Workday Functional Lead

CE Global Partners

About The Position

The Workday Functional Lead will lead the client-side functional workstream for an initial Workday implementation. The role coordinates HR Subject Matter Experts (SMEs), HRIS team members and other business stakeholders; drives functional design decisions; manages the System Integrator (SI); and assures that proposed solutions meet business requirements and align with Workday best practices. It focuses on functional workstream management, business process design, solution governance, stakeholder coordination and operational readiness—not hands-on Workday configuration or technical development. The lead manages functional activities across the implementation lifecycle, from discovery and design through testing, deployment and transition. They oversee workstream plans, deliverables, milestones, dependencies, reporting and RAID management, and identify or escalate design decisions, delivery risks and cross-workstream dependencies. The role facilitates requirements and design reviews, challenges SI recommendations, and maintains oversight of design decisions and their business approval. It also leads future-state HR process documentation and Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs), supports testing and deployment readiness, and helps ensure the business is prepared to transition to business-as-usual operations.

Requirements

Proven experience leading a functional workstream on a Workday HCM implementation, ideally including an initial deployment.
Strong understanding of Workday functional design principles, capabilities and standard business processes.
Experience in a client-side functional leadership, design assurance or solution governance capacity.
Demonstrable experience managing and challenging a Workday System Integrator.
Experience coordinating HR SMEs and HRIS resources across multiple functional areas.
Strong understanding of Workday design workbooks, functional requirements and solution decision-making.
Ability to evaluate solution options and challenge proposed configurations without undertaking configuration directly.
Experience developing and managing workstream plans, status reports, RAID logs and dependencies.
Experience designing and documenting end-to-end HR processes and writing Standard Operating Procedures.
Strong workshop facilitation, stakeholder management and communication skills.
Ability to balance business requirements with standard Workday functionality and implementation best practices.

Nice To Haves

Strong