hardware, installing software, or changing a line of code. Internet properties powered by Cloudflare all have web traffic routed through its intelligent global network, which gets smarter with every request. As a result, they see significant improvement in performance and a decrease in spam and other attacks. Cloudflare was named to Entrepreneur Magazine’s Top Company Cultures list and ranked among the World’s Most Innovative Companies by Fast Company. 

At Cloudflare, we’re not looking for people who wait for a polished roadmap; we’re looking for the builders who see the cracks in the Internet that everyone else has simply learned to live with. We value candidates who have the instinct to spot a "normalized" problem and the AI-native curiosity to create a solution using the latest tools. Our culture is built on iteration, leveraging AI to ship faster today to make it better tomorrow, while ensuring that every improvement, no matter how small, is shared across the team to lift everyone up. If you’re the type of person who values curiosity over bureaucracy, and that AI is a partner in solving tough problems to keep the Internet moving forward, you’ll fit right in.

Locations Available: Lisbon, Portugal or London, UK

Fixed-term contract: July 2027

What you'll do

Cloudflare is undergoing an exciting global payroll transformation. Our focus is getting the best people to work at Cloudflare and supporting them to do their best work. We are looking for an operationally-minded, collaborative, hands-on and organized People Operations Program Manager to join our team as a dedicated project lead.

In this role, you will lead the People Operations workstream as part of the rollout and implementation of our new global payroll system (ADP). Operating with a high degree of independence, you will partner closely with two People Operations Specialists and act as the key strategic bridge between People Ops, Payroll, and our HRIS team. You will be responsible for ensuring that as we scale, our processes are consistent, our data is accurate, and our transition to daily operations is smooth and well-supported.

(Please note: This is a senior individual contributor role with no direct administrative reports, focusing instead on project guidance and mentorship).

Key Responsibilities

• Project Guidance & Leadership: Lead the end-to-end People Operations transition to ADP for 4–6 countries simultaneously, taking full accountability and ownership of the project from initial design through to a stable post-launch support, proactively spotting challenges and guiding the team toward solutions.
• Workday-to-ADP Integration: Act as the functional expert ensuring Workday remains the absolute single source of truth. You will collaborate with teams to ensure global pay components, allowances, and benefit data are accurately set up in Workday so they transfer smoothly to ADP via integration pipelines (such as PECI).
• Process Standardization: Move away from manual local processes. You will design and document a clear, standardized payroll playbook that our People Operations specialists can easily follow across all 16 countries.
• Change Management & Knowledge Transfer: Review and finalise post-implementation Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs). You will lead the "shift" in how local teams work, ensuring they move away from manual spreadsheets to Workday workflows and leveraged AI automation tools. You will provide training, workshops, and dedicated support to ensure a seamless handoff from the project phase to BAU.
• Data Governance & Testing: Oversee data formatting and validation to ensure information is accurate before it moves systems. You will lead detailed data audits between Workday and ADP to guarantee 100% data parity during parallel runs, Go-Live, and Hypercare phases. You will perform rigorous testing to ensure system tasks (the entire Hire-to-Retire lifecycle) trigger as expected and reflect real-world daily operations. You will actively perform integration testing with the HRIS team to confirm system tasks trigger as expected.
• Cross-Functional Collaboration: Partner proactively with wider People Team, Benefits, Legal, and IT teams to manage and gain further clarity on specific local legislation and flag systemic data discrepancies early during project cycles.
• Peer Mentorship: Provide daily technical guidance, project direction, and encouragement to the two Senior People Operations Specialists working alongside you on this rollout.

What We’re Looking For

• Relevant Experience: Solid experience within People Operations or Payroll Operations, with a history of supporting system rollouts or complex operational changes. 
• Autonomy & Problem Solving: Comfort managing multiple timelines independently. You know how to keep a project moving and feel comfortable raising your hand when a timeline needs adjusting.
• Workday Literacy: Proficiency in Workday, specifically in running/validating reports and understanding how data transforms across integration pipelines (experience with PECI or similar middleware into ADP Celergo/GlobalView is highly preferred). 
• Payroll Knowledge: Deep understanding of the HR-to-Payroll pipeline and the technical nuances of the Hire-to-Retire lifecycle across different geographies is required. A working knowledge and understanding of processing payrolls, end to end is highly desirable.
• Curiosity for Automation: A natural curiosity about how modern tools, including AI, can help reduce repetitive manual work and make daily tasks easier.
• Clear Communication: Excellent verbal and written communication skills, with the ability to lead workshops and translate technical system requirements for non-technical local experts.

• AI automation: Demonstrates active curiosity about AI tools and emerging technologies, with a willingness to learn and leverage them to enhance productivity, collaboration, reduce manual data entry, or improve decision-making.

What Makes Cloudflare Special?

We’re not just a highly ambitious, large-scale technology company. We’re a highly ambitious, large-scale technology company with a soul. Fundamental to our mission to help build a better Internet is protecting the free and open Internet.

Project Galileo: Since 2014, we've equipped more than 2,400 journalism and civil society organizations in 111 countries with powerful tools to defend themselves against attacks that would otherwise censor their work, technology already used by Cloudflare’s enterprise customers--at no cost.

Athenian Project: In 2017, we created the Athenian Project to ensure that state and local governments have the highest level of protection and reliability for free, so that their constituents have access to election information and voter registration. Since the project, we've provided services to more than 425 local government election websites in 33 states.

1.1.1.1: We released 1.1.1.1 to help fix the foundation of the Internet by building a faster, more secure and privacy-centric public DNS resolver. This is available publicly for everyone to use - it is the first consumer-focused service Cloudflare has ever released. Here’s the deal - we don’t store client IP addresses never, ever. We will continue to abide by our privacy commitment and ensure that no user data is sold to advertisers or used to target consumers.

Sound like something you’d like to be a part of? We’d love to hear from you!

Please note that applicants who progress to the offer stage of the interview process may be asked to attend an in-person interview within one of the Cloudflare Offices or Cloudflare Hubs.  More details about this will be available at that stage of the interview process.

This position may require access to information protected under U.S. export control laws, including the U.S. Export Administration Regulations. Please note that any offer of employment may be conditioned on your authorization to receive software or technology controlled under these U.S. export laws without sponsorship for an export license.

Cloudflare is proud to be an equal opportunity employer.  We are committed to providing equal employment opportunity for all people and place great value in both diversity and inclusiveness.  All qualified applicants will be considered for employment without regard to their, or any other person's, perceived or actual race, color, religion, sex, gender, gender identity, gender expression, sexual orientation, national origin, ancestry, citizenship, age, physical or mental disability, medical condition, family care status, or any other basis protected by law. We are an AA/Veterans/Disabled Employer.

Cloudflare provides reasonable accommodations to qualified individuals with disabilities.  Please tell us if you require a reasonable accommodation to apply for a job. Examples of reasonable accommodations include, but are not limited to, changing the application process, providing documents in an alternate format, using a sign language interpreter, or using specialized equipment.  If you require a reasonable accommodation to apply for a job, please contact us via e-mail at hr@cloudflare.com or via mail at 101 Townsend St. San Francisco, CA 94107.