Senior Director, Workplace Strategy & Portfolio Performance

Workday•Atlanta, GA

3d•Hybrid

About The Position

Your work days are brighter here. We’re obsessed with making hard work pay off, for our people, our customers, and the world around us. As a Fortune 500 company and a leading AI platform for managing people, money, and agents, we’re shaping the future of work so teams can reach their potential and focus on what matters most. The minute you join, you’ll feel it. Not just in the products we build, but in how we show up for each other. Our culture is rooted in integrity, empathy, and shared enthusiasm. We’re in this together, tackling big challenges with bold ideas and genuine care. We look for curious minds and courageous collaborators who bring sun-drenched optimism and drive. Whether you're building smarter solutions, supporting customers, or creating a space where everyone belongs, you’ll do meaningful work with Workmates who’ve got your back. In return, we’ll give you the trust to take risks, the tools to grow, the skills to develop and the support of a company invested in you for the long haul. So, if you want to inspire a brighter work day for everyone, including yourself, you’ve found a match in Workday, and we hope to be a match for you too. About the Team The Global Real Estate & Workplace team creates and continuously improves Workday’s productive and safe office environments while supporting our core values and distinction as a great place to work. With this critical contribution to the company in mind, we partner with other Workday departments such as People & Purpose, Business Technology, and Finance to ensure that we are successful in delivering on this goal. We handle every aspect of workplace operations, space analysis and projects, building facilities and maintenance. We capture employee rapport, keep track of office utilization, recommend expansions and / or new locations and coordinate projects for office build-outs and control operating and capital expenses. About the Role The Senior Director, Workplace Strategy & Portfolio Performance is the enterprise leader responsible for shaping the long-term real estate strategy, optimizing the global portfolio, and driving performance transparency through analytics, reporting, and governance. This role integrates strategic planning, portfolio optimization, workplace strategy and future of work insights, financial modeling, real estate transactions/lease administration and KPI reporting to enable data-driven decisions that support enterprise goals, workforce strategies, and operational efficiency. This role partners closely with Finance, HR, IT, Real Estate and Workplace (REWS) staff, and business leaders to align the real estate portfolio with business priorities and future-of-work strategies, and achieve data driven prediction at scale with AI.

Requirements

12+ years of experience in Enterprise G&A, preferably corporate real estate; management consulting, portfolio strategy, workplace strategy, or real estate planning and analytics.
Bachelor’s degree required; MBA or related graduate degree strongly preferred.
Proven experience leading global portfolio strategy and multi-year planning.
Deep expertise in financial modeling, scenario planning, and business case development.
Strong command of data analytics, dashboarding, and performance measurement (Power BI/Tableau preferred).
Experience with IWMS systems (e.g., Tririga, Archibus, Serraview) and real estate data sets.
Excellent communication skills, with the ability to influence senior executives and simplify complex information.
Demonstrated ability to lead cross-functional teams and manage in a matrixed environment.
Ability to translate business and workforce trends into actionable portfolio strategies.
Skilled at turning data into insights and insights into decisions.
Balance long-term vision with hands-on execution and continuous improvement.
Develops, motivates, and retains high-performing talent.
Delivery of a clear, aligned, multi-year global real estate strategy, including a “playbook” for office closure/right-sizing to drive executive alignment.
Establish Enterprise Location Strategy Governance (decision-making, with regular meeting cadence, and linked to enterprise annual budgeting cycle)
Improved accuracy and transparency of financial and space forecasts.
Deployment of a consistent enterprise KPI dashboard and reporting cadence.
Tangible portfolio optimization outcomes (consolidations, cost savings, improved efficiency).
Lead transaction activities worldwide.
Determine outsourcing optimization through use of brokerage community.

Responsibilities

Strategic Portfolio Leadership Develop and maintain a multi-year global real estate strategy aligned with business, workforce, and financial objectives.
Lead scenario planning, footprint optimization, and space demand/supply forecasting to be aligned with Workday growth investments
Integrate and manage the alignment of workforce planning and Enterprise Location Strategy (ELT).
Lead Integration strategy for offices acquired through enterprise M&A
Identify opportunities for consolidation, expansion, hybrid-work optimization, workplace improvements, and cost efficiency.
Operationalize leasing and buy/sell strategy of Real Estate portfolio, driving clear prioritization for REWS leadership team and lease administration activities/data.
Serve as a strategic adviser to the SVP, REWS and executive leadership (ECOMM)
Promote the future of work environments for Workday, in partnership with REWS Ops.
Enterprise Planning & Business Alignment Establish a singular, unified financial perspective to guide Enterprise Location Strategy.
Lead the annual and long-range planning processes for the REWS function, including capital planning, space planning, and strategic initiatives.
Partner with HR on workforce planning and headcount forecasting to inform future space and location needs.
Develop viable scenarios for demand/supply match for office design and location
Collaborate with Finance to evaluate portfolio decisions, build business cases, and deliver financial models.
Performance Management & Reporting Own the enterprise REWS KPI framework, dashboards, and reporting cadence (monthly, quarterly, executive-level).
Oversee portfolio performance metrics such as utilization, cost, occupancy, efficiency, sustainability, and service delivery.
Deliver high-quality insights and executive materials that support decision-making by ECOMM and business units.
Data Governance & Analytics Lead the REWS data strategy, ensuring data integrity, governance, and integration across IWMS, HR, Finance, and other systems.
Drive advanced analytics, automation, predictive modeling, and scenario tools to elevate decision-making.
Develop consistent standards for metrics, definitions, and data quality.
Cross-Functional Leadership Partner with REWS Operations, Design & Construction, and Security to align priorities and ensure consistent execution of strategic plans.
Facilitate governance processes for major real estate decisions, approvals, and performance reviews.
Mentor and lead a high-performing team of strategy, planning, and analytics professionals.
Thought Leadership & External Benchmarking Monitor market trends, industry benchmarking, utilization best practices, and workplace innovations.
Represent REWS in enterprise strategic discussions, internal committees, and external real estate forums.
Establish leadership in the Corporate Real Estate (CRE) community through thought leadership in future of work environments .