People Operations M&A Lead

** Our Mission*
* At Palo Alto Networks®, we're united by a shared mission-to protect our digital way of life. We thrive at the intersection of innovation and impact, solving real-world problems with cutting-edge technology and bold thinking. Here, everyone has a voice, and every idea counts. If you're ready to do the most meaningful work of your career alongside people who are just as passionate as you are, you're in the right place.

** Who We Are*
* In order to be the cybersecurity partner of choice, we must trailblaze the path and shape the future of our industry. This is something our employees work at each day and is defined by our values:
Disruption, Collaboration, Execution, Integrity, and Inclusion. We weave AI into the fabric of everything we do and use it to augment the impact every individual can have. If you are passionate about solving real-world problems and ideating beside the best and the brightest, we invite you to join us!

We believe collaboration thrives in person. That's why most of our teams work from the office full time, with flexibility when it's needed. This model supports real-time problem-solving, stronger relationships, and the kind of precision that drives great outcomes.

** Job Summary*
* As the People Operations M&A lead, you are the strategic engine driving the successful integration of new acquisitions into our global ecosystem, while also serving as a versatile project leader within Global People Operations. Working closely with key M&A stakeholders such as Corporate Development, Finance, IT, and the broader People M&A project and  workstream leads (including HRBPs and Centers of Excellence), you will serve as the primary People Operations representative for the lifecycle of each M&A.

You will synthesize complex M&A requirements, architect data workflows, and manage all People Operations M&A activities to ensure flawless operational readiness. By acting as the definitive liaison, you translate corporate requirements into actionable work streams within People Operations.  This role is a deep functional expert in People Operations and able to drive critical backend execution as transition activities for M&A are high stakes, zero-error.  

When M&A deal volume naturally fluctuates, your scope dynamically shifts to spearhead rapid-cycle People Ops initiatives-ensuring you deliver continuous, high-value impact year-round.

** Key Responsibilities*
* + Act as the primary voice and liaison for People Operations across all M&A activities. You will manage People Operations support to meet complex requirements, align on deal milestones, and deliver executive briefs and actionable plans.

+ Architect and manage the specialized employee data frameworks utilized by People Operations throughout the acquisition lifecycle. You will securely transform and route data from master due diligence files into system-ready formats for our downstream teams. Maintaining absolute data integrity and compliance (GDPR, CCPA) via advanced spreadsheet manipulation is critical to this step.

+ Drive the end-to-end People Operations integration roadmap. Utilizing Asana, you will build complex, multi-phased project plans for People Operations (and contribute to deal-wide action plans) to ensure the People Operations team delivers on strict deal deadlines.

+ Navigate the natural ebbs and flows of M&A activity by seamlessly pivoting to lead general People Operations initiatives. You will step in during M&A lulls to drive rapid-cycle, high-impact operations initiatives, ensuring a full and adaptable workload year-round.

+ Evaluate target company HR frameworks related to People Operations such as policies, hiring, immigration, contingent workforce management, frontline support and HR systems. You will collaborate with process owners to design the strategy that maps legacy processes to our internal "To-Be" frameworks.

+ Contribute to persona-based change management and communications strictly as they relate to operational domains-specifically focusing on recruiting, onboarding, HR systems adoption, and employee inquiry routing. You will orchestrate the operational transition plan to ensure a premier experience for…