Project Manager, Employee Experience & HR Technology

Who We Are Applied Materials is a global leader in materials engineering solutions used to produce virtually every new chip and advanced display in the world. We design, build and service cutting-edge equipment that helps our customers manufacture display and semiconductor chips – the brains of devices we use every day. As the foundation of the global electronics industry, Applied enables the exciting technologies that literally connect our world – like AI and IoT. If you want to push the boundaries of materials science and engineering to create next generation technology, join us to deliver material innovation that changes the world.  What We Offer Salary: $124,000.00 - $171,000.00 Location: Santa Clara,CA You’ll benefit from a supportive work culture that encourages you to learn, develop, and grow your career as you take on challenges and drive innovative solutions for our customers. We empower our team to push the boundaries of what is possible—while learning every day in a supportive leading global company. Visit our Careers website to learn more.  At Applied Materials, we care about the health and wellbeing of our employees. We’re committed to providing programs and support that encourage personal and professional growth and care for you at work, at home, or wherever you may go. Learn more about our benefits .  Role Overview The Project Manager, Employee Experience & HR Technology provides PM leadership at the intersection of HR COEs and GIS, ensuring that COE-owned initiatives are structured for successful delivery. This role does not manage project plans on behalf of COEs; rather, it ensures COEs have strong plans in place and are operating within the HR Product Development Lifecycle (PDLC) framework. The PM serves as the connective tissue between COE initiative owners and GIS delivery teams, facilitating the governance rhythms, escalation pathways, and visibility mechanisms that keep the HR project portfolio on track. This role works in close partnership with the HR Technology leader, who holds direct responsibility for ensuring GIS design, configuration, and testing are aligned with COE requirements and HR Technology expectations. Together, they form the core delivery leadership partnership for HR Technology initiatives. This role also plays a key supporting part in the development and ongoing maintenance of the annual HR function roadmap, in direct support of the VP of Employee Experience. The ideal candidate is a seasoned PM who brings structured thinking, strong facilitation skills, and the credibility to hold both COE and GIS stakeholders accountable to shared delivery standards -- without owning the work itself. What You'll Do PMO Governance & Meeting Leadership Lead the HR PMO biweekly meetings -- setting agendas, driving structured discussion, tracking action items and decisions, and ensuring follow-through across the HR project portfolio. Co-lead the COE/GIS biweekly project review meetings in partnership with GIS leads, facilitating cross-functional alignment on project status, priorities, dependencies, and risks. Ensure COEs are operating within the HR PDLC framework -- not by managing their plans for them, but by reviewing adherence, identifying gaps, and working with COE leads to close them. Maintain portfolio-level visibility across all active HR initiatives, tracking status, health, and milestone progress in PMO tools and surfacing issues to leadership proactively. Establish and maintain the operating rhythms, templates, and governance standards that keep the HR PMO running consistently and predictably. Partnership with HR Technology Leader Work in close partnership with the HR Technology leader, who has direct responsibility for GIS design, configuration, and testing alignment with COE requirements and HR Technology expectations. Serve as the PM governance layer alongside the HR Technology leader -- while HR Technology owns the functional and technical alignment, this role owns the delivery structure, meeting cadences, and portfolio visibility that enable that work to move forward. Coordinate intake, planning, and roadmap inputs between COEs and the HR Technology leader, ensuring project scope and timelines are realistic, agreed upon, and tracked. Escalate cross-initiative conflicts, resource constraints, and scope risks to the HR Technology leader and other relevant stakeholders in a timely and structured manner. Annual HR Roadmap Support Support the VP of Employee Experience in the development and ongoing maintenance of the annual HR function roadmap, coordinating inputs from COEs, GIS, and HR leadership. Facilitate roadmap planning sessions with COE and GIS stakeholders, helping translate strategic priorities into sequenced, resourced, and dependency-mapped delivery plans. Maintain the roadmap as a living document throughout the year, tracking progress against committed initiatives and flagging changes requiring leadership attention or re-prioritization. Provide regular roadmap status summaries to HR leadership, ensuring the VP of Employee Experience has a clear, current view of the portfolio at all times. COE Delivery Enablement Review COE project plans for alignment with PDLC standards, providing feedback when gaps are identified -- plan ownership and ongoing maintenance remains with the COE. Make PMO templates, frameworks, and PDLC guidance available to COEs, offering clarification on standards when requested. Flag cross-initiative risks, blockers, and dependencies identified through PMO governance forums, routing them to the appropriate COE or GIS owner for resolution. Coordinate project intake activities in partnership with COEs, ensuring new requests are documented and ready to enter the delivery pipeline with sufficient scope and dependency clarity. Stakeholder Communication & Change Readiness Deliver clear, structured project and portfolio updates to HR leadership and senior stakeholders, translating portfo