Associate Director, Workday Operations

Gilead Sciences • Foster City, CA

11d • Hybrid

About The Position

The Workday Operations leader is responsible for the end to end ownership, quality, and governance of foundational Workday data, while also designing and leading a scalable, tiered Workday support model. This role ensures that Workday data, support processes, and operational responsibilities are clearly defined, efficiently executed, and aligned with business needs, compliance requirements, and platform sustainability. Acting as the central authority for Workday data, this role partners closely with HR, Payroll, Benefits, Finance, IT, and Analytics teams to manage organizational data changes, resolve data issues, and establish durable data standards. The role blends hands on execution with governance leadership, ensuring Workday data reliably supports transactions, payroll, integrations, and analytics at scale.

Requirements

• Bachelor's degree and 10+ years of relevant experience; OR Masters' degree and 8+ years of relevant experience; OR PhD and 5+ years of relevant experience
• Candidates less than 50 miles from the Foster City office are required to be Onsite - Hybrid Eligible
• Candidates 50+ miles from the Foster City office will be Remote.
• 10+ years of experience in Workday HRIS, data management, or data governance roles, with demonstrated ownership of foundational data domains.
• Strong hands‑on experience with Workday Core HCM data structures, including supervisory orgs, positions, jobs, cost centers, companies, and locations.
• Proven experience executing mass data loads (EIBs), data audits, and data remediation in production Workday environments.
• Deep understanding of how upstream data impacts payroll, integrations, security, and reporting.
• Experience defining and enforcing data governance frameworks, controls, and approval processes.
• Strong analytical, problem-solving, and root-cause analysis skills.
• Excellent communication skills, with the ability to explain data concepts and standards to non-technical stakeholders.
• Experience supporting Workday in a large, global, or regulated environment.
• Experience designing or operating tiered application support models for HRIS or enterprise SaaS platforms (Workday preferred).

Responsibilities

• Own the design, structure, and ongoing integrity of foundational Workday data, including supervisory organizations, companies/legal entities, positions, jobs, cost centers, locations, and related attributes.
• Define and enforce data governance standards, policies, and approval workflows to ensure consistency, compliance, and alignment with business strategy.
• Serve as the primary point of contact for Workday data usage, standards interpretation, and governance decisions.
• Design and implement a tiered Workday support model (Tier 1 / Tier 2 / Tier 3) that clearly defines support scope, ownership, escalation paths, and service expectations across HR, HRIS, IT, and external partners.
• Identify and categorize Workday work by complexity, risk, and expertise required, determining where activities should be handled (e.g., HR operations, HRIS analysts, data management, solution architects, or vendors).
• Define intake, triage, and escalation processes for Workday requests, incidents, and data issues to ensure efficient resolution and appropriate use of specialized resources.
• Create standards and playbooks for common data and system issues to enable lower‑tier resolution and reduce repeat defects.
• Monitor support trends and root causes to identify systemic issues, recommend process or design improvements, and continuously refine the support model.
• Lead business‑as‑usual (BAU) data support across Workday modules, including mass data loads, recurring maintenance, year‑end activities, and urgent data corrections.
• Manage and execute EIBs, data loads, and data updates, ensuring accuracy, auditability, and minimal business disruption.
• Provide expert support to HR and HRIS teams for data‑related questions, reporting issues, and troubleshooting.
• Establish data quality metrics, validation routines, and monitoring controls to proactively identify and remediate data issues.
• Perform regular data audits to detect inconsistencies, root causes, and systemic gaps, and drive corrective and preventive actions.
• Support internal and external audits by ensuring strong documentation, traceability, and compliance with regulatory and internal control requirements.
• Create Inclusion - knowing the business value of diverse teams, modeling inclusion, and embedding the value of diversity in the way they manage their teams.
• Develop Talent - understand the skills, experience, aspirations and potential of their employees and coach them on current performance and future potential. They ensure employees are receiving the feedback and insight needed to grow, develop and realize their purpose.
• Empower Teams - connect the team to the organization by aligning goals, purpose, and organizational objectives, and holding them to account. They provide the support needed to remove barriers and connect their team to the broader ecosystem.

Benefits

• company-sponsored medical, dental, vision, and life insurance plans
• discretionary annual bonus
• discretionary stock-based long-term incentives (eligibility may vary based on role)
• paid time off

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Manager