Human Resources Strategic Deals Lead

Cognizant Corporate is a global community united by a shared purpose: to make a meaningful impact. We are committed to excellence and driven by outcomes that matter. Collaboration is at the heart of how we work, and our forward-thinking mindset fuels continuous learning, innovation, and growth.

At Cognizant, careers transcend titles. We empower our people to think strategically, inspire others, and lead with purpose, always guided by our core values.

As an Associate Director, HR Deal Lead, you will lead the people workstream across strategic bids and employee transitions, from early solution design and due diligence through contracting, consultation, employee transfer, and operational handover.

You will be a key member of the HR Strategic Deals & Transitions team, collaborating with Sales, Solutioning, Commercial, Finance, Legal, Delivery, and regional HR teams. You will independently support outsourcing opportunities across the Americas and other countries, escalating the most complex matters to senior HR Strategic Deals leadership.

This role reports to a Director or Senior Director and may require travel across the Americas and internationally.

• Lead HR input into people solution design for outsourcing pursuits, partnering with Sales, Solutioning, Commercial, Finance, Legal, Delivery, and regional HR teams.
• Assess regional sensitivities and regulatory employee-transfer implications. Define appropriate transfer, rebadge, rehire, restructuring, and integration approaches.
• Lead people due diligence and translate employee data into clear risks, assumptions, dependencies, liabilities, and mitigation actions. Develop HR cost inputs covering compensation and benefits, pensions, payroll, redundancy or severance, consultation, and transition activity to support deal pricing and approvals.
• Review people-related provisions in master services agreements, statements of work, transfer schedules, and related contractual documents while working closely with Legal and Commercial teams. Present the people solution to senior internal and client stakeholders, including C-suite stakeholders, provide practical guidance, and influence decisions where workforce risk may affect deal viability or delivery.
• Establish strong customer engagement and lead client-facing activities, including oral presentations, due diligence, solution design, town halls, Day One activities, offer letters, client status reporting, and meetings. Plan and deliver end-to-end employee transitions, including employee communications, onboarding, payroll and benefits readiness, stabilization, and HR handover. Contribute to team capability through reusable tools, playbooks, training, coaching, and knowledge sharing.

You will embrace our vibrant culture by striving for excellence, focusing on meaningful outcomes, and collaborating effectively. You will prioritize quality, stay curious, commit to continuous learning, take ownership, build relationships, and focus on personal growth to help drive business strategy and create meaningful career opportunities and impactful work.

• Experience leading an HR deal workstream, including end-to-end people activities supporting outsourcing engagements.
• Experience in transformation, employee relations, or workforce transition, with demonstrated success independently leading complex work streams.
• Strong practical knowledge of employment law.
• Experience in client-facing delivery, commercial risk assessment, contractual review, and cross-functional stakeholder management within a matrix organization.
• Commercial acumen and a solution-focused approach.
• Credibility with senior stakeholders, along with strong judgment and risk…