Senior People Operations Specialist

Summary

The Senior People Operations Specialist (APAC) is based in Japan, and will provide end-to-end People Operations support for employees and managers, and work closely with functional People Business Partners and People Team CoEs including Talent Attraction, Employee Experience and Compensation & Benefits. This role partners with managers to address day-to-day people needs, ensuring compliance with labour law, and helping translate functional and regional people priorities into practical, locally relevant programs and practices.

Job Description

Key Responsibilities

• Serve as the first point of contact for employees and managers in Japan, Australia, Malaysia and New Zealand on People-related questions, policies, and processes.
• Partner closely with People Business Partners to understand functional strategy for the region and translate it into day-to-day People support, programs, and initiatives.
• Collaborate with Employee Experience to support onboarding, New Hire Orientation, engagement initiatives, internal communications, and other programs that shape the regional employee experience.
• Work with Compensation & Benefits to support offers, promotions, salary reviews, and benefits administration, ensuring alignment with global frameworks and local market practices.
• Manage the delivery and continuous improvement of key People processes, including employee lifecycle changes (hires, transfers, exits), performance and talent processes, and data changes in People systems.
• Provide guidance to managers in line with labour law, internal policies, and company values; and escalate complex cases to People Business Partners and Employee Relations as appropriate.
• Ensure all People practices and documentation comply with local labour law, data privacy regulations and company standards; keeping current on changes in Japanese and regional employment law and market trends.
• Manage offboarding and exits across supported countries, ensuring consistent, compliant processes and accurate Payroll inputs
• Support People reporting and analytics requirements (headcount, turnover, engagement insights, etc.) and use data to identify trends and recommend actions.
• Contribute to regional and global People projects and process improvements, representing the region perspective and employee voice.

Qualifications

• 5+ years People Operations experience, with a strong understanding of People practices in Japan, ideally within a multinational and fast-paced environment.
• Strong working knowledge of Japanese labour law and People practices (employment contracts, working hours, leave, separations, etc.), with awareness of Japanese data privacy requirements.
• Experience partnering with managers and cross-functional People teams (e.g., People Business Partners, Employee Experience, Total Rewards).
• Ability to work independently, managing confidential information and handle employee relations matters with good judgment and discretion.
• Strong organizational skills and attention to detail; comfortable managing multiple tasks and deadlines.
• Collaborative mindset and ability to build trust-based relationships across functions and levels.
• Strong problem-solving skills, with the ability to identify process gaps, recurring issues, and compliance risks and recommend practical improvements
• Strong hands-on Workday experience, including business-process execution and data maintenance, plus experience with ServiceNow or a similar case management system.
• Business-level fluency in Japanese (spoken and written) and strong English communication skills.

Preferred Experience

• Experience in a SaaS/technology or global matrixed organization.
• Prior involvement in People projects or change initiatives (e.g., process improvements, new programs, or systems implementations).
• Experience using automation and AI to improve HR service delivery, with a proactive interest in adopting new tools and ways of working

About Guidewire

Guidewire is the platform P&C insurers trust to engage, innovate, and grow efficiently. We combine digital, core, analytics, and AI to deliver our platform as a cloud service. More than 540+ insurers in 40 countries, from new ventures to the largest and most complex in the world, run on Guidewire.

As a partner to our customers, we continually evolve to enable their success. We are proud of our unparalleled implementation track record with 1600+ successful projects, supported by the largest R&D team and partner ecosystem in the industry. Our Marketplace provides hundreds of applications that accelerate integration, localization, and innovation.

For more information, please visit www.guidewire.com and follow us on Twitter: @Guidewire_PandC.

Guidewire Software, Inc. is proud to be an equal opportunity and affirmative action employer. We are committed to an inclusive workplace, and believe that a diversity of perspectives, abilities, and cultures is a key to our success. Qualified applicants will receive consideration without regard to race, color, ancestry, religion, sex, national origin, citizenship, marital status, age, sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, veteran status, or disability. All offers are contingent upon passing a criminal history and other background checks where it's applicable to the position.