Senior HR Analyst, Data Governance

The Senior HR Data Governance Analyst supports the integrity, consistency, and effective governance of global HR data. This role evaluates complex workforce data transactions, identifies and resolves data quality and control issues, develops governance standards and documentation, and partners across HR, HR IT, Payroll, Finance, and Compensation to reduce risk and improve HR data accuracy, processes, and decision-making.

This role is not hybrid/remote and will report to Sherwin-Williams Hinckley Industrial Parkway located at 4770 Hinckley Industrial Pkwy, Cleveland, OH 44109. 

Job duties include contact with other employees and access confidential and proprietary information and/or other items of value, and such access may be supervised or unsupervised. The Company therefore has determined that a review of criminal history is necessary to protect the business and its operations and reputation and is necessary to protect the safety of the Company’s staff, employees, and business relationships.

CORE RESPONSIBILITIES AND TASKS

1. HR Data Governance and Complex Transaction Support

   1. Review and process complex workforce data transactions, requests, and escalations, including organizational changes, mass updates, security access requests, and other high impact changes. 

   2. Evaluate requests for completeness, accuracy, required approvals, effective dating, business-rule alignment, and potential downstream impact.

   3. Validate source file data, data mappings, approvals, effective dates, control requirements, and system results before and after complex transactions are processed.

   4. Identify data quality, compliance, security, or operational risks and determine appropriate corrective action or escalation.

   5. Support established governance processes that promote the accuracy, integrity, and consistency of HR data and organizational structures, including jobs, locations, departments, cost centers, business units, and related workforce data.

       

2. Data Analysis, Issue Resolution & Continuous Improvement

   1. Define issues, document the current-state impact, and with data-governance expertise, develop fact-based recommendations for review and resolution with appropriate stakeholders.

   2. Validate corrective actions to confirm that the end-to-end issue has been resolved and the recurrence risks are minimized.

   3. Identify recurring trends, risks, control gaps, and process inefficiencies and recommend opportunities for sustainable improvement.

   4. Perform root cause analysis to identify isolated errors or underlying data, process, business-rule, training, integration, governance, or system issues.

   5. Investigate complex HR data, transaction, and operational issues by analyzing data, reviewing transaction history, and evaluating business rules and system requirements.

   6. Assess the potential financial, payroll, compliance, security, employee, reporting, and operational impacts of identified issues.

1. Stakeholder Partnership & Governance Documentation

   1. Develop and maintain business rules, standard operating procedures, governance frameworks, process maps, control documentation, decision logs, data definitions, and training materials.

   2. Serve as a subject-matter resource for HR data-governance standards, complex organizational data, business rules, access controls, and related transaction requirements.

   3. Lead governance discussions and working sessions by defining issues, presenting analysis, facilitating decisions, documenting outcomes, and driving follow-through.

   4. Advise HR Shared Services, HR IT, Payroll, Finance, Compensation, HR Business Partners, and other stakeholders on data standards, control requirements, exceptions, and downstream risks.

   5. Educate stakeholders on request requirements, governance expectations, effective-dating practices, data dependencies, and common error-prevention techniques.

   6. Independently manage multiple complex priorities, identify risks and dependencies, and provide clear status reporting through completion.

   7. Support data audits, compliance, and control-review activities by producing documentation, explaining governance practices, and coordinating remediation of identified findings.

   8. Influence cross-functional partners to resolve data-quality issues, strengthen controls, clarify ownership, and adopt sustainable governance practices.

    

2. Reporting, Metrics and Business Insights

   1. Analyze results to identify patterns, emerging risks, control gaps, performance drivers, and opportunities requiring management attention.

   2. Translate complex data into clear business insights, impact assessments, and actionable recommendations for technical and non-technical stakeholders.

   3. Execute complex ad hoc analyses that require combining multiple data sources, resolving inconsistencies, and interpreting incomplete or conflicting information.

   4. Establish and document metric definitions, calculation logic, data sources, validation procedures, and reporting controls to promote consistency and reliability.

   5. Independently validate source data, report logic, calculations, and business-rule alignment before findings are communicated or used to support decisions.

   6. Identify opportunities to implement governance metrics, dashboards, and recurring reports that measure HR data quality, transaction accuracy, exception volume, timeliness, rework, and recurring issue trends.

   7. Partner with regional SBS Employee Services teams and functional stakeholders to standardize governance metrics and strengthen enterprise-wide visibility into data quality and operational risk.

