Skills and lead

The Skills Solutions & Taxonomy Lead is responsible for designing, implementing, and governing the enterprise-wide skills framework. This includes developing a scalable taxonomy, aligning jobs to evolving skill sets, and establishing business rules for managing the skills inventory.

The role ensures operationalization of skills data across talent processes, platforms, and analytics to support workforce transformation and future-of-work initiatives.

You will lead, mentor, and inspire staff and peers to achieve best practices and consistently demonstrate our Guardian Values of "We do the right thing," "We believe people count," "We courageously shape our future together" and "We go above and beyond for the people we serve."

You will:

• Develop and maintain a comprehensive skills taxonomy aligned to business capabilities and job architecture.

• Define business rules for skills usage, job alignment, and inventory management.

• Maintain skills metadata (definitions, categories, proficiency levels).

• Partner with HR, business leaders, and technology teams to embed skills into workforce planning, talent acquisition, learning, and performance processes.

• Lead the integration of skills data into core systems (e.g., Workday, recruiting platforms, learning systems).

• Design workflows for automated skills assessment, mapping, and updates.

• Establish protocols for job deconstruction and reconstruction based on evolving skill needs.

• Implement data governance frameworks for skills data quality, consistency, and lifecycle management.

• Define metadata standards, proficiency levels, and validation rules.

• Monitor taxonomy usage and ensure alignment across systems and teams.

• Version control and audit trails for taxonomy updates

• Work cross-functionally with HRTPs, COEs, IT, analytics, and external partners (e.g., Draup, TechWolf, HiredScore).

• Facilitate workshops and design sessions to align skills updates and use cases.

• Serve as SME for skills-related initiatives and transformation programs.

• Compliance & Privacy monitoring for adherence to legal & regulatory requirements, internal data policies, data capture for legal defensibility of workforce related decisions, etc.

Day-to-Day Tools & Platforms Utilized *: *

• Core Human Capital Platform: Workday

• Skills Intelligence Tools: TechWolf, Draup/Etter, HiredScore

• Data & Analytics: Tableau, Databricks, Workday Worksheets & Discovery Boards

• Collaboration: Teams, JIRA, Smartsheets, SharePoint, Confluence

• Taxonomy Management: WD Worksheets, Excel

• Data Management: Collibra

You have:

• Proven experience deploying skills in job and org design, job architecture management, technology, with deep expertise in Workday.

• Experience managing end-to-end product lifecycles for digital products, process modeling and design, supporting applications and platforms.

• Strong leadership, vendor management, and product delivery skills.

• Familiarity with enterprise architecture, systems integration, APIs, and data governance.

• Bachelor's degree, or related demonstratable skills in Org Psychology, Business Technology, HR Technology, or related field.

• Deep product management, change management, and data management skills.

• Proven ability to be flexible and adaptable in the face of changing circumstances.

• Ability to manage and iterate on multiple projects/products with varying deliverables simultaneously (Agility).

• Strong EQ with the ability to manage stakeholders at every level of the organization with different priorities and working styles.

• Ability to influence a working team to deliver solutions on time and within budget without direct managerial authority.

Location:

Hybrid role - 3 days in a Guardian office located in Hudson Yards, NYC; Stamford, CT; or Bethlehem, PA. 2 days WFH, travel to Guardian offices as determined by the People Leader.

Salary Range:

$129,500.00 - $212,750.00

The salary range reflected above is a good faith estimate of base pay for the primary location of the position. The salary for this position ultimately will be determined based on the education, experience, knowledge, and abilities of the successful candidate. In addition to salary, this role may also be eligible for annual, sales, or other incentive compensation.

Our Promise

At Guardian, you'll have the support and flexibility to achieve your professional and personal goals. Through skill-building, leadership development and philanthropic opportunities, we provide opportunities to build communities and grow your career, surrounded by diverse colleagues with high ethical standards.

Inspire Well-Being

As part of Guardian's Purpose - to inspire well-being - we are committed to offering contemporary, supportive, flexible, and inclusive benefits and resources to our colleagues. Explore our company benefits at . Benefits apply to full-time eligible employees. Interns are not eligible for most Company benefits.

Equal Employment Opportunity

Guardian is an equal opportunity employer. All qualified applicants will be considered for employment without regard to age, race, color, creed, religion, sex, affectional or sexual orientation, national origin, ancestry, marital status, disability, military or veteran status, or any other classification protected by applicable law.

Accommodations

Guardian is committed to providing access, equal opportunity and reasonable accommodation for individuals with disabilities in employment, its services, programs, and activities. Guardian also provides reasonable accommodations to qualified job applicants (and employees) to accommodate the individual's known limitations related to pregnancy, childbirth, or related medical conditions, unless doing so would create an undue hardship. If reasonable accommodation is needed to participate in the job application or interview process, to perform essential job functions, and/or to receive other benefits and privileges of employment, please contact [email protected] .

Current Guardian Colleagues: Please apply through the internal Jobs Hub in Workday.

Every day, Guardian helps our 29 million customers realize their dreams through a range of insurance and financial products and services. Our Purpose, to inspire well-being, guides our dedication to the colleagues, consumers, and communities we serve. We know that people count, and we go above and beyond to prepare them for the life they want to live, focusing on their overall well-being - mind, body, and wallet. As one of the largest mutual insurance companies, we put our customers first. Behind every bright future is a GuardianTM. Learn more about Guardian at guardianlife.com .