People Process Optimization Team Lead

Who we are About Stripe Stripe is a financial infrastructure platform for businesses. Millions of companies - from the world’s largest enterprises to the most ambitious startups - use Stripe to accept payments, grow their revenue, and accelerate new business opportunities. Our mission is to increase the GDP of the internet, and we have a staggering amount of work ahead. That means you have an unprecedented opportunity to put the global economy within everyone's reach while doing the most important work of your career. About the team The People Process Optimization (PPO) team scopes, develops, deploys, and maintains the processes that underpin the seamless function of our most critical People team capabilities. We are strategy-driven individuals who utilize expert frameworks to add organization to chaos. We are looking for a manager who will lead the PPO team, operationalize Lean-driven strategies across many varying portfolios, and scale a data and ROI focused process optimization practice. What you’ll do As PPO Lead, you will lead and coach a team of practitioners who design and deliver end-to-end process improvements that enhance the employee experience. You will own the PPO portfolio at the team level—setting strategic priorities, allocating resources, and ensuring delivery is tied to measurable outcomes. You will also partner cross-functionally to embed AI and automation into People operations and to institutionalize standards, governance, and a service catalog across portfolios. Responsibilities Team Leadership & Operational Excellence Lead, mentor, and develop the process optimization team. Build team capability in Lean/Six Sigma methods, data analysis, and automation best practices. Define team goals, conduct performance reviews, and create development plans that align individual growth with business needs. Drive development and adoption of a standardized Service Catalog to clarify offerings, SLAs, and handoffs across People functions. Instill governance, operating rhythms, and escalation paths to reduce ambiguity in process ownership. Define and track metrics that demonstrate current state, progress, and business value; ensure all delivery is evidence-based. Establish scalable reporting and dashboards to surface performance, ROI, and opportunities for further optimization. Strategic Portfolio & Stakeholder Management: Act as the primary partner to People, Finance, IT, and other stakeholders to align process initiatives with broader organizational objectives. Communicate portfolio outcomes, risks, and roadmap updates to senior leadership; translate complex analysis into clear, actionable recommendations. Set strategic priorities, manage capacity, oversee program-level roadmaps and budgets and prioritize initiatives using rigorous ROI frameworks and resource trade-offs. Ensure consistent, high-quality delivery across projects and maintain a backlog that reflects strategic value and operational urgency. Lead continuous improvement efforts and knowledge sharing across the organization. Technical Enablement, AI, & Automation: Champion use of AI and automation to reduce manual toil and eliminate bottlenecks Ensure technical designs meet business requirements, security/compliance constraints, and scalability needs through User Acceptance Testing. Who you are We're looking for someone who meets the minimum requirements to be considered for the role. If you meet these requirements, you are encouraged to apply. The preferred qualifications are a bonus, not a requirement. Minimum requirements 7+ years of experience in process optimization, business process reengineering, or operations, with people leadership experience. Deep expertise with DMAIC and other Lean/Six Sigma methodologies and proven experience applying them at scale. Experience designing and operationalizing Service Catalogs or centralized service management models. Strong track record of prioritizing work using ROI analysis and managing a portfolio of projects. Demonstrated technical fluency and experience leveraging AI and automation to streamline enterprise processes. Excellent analytical, communication, and stakeholder management skills; comfortable presenting to senior leaders. Preferred qualifications Professional certification in Lean Six Sigma (e.g., Green/Black Belt). Experience managing process optimization in a high-growth tech environment, preferably supporting HR operations. Experience with tooling for process mapping, automation, and analytics platforms.