POSITION REQUIREMENTS 

Required:

• Bachelor's degree in Business Analytics, Information Systems, Human Resources, Business Administration, Data Analytics, Accounting, Statistics, Computer Science, or Finance. 

• 3+ years of experience in HR data governance, HR operations, HR systems, workforce data, business analysis, reporting, or compliance

• Experience investigating data, system or operational issues, performing root cause analysis, and developing fact-based recommendations.

• Experience analyzing large or complex datasets and translating findings into actionable business insights, risk assessments, or corrective actions.

• Experience leading projects or assignments involving multiple stakeholders, dependencies, competing priorities and downstream impacts.

• Experience developing or maintaining governance documentation, business rules, controls, procedures, data definitions, or decision documentation.

• Advanced experience with Microsoft Excel, including formulas, lookups, pivot tables, data validation, and analysis of large datasets.
• Experience utilizing reporting, dashboard, or data-visualization tools to analyze data and communicate finding.
• Must be legally authorized to work in the United States without sponsorship now or in the future for employment visa status
• Must be at least eighteen (18) years of age

Preferred:

• Experience supporting HCM platforms, HR Cloud environments, organizational structures, security governance, access management, mass data transactions, or high-volume employee or HR data changes.

• Experience supporting audits, control reviews, compliance assessments, or data-quality remediation.

• Experience utilizing data visualization, advanced reporting, workflow automation, or analytical tools to improve decision-making or operational effectiveness.

• Experience supporting process improvement, corrective-action, or continuous improvement initiatives based on data-governance findings or analytics. Experience partnering across HR Shared Services, HR IT, Payroll, Finance, Compensation, Talent or HR Business Partner functions. 

• Experience with HR Cloud or other HCM platforms, security or access governance, mass data transactions, workflow tools, or automation technologies.
• Experience with case management tools such as ServiceNow.
• Experience with reporting and analytical tools such as Power BI, SQL, etc.

Travel: 10%

At Sherwin-Williams, our purpose is to inspire and improve the world by coloring and protecting what matters. Our paints, coatings and innovative solutions make the places and spaces in our world brighter and stronger. Your skills, talent and passion make it possible to live this purpose, and for customers and our business to achieve great results. Sherwin-Williams is a place that takes its stability, growth and momentum and translates it to possibility for our people. Our people are behind the strength of our success, and we invest and support you in:

Life … with rewards, benefits and the flexibility to enhance your health and well-being
Career … with opportunities to learn, develop new skills and grow your contribution
Connection … with an inclusive team and commitment to our own and broader communities
It's all here for you... let's Create Your Possible

At Sherwin-Williams, part of our mission is to help our employees and their families live healthier, save smarter and feel better. This starts with a wide range of world-class benefits designed for you. From retirement to health care, from total well-being to your daily commute—it matters to us. A general description of benefits offered can be found at http://www.myswbenefits.com/. Click on “Candidates” to view benefit offerings that you may be eligible for if you are hired as a Sherwin-Williams employee.

Compensation decisions are dependent on the facts and circumstances of each case and will impact where actual compensation may fall within the stated wage range. The wage range listed for this role takes into account the wide range of factors considered in making compensation decisions including skill sets; experience and training; licensure and certifications; and other business and organizational needs. The disclosed range estimate has not been adjusted for the applicable geographic differential associated with the location at which the position may be filled. The wage range, other compensation, and benefits information listed is accurate as of the date of this posting. The Company reserves the right to modify this information at any time, with or without notice, subject to applicable law.

Qualified applicants with arrest or conviction records will be considered for employment in accordance with applicable federal, state, and local laws including with the Los Angeles County Fair Chance Ordinance for Employers and the California Fair Chance Act where applicable.

Sherwin-Williams is proud to be an Equal Employment Opportunity employer.  All qualified candidates will receive consideration for employment and will not be discriminated against based on race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, protected veteran status, disability, age, pregnancy, genetic information, creed, marital status or any other consideration prohibited by law or by contract.

As a VEVRAA Federal Contractor, Sherwin-Williams requests state and local employment services delivery systems to provide priority referral of Protected Veterans.

Please be aware, Sherwin-Williams recruiting team members will never request a candidate to provide a payment, ask for financial information, or sensitive personal information like national identification numbers, date of birth, or bank account numbers during the application process.