Vice President, HR Process Optimization Lead

Location: New York, NY (4x per week in office) Morgan Stanley is a leading global financial services firm providing a wide range of investment banking, securities, investment management and wealth management services. The Firm's employees serve clients worldwide including corporations, governments, and individuals from more than 1,200 offices in 43 countries. As a market leader, the talent and passion of our people is critical to our success. Together, we share a common set of values rooted in integrity, excellence, and strong team ethic. Morgan Stanley can provide a superior foundation for building a professional career - a place for people to learn, to achieve and grow. A philosophy that balances personal lifestyles, perspectives and needs is an important part of our culture. This role is responsible for leading high-impact process optimization and strategic talent enablement initiatives across Talent globally. The individual will partner closely with HR, Firmwide Technology, and business stakeholders to identify, redesign, and scale the processes, operating models, tools, and governance needed to deliver Firmwide Talent priorities with greater consistency, efficiency, and impact. This role requires strong strategic problem-solving, disciplined program management, comfort operating at the intersection of HR and technology, and the ability to drive change across complex, global stakeholder groups. The ideal candidate can move from strategy to execution - bringing structure to ambiguous priorities, simplifying complex workflows, and delivering practical, commercially relevant solutions that improve the employee and manager experience. In partnership with the Talent team, you will: • Lead cross-functional initiatives that advance enterprise-wide Talent priorities, partnering across HR, Technology, and business stakeholders to improve how the Firm attracts, develops, and retains employees. • Identify, redesign, and scale key Talent operating models to simplify workflows, reduce manual effort, and improve consistency across regions and businesses. • Evaluate existing Talent processes to identify opportunities for optimization, automation, standardization, and improved stakeholder experience. • Develop insightful recommendations, decision materials, and leadership updates that clarify trade-offs, dependencies, risks, and expected impact. • Manage complex programs from concept through implementation, establishing governance, driving stakeholder alignment, mitigating risks, and ensuring successful delivery of high-impact Talent initiatives. • Coordinate closely with HR, Technology, vendors, and business partners to support implementation, testing, deployment, adoption, and continuous improvement of new systems, tools, and business procedures. • Use data, feedback, and process metrics to evaluate performance, identify improvement opportunities, and demonstrate the impact of Talent initiatives. What you'll bring to the role: • 6+ years of experience in Talent, Human Resources, HR transformation, process optimization, strategy, consulting, or related roles, ideally within a complex global organization. • Strong understanding of talent processes, employee lifecycle moments, HR operating models, and the practical realities of implementing change across large stakeholder groups. • Proven program and project management experience, including ownership of complex, multi-stakeholder initiatives from strategy through execution. • Demonstrated ability to identify process pain points, simplify complex workflows, and design scalable operating models, tools, or procedures that improve efficiency and user experience. • Strong analytical and problem-solving skills, with experience using data, benchmarking, metrics, and stakeholder feedback to inform recommendations, measure impact, and guide investment decisions. • Excellent communication and executive-ready storytelling skills, with the ability to create clear materials,...