Workforce Strategy Lead, NA

Company Description

Ralph Lauren Corporation (NYSE:RL) is a global leader in the design, marketing and distribution of premium lifestyle products in five categories: apparel, accessories, home, fragrances, and hospitality. For more than 50 years, Ralph Lauren's reputation and distinctive image have been consistently developed across an expanding number of products, brands and international markets. The Company's brand names, which include Ralph Lauren, Ralph Lauren Collection, Ralph Lauren Purple Label, Polo Ralph Lauren, Double RL, Lauren Ralph Lauren, Polo Ralph Lauren Children, Chaps, among others, constitute one of the world's most widely recognized families of consumer brands.

At Ralph Lauren, we unite and inspire the communities within our company as well as those in which we serve by amplifying voices and perspectives to create a culture of belonging, ensuring inclusion, and fairness for all. We foster a culture of inclusion through:
Talent, Education & Communication, Employee Groups and Celebration.

The Workforce Strategy Lead
- North America is accountable for defining, governing, and advancing the enterprise workforce and payroll strategy across Divisions within the Region. This role provides strategic oversight across divisions, influences senior field and home office leadership, and ensures workforce models, labor investment, and performance metrics are fully aligned to business objectives. The position partners closely with Finance, Retail Operations, HR, and Regional Leadership to align workforce investment with business priorities.

• Responsible for the development and oversight of Salaries & Benefits, payroll investment, and productivity performance across assigned Divisions in North America ensuring alignment to financial plans, enterprise targets and commercial objectives.
• Oversee the creation, governance, and ongoing management of global and regional payroll budgets, ensuring accuracy, compliance, transparency, and disciplined financial stewardship.
• Develop strategies to drive productivity across our Divisions.
• Lead the communication of payroll performance, workforce strategy, and productivity outcomes to senior executives, regional leaders, and global business partners.
• Translate complex data into clear, strategic insights.
• Lead Regional change management initiatives related to WFM, and operating model evolution, ensuring strong adoption and engagement across the Region.
• Work closely with Operations Leaders and business partners to ensure labor planning aligns with business strategies and operational needs.
• Oversee commission and bonus calculation, payout, and reporting frameworks, ensuring accuracy, governance, and alignment to performance and incentive strategies.
• Lead, manage, develop and inspire the Workforce Strategy Team to achieve and impact results.

• Demonstrated track record of progressive growth and increasing levels of responsibility related to innovation capabilities, data management, software development, or specific industry technology trends within a large scale organization.
• Proven ability to manage multiple, end-to-end projects simultaneously to deliver results under tight timelines.
• Ability to work under pressure in a fast-paced environment to prioritize tasks and delegate when appropriate.
• Ability to act with integrity, professionalism, and confidentiality.
• A passion for change and ability to lead teams and drive impact.
• Experience working with retail leadership and executives.
• Proficiency in project management tools (Smartsheet or similar); excellent Excel and Adobe Acrobat skills; strong Word, Outlook and Adobe Suite.
• Ability to work a flexible schedule, including evenings and weekends, to meet project deadlines and operational needs as required, approximately 25% of the time.
• Ability to respond to urgent issues or manage on-call responsibilities.
• Ability to travel.
• Strong communication, interpersonal, and leadership skills.
• Experience in payroll management, retail operations, finance, or a combination of these.
• Experience in Workforce Management system.
• Ability to lead the team to manage and maintain data accuracy and ensure smooth system operation.