Greenhouse to Namely Integration Guide: Automate New‑Hire Provisioning, Offers, Onboarding, and HR Sync

This guide explains how integrating Namely (an end-to-end HR and payroll platform) with Greenhouse (an applicant tracking system) streamlines the handoff from candidate to fully onboarded employee. It focuses on concrete capabilities, typical users, implementation considerations, measurable benefits, and common pitfalls to avoid. You’ll get a practical checklist for planning, field-mapping examples, KPIs to track after go-live, and a decision guide to determine whether the integration is a fit for your organization. The content assumes you already use Greenhouse for hiring and are evaluating a tighter connection to Namely for HR, payroll, and onboarding automation.

Core functions the Namely–Greenhouse integration provides

• New-hire provisioning Automatically create employee records in Namely when a candidate’s Greenhouse status changes to ‘hired’, eliminating manual data entry.
• Compensation and offer sync Transfer offer details—base salary, sign-on, pay frequency, and job title—so payroll and HR records match the ATS offer.
• Onboarding task triggers Kick off Namely onboarding workflows (forms, eSignature requests, IT provisioning checklists) immediately after hire is confirmed.
• Org and job mapping Map Greenhouse jobs and departments to Namely’s org units, cost centers, and manager relationships to maintain headcount accuracy.
• Status and lifecycle updates Sync status changes like terminations, rehires, or role changes to keep HRIS and payroll aligned with ATS records.

Technically, most integrations use Greenhouse webhooks or scheduled API exports to push hire events into Namely’s API or an integration middleware. Depending on the configuration, the sync can be one-way (ATS → HRIS) or bidirectional for select fields (e.g., work location or manager). Field mapping and transformation rules are applied during the transfer to match each system’s data model. Successful technical implementations include a sandbox validation stage, clear error-handling logic (retries, alerts, and human review workflows), and a defined canonical source of truth for conflicting fields (typically Greenhouse for candidate data pre-hire, Namely for post-hire HR attributes).

Typical field mapping examples

Who benefits most from this integration

• High-volume hiring organizations Teams that onboard dozens to hundreds of hires per year reduce repetitive data entry and speed time-to-productivity.
• Companies needing payroll accuracy Organizations where payroll errors have financial or compliance impact—accurate pay data reduces corrections and audit risk.
• Distributed or remote teams When multiple offices and managers are involved, centralized employee records and automated provisioning enforce consistent processes.
• Growing companies scaling HR operations Mid-market businesses (from ~100 employees upward) that want to replace manual onboarding spreadsheets with automated workflows.

Key benefits are practical and measurable: reduced manual entry time, fewer payroll and benefits errors, faster completion of new-hire paperwork, and better visibility into headcount and labor cost. The integration supports continuity between recruiting and people operations so hiring data flows reliably without repeated re-keying or late corrections. Beyond operational gains, automation improves the new-hire experience by ensuring offer details, documents, and access steps are ready before day one, which can increase first-week completion rates for required forms and trainings.

Implementation checklist

• Identify stakeholders Include recruiting operations, HRIS admins, payroll leads, IT/security, and at least one Greenhouse admin to own the process.
• Audit required fields List mandatory fields in Namely (SSN, tax status, bank details) and determine when/how they’ll be captured post-offer.
• Map fields and rules Document transformations (currency, title normalization, location codes) and who approves mappings.
• Set up API/webhook credentials Create integration keys in Greenhouse and Namely, and configure secure endpoints or middleware.
• Test with sample hires Run multiple test hires across scenarios (FT, PT, contractor, rehire) and validate records, payroll calculations, and onboarding triggers.
• Train admins and document runbooks Provide a short runbook for how to handle sync errors, log review, and manual overrides.

A typical rollout ranges from 2–8 weeks depending on complexity: a basic one-way sync with standard fields can be completed in the shorter range; custom field mappings, multi-entity payroll setups, or heavy compliance needs push timelines toward the longer end. Namely assigns account managers and implementation support, which speeds validation and communications with Greenhouse.

KPIs to track after go-live

Common pitfalls include mismatched custom fields, timing issues where payroll runs before a hire sync completes, and insufficient permissions for APIs to write required data. Avoid these by staging tests around payroll cycles, enforcing naming conventions for jobs and departments, and building alerting into the sync so ops teams get a clear queue of failed records to review. Another frequent issue is unclear ownership of post-hire data: define which system is the canonical source for fields that can be modified on both sides (for example, location vs. preferred working hours) and document an escalation path for conflicts.

Frequently asked questions

Real-world use cases

• Scaling headcount rapidly A VC-backed company hiring across engineering, sales, and operations reduced new-hire admin by automating record creation and forms distribution.
• Seasonal or campus hiring Retail or seasonal employers use the integration to process many short-term hires quickly and accurately for payroll.
• Improving payroll accuracy Organizations with frequent payroll corrections eliminated mismatched offer data and reduced correction cycles by standardizing offer-to-pay transfer.

Maintenance best practices include weekly log reviews of failed syncs for the first 90 days, monthly audits of field mappings after org changes, and a quarterly review with Namely account management to adjust workflows as the company evolves. Document and automate alerting for failed creations and exceptions that require HR or recruiting ops intervention. Retention of audit records for hires and changes is also important—ensure both systems maintain logs for at least the period your compliance or internal policy requires.

Decide to invest in the integration when manual entry is a recurring bottleneck (e.g., more than a few hours per hire), when payroll errors due to mismatched offer data occur, or when scaling hiring makes a manual process unsustainable. The ROI is primarily in saved administrative time, fewer payroll corrections, and faster new-hire readiness—measure those after a pilot to confirm value for your org. If you’re unsure, start with a narrow pilot: sync a single department or job family, validate KPIs for 30–90 days, then expand once you see reliable outcomes.