Senior Director, Global Benefits

Role Description

At Avalara, we're building a world-class employee experience that supports our global workforce while enabling the next chapter of growth. We're looking for a Senior Director, Global Benefits to define and lead our global benefits strategy, modernize how we deliver programs at scale, and help shape the future of Total Rewards through innovation, technology, and AI.

Reporting to the VP, Total Rewards, this role will lead the strategy, design, governance, and transformation of Avalara's global benefits portfolio across:

• Health and welfare
• Retirement
• Wellbeing
• Leaves
• Workers' compensation
• Duty of care programs

This leader will play a critical role in ensuring our programs are competitive, compliant, scalable, and aligned with the needs of employees across multiple countries and regions.

This is an opportunity for a strategic leader who enjoys balancing long-term vision with operational excellence and is energized by building modern, data-driven employee experiences.

Responsibilities

• Define and evolve Avalara's global benefits philosophy, strategy, and governance framework.
• Lead the design and continuous improvement of benefits programs across multiple regions and countries.
• Drive global harmonization efforts while balancing local market practices, regulatory requirements, and employee needs.
• Partner across People & Culture, Finance, Legal, Payroll, Procurement, People Technology, and business leaders to deliver a seamless employee experience.
• Lead benefits-related workstreams for mergers and acquisitions, including due diligence and integration planning.
• Oversee vendor strategy, governance, and performance to maximize service quality, innovation, and value.
• Use data, analytics, automation, and AI-enabled solutions to modernize benefits operations and improve decision-making.
• Build and develop a high-performing global team while fostering a culture of accountability, innovation, and continuous improvement.
• Serve as a trusted advisor to senior leadership on benefits strategy, market trends, workforce needs, and emerging technologies.

Qualifications

• 12+ years of progressive experience in benefits, total rewards, or a related HR discipline, including significant global benefits leadership experience.
• Proven success designing and managing benefits strategies across multiple countries and regions.
• Experience leading global or geographically distributed teams.
• Deep expertise in benefits strategy, governance, vendor management, compliance, financial stewardship, and operational excellence.
• Strong cross-functional leadership skills with the ability to influence stakeholders across People, Finance, Legal, Technology, and Operations.
• Experience leveraging analytics, technology, and AI to improve business outcomes and employee experiences.
• Executive presence and the ability to navigate complex global environments with confidence and credibility.

Preferred Experience

• 15+ years in global benefits or total rewards leadership.
• Public company and/or high-growth technology experience.
• M&A due diligence and integration experience.
• Experience leading large-scale benefits transformation, harmonization, or operating model redesign initiatives.

Benefits

• Total Rewards: In addition to a great compensation package, paid time off, and paid parental leave, many Avalara employees are eligible for bonuses.
• Health & Wellness: Benefits vary by location but generally include private medical, life, and disability insurance.
• Inclusive culture and diversity: Avalara strongly supports diversity, equity, and inclusion, and is committed to integrating them into our business practices and our organizational culture.

Company Description

We’re defining the relationship between tax and tech. We’ve already built an industry-leading cloud compliance platform, processing over 54 billion customer API calls and over 6.6 million tax returns a year. Our growth is real - we're a billion dollar business - and we’re not slowing down until we’ve achieved our mission - to be part of every transaction in the world.

We’re bright, innovative, and disruptive, like the orange we love to wear. It captures our quirky spirit and optimistic mindset. It shows off the culture we’ve designed, that empowers our people to win. We’ve been different from day one. Join us, and your career will be too.

We’re An Equal Opportunity Employer: Supporting diversity and inclusion is a cornerstone of our company — we don’t want people to fit into our culture, but to enrich it. All qualified candidates will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, creed, religion, age, gender, national orientation, disability, sexual orientation, US Veteran status, or any other factor protected by law. If you require any reasonable adjustments during the recruitment process, please let us know.