The HR software buying team: Roles, responsibilities, tips

HR buying team roles and responsibilities

Typically, a sponsor or stakeholder will work to assemble the HR software buying team, but that task might also be delegated to a senior HR professional, depending on how the organization is structured and how activities of this type are planned. Someone from IT might also lead the project, with the HR team serving as the primary internal client.

The HR software buying team should include key members of the HR team, members of the IT team and, if relevant to the software being selected, representatives from other departments. For example, employees from payroll, finance, legal and security might be included, as well as an employee and people manager representative. While HR will be the primary system user, IT will need to integrate the system during the project and could be tasked with maintaining it after the system goes live.

For larger purchases, both in terms of cost and disruption to the organization, an HR or IT leader will need to be a key stakeholder or present to a C-level executive about how the HR software will benefit the organization. They will need to secure formal approval and funding before moving forward to the software evaluation stage.

Different buying teams will vary in terms of the number of people and types of roles, depending on the organization and the software being considered. People might serve multiple roles on the team, especially in smaller organizations. However, the following are some typical roles that comprise the HR software selection team, along with their corresponding responsibilities.

Sponsor

The sponsor typically comes from company leadership and oversees the initiative from a strategic standpoint. They make key decisions and might sit in on some of the important sessions as well as the product demos.

This person ensures the selection process aligns with the HR team's strategic goals and ensures that the team considers the bigger picture. They might also be actively involved in making the final decision as well as contract negotiations.

Usually, the sponsor is a chief HR officer (CHRO) or HR director, but this person might also be a CIO or CFO, depending on who in the organization drives systems projects.

Selection manager

The selection manager oversees the software evaluation process itself, essentially serving as a project manager for the evaluation and selection process.

They manage the entire process, including creating a project plan, organizing meetings and delegating tasks to team members. They might also be the primary contact for vendors.

Selection advisor

Many buying teams bring on an advisor to help the selection team. They could potentially be someone internal, but it is often an outside consultant or consulting firm that specializes in advising on software evaluation and selection.

Typically, this advisor guides the team on topics such as structuring the process, creating a timeline, establishing the requirements and composing key questions to ask the vendor. They also help write the request for information (RFI) and request for proposal (RFP) documents to send out to vendors. The selection advisor might help companies that want to follow a less formal purchasing process identify vendors that best match their requirements without following the RFI or RFP processes.

Procurement advisor

Companies that are large and regulated, such as government agencies, might need to follow a detailed procurement process, complete with an RFP and impartial evaluations.

In these situations, someone from the procurement department should be included on the buying team to make sure that the proper procurement processes are followed. They might not be directly involved in the software evaluation process.

Subject matter experts

One or more subject matter experts are needed to provide expert guidance, depending on the specific applications that the team is evaluating. Subject matter experts could include roles such as compensation and benefits manager, learning and development specialist, payroll manager or payroll processor, recruiting manager or succession planner. Subject matter experts from IT and security might also be called upon to evaluate functionality specific to their area of expertise.

The team could also include multiple people from one function. For example, if the team is evaluating a compensation management tool, a compensation coordinator might need to join the process with the compensation and benefits manager. For a payroll system, individuals who manage and run payroll need to examine the system capabilities, and someone from finance needs to ensure the system meets financial and statutory reporting requirements and can integrate with the general ledger. For recruiting software, regional recruiting managers and recruiting coordinators might need to provide their input.

Having multiple people from the same function serve on the team is especially important when the organization operates in multiple locations because each employee in the function might perform the same or similar duties but only support one region. For example, a company that employs workers in more than one country must comply with the regulations and pay taxes specific to each country; therefore, it should put more than one payroll professional on the buying team.

Demo team

Not all HR professionals and subject matter experts necessarily participate in the entire evaluation process; however, expanding the audience for the product presentations and demos can be valuable. Vendor demos provide an opportunity to ask important questions about supported processes and functionality that relate to everyday HR work.

However, if an organization has a large HR team, it might be necessary to restrict the number of people involved, since having too many people at a demonstration can be inefficient. Additionally, those people attending presentations and demos should be prepped before the meeting to avoid asking questions about previously discussed information.

HR software buying team examples

Examining a couple of team examples can be helpful because HR software selection team composition is dictated in part by the type of software being considered.

For a selection team evaluating a recruiting system, the team makeup could look similar to the following:

• Sponsor. CHRO or HR director.
• Selection manager. Internal project manager or senior HR professional.
• Selection advisor. External consultant.
• Subject matter experts. HR manager, recruiting manager, one recruiter per country or region, IT analyst, HRIS administrator and HR business partners.
• Demo team. All the above, senior IT professionals, staff who support the recruiting manager and recruiters.

For a selection team evaluating a payroll system, the team makeup might look something like the following:

• Sponsor. CHRO or CFO.
• Selection manager. Internal project manager, senior HR professional or payroll manager.
• Selection advisor. External consultant.
• Subject matter experts. HR manager, payroll manager, one payroll administrator per country, compensation and benefits manager, pensions administrator, finance manager, HRIS administrator and IT analyst.
• Demo team. All the above, senior IT professionals, and staff who support payroll processing, compensation, benefits and pensions.

Building the buying team

The selection manager is responsible for building the buying team. They must understand the scope of the application being sought and how different teams within the company will be affected. Based on this information, the selection manager should consider the following points when selecting team members:

• Are there any other big projects underway at the company that might prevent employees from being assigned to the project?
• Are leaders in other departments on board with the project, or does the selection manager need help from the project sponsor to secure buy-in?
• Can the selection manager influence who is assigned to the team to ensure that the team members possess the right skillsets and experience?
• Will the people assigned to the team be given time to dedicate to the project, or will they be expected to continue with their full-time work?
• Is there at least one representative from each group that will be affected by the new application?
• Are funds available to bring in an external expert if one is needed or desired?

Buying advice

The team must consider how a new HR application, such as a performance management application or succession planning application, might affect future software purchases.

Skipping steps at the beginning of the project can lead to preventable issues later. For example, writing a business case, documenting requirements and building an evaluation team with diverse areas of expertise are all applicable, regardless of the size and scope of the software being considered.

The following are some example questions to consider when evaluating different types of HR systems:

• How will a new learning management system tie into a current employee development planning system?
• If the company purchases a new core HR system later, can IT integrate it with the recruiting system so that job and position data is available in the new HR system and have successful candidates automatically hired into the core HR system?
• What will self-service look like if the purchased applications are from different vendors and have various user interfaces and integration points?
• Can a new HR system integrate with the current financial planning system?
• How will employee benefit deductions be extracted from the payroll system and sent to the appropriate providers?
• Can the permissions in the new system be configured to meet the company's security requirements?

These are the types of questions that an HR software buying team must consider, whether the purchased technology is a single application or a full suite.

Editor's note:This article was updated in December 2025 to improve the reader experience.

Luke Marson is a principal architect and part of the management team of a global SAP SuccessFactors consulting partner, where he focuses on SuccessFactors Employee Central, extensibility and integration technologies.

Eric St-Jean is an independent consultant with a particular focus on HR technology, project management and Microsoft Excel training and automation. He writes about numerous business and technology areas.