IT HR Principal Engineer

At Elanco (NYSE: ELAN) – it all starts with animals!

As a global leader in animal health, we are dedicated to innovation and delivering products and services to prevent and treat disease in farm animals and pets. At Elanco, we are driven by our vision of Food and Companionship Enriching Life and our purpose – all to Go Beyond for Animals, Customers, Society and Our People.

At Elanco, we pride ourselves on fostering a diverse and inclusive work environment. We believe that diversity is the driving force behind innovation, creativity, and overall business success. Here, you’ll be part of a company that values and champions new ways of thinking, work with dynamic individuals, and acquire new skills and experiences that will propel your career to new heights.

Making animals’ lives better makes life better – join our team today!

Your Role
As a Principal Engineer for HR Technology, you will be a technical thought leader shaping the strategy that powers Elanco’s end‑to‑end supervisor lifecycle and hire‑to‑retire experience. You will be directly accountable for designing the digital backbone across Workday, ServiceNow HR Service Delivery, SuccessFactors, ADP, and SAP so managers and employees can complete critical actions quickly and confidently—from onboarding and job changes to performance, compensation, leave, and offboarding. You will define the architectural vision and long‑term roadmap for the Manager and Employee Experience, ensuring it is robust, compliant, and aligned with our “One Elanco” experience ambitions. This role is for a seasoned expert who sets technical standards, mentors engineers, and drives the evolution of our HR technology ecosystem to deliver measurable business value and a world‑class employee experience.

This includes several strategic priorities:

• Employee Lifecycle Excellence: Simplify and standardize core HR processes across the hire‑to‑retire journey (onboarding, job changes, transfers, promotions, compensation, leave, and offboarding) to reduce cycle times and increase data integrity.

• Manager Enablement: Equip supervisors with intuitive tools, guided workflows, and insights that improve decision quality and reduce administrative burden.

• HR Service Delivery & Automation: Modernize case management, knowledge, and orchestration in ServiceNow to improve resolution speed, self‑service adoption, and employee satisfaction.

• Productivity & Data‑Driven Decisions: Improve operating margin by streamlining processes and integrations, enhancing data quality, and enabling actionable analytics for HR and business leaders.

Your Responsibilities

• Architectural Leadership: Own the architectural roadmap for Elanco’s enterprise HR platforms (Workday, ServiceNow HRSD, SuccessFactors, SAP). Ensure scalability, resilience, and a consistent cross‑platform user experience for managers and employees.

• Experience Design & Process Optimization: Lead re‑engineering of critical HR processes (e.g., onboarding, job change/move, compensation cycles, performance reviews, leave of absence, terminations). Target improved cycle time, first‑day readiness, data integrity, and self‑service adoption.

• Technical Governance and Mentorship: Establish engineering standards and design patterns for HR integrations and configurations (e.g., Workday EIB/Studio, ServiceNow flow/orchestration, SAP interfaces). Serve as the technical escalation point and mentor, fostering a culture of engineering excellence.

• Global Integration Strategy: Define the integration strategy across Workday HCM, SuccessFactors (Training Plans), SAP (e.g., Cost Centers/Banking), and ServiceNow HRSD to create a seamless “digital thread” of the employee record. Emphasize event‑driven integrations, canonical data models, and strong MDM practices.

• Controls, Privacy & Compliance Strategy: Develop and oversee validation, privacy, access, and audit‑readiness approaches for HR systems. Ensure role‑based access, segregation of duties, and consistent evidence for audits and internal controls.

• Influence Senior Leadership: Translate complex technical capabilities into clear business cases, demonstrating the ROI and strategic value of HR technology investments (e.g., faster manager actions, reduced cost‑to‑serve, improved employee satisfaction).

• Innovation and Technology Scouting: Identify and evaluate emerging HR tech trends (e.g., guided AI experiences for managers, case deflection via knowledge/virtual agents, skills graphs, advanced analytics). Lead proofs‑of‑concept to assess impact on experience, quality, and efficiency.

What You Need to Succeed (Minimum Qualifications):

• Educational Background: Bachelor’s or Master’s degree in Computer Science, Information Systems, Engineering, or a related technical field.

• Required Experience: 8+ years leading the design, implementation, and lifecycle management of complex HR platforms and integrations in a global enterprise environment.

• Platform Mastery: Expert‑level knowledge of one or more core platforms—Workday (e.g., HCM, Absence, Compensation, Security, Reporting/Prism, EIB/Studio), ServiceNow HRSD (Case, Knowledge, Portal, Orchestration), SuccessFactors (Performance, Goals, Learning), and other systems and services—and how they are applied to HR service delivery and manager workflows.

• HR Process Leadership: Deep expertise in HR processes across the supervisor lifecycle (organizational management, hiring/onboarding, mobility/changes, performance, compensation, leave, offboarding) with strong data quality and governance practices.

• Architectural and Strategic Thinking: Proven ability to develop multi‑year technology roadmaps that align with business priorities and deliver measurable improvements in cost, quality, speed, and experience.

• Technical Mentorship and Leadership: Track record mentoring engineers, leading complex programs, and serving as the definitive subject matter expert for HR technology.

What Will Give You the Competitive Edge (Preferred Qualifications):

• DevSecOps: Experience with CI/CD, Git‑based SCM, automated testing, and observability for HR SaaS configurations and integration services; Infrastructure‑as‑Code (e.g., Terraform) and containerization where applicable to integration or analytics platforms.

• Cloud Platform Proficiency: Practical experience with Azure and/or GCP, including automation and integration services (e.g., Azure Logic Apps, serverless functions, messaging/event services).

• Controls and Validation Expertise: Strong familiarity with privacy, access, audit, and internal control requirements for HR systems, including designing evidence‑based, “audit‑ready” processes.

• Exceptional Communication and Influence: Ability to articulate a compelling HR technology vision to diverse audiences—from HR operations and managers to senior executive leadership.

Additional Information:

• Location: Global Headquarters- Indianapolis, IN (Hybrid environment)
• Travel: Minimal

Don’t meet every single requirement? Studies have shown underrecognized groups are less likely to apply to jobs unless they meet every single qualification. At Elanco we are dedicated to building a diverse and inclusive work environment. If you think you might be a good fit for a role but don't necessarily meet every requirement, we encourage you to apply. You may be the right candidate for this role or other roles!

Elanco Benefits and Perks:

We offer a comprehensive benefits package focusing on financial, physical, and mental well-being while encouraging our employees to pursue our purpose! Some highlights include:

• Multiple relocation packages
• Two weeklong shutdowns (mid-summer and year-end) in the US (in addition to PTO)
• 8-week parental leave
• 9 Employee Resource Groups
• Annual bonus offering
• Flexible work arrangements
• Up to 6% 401K matching

Elanco is an EEO/Affirmative Action Employer and does not discriminate on the basis of age, race, color, religion, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, national origin, protected veteran status, disability or any other legally protected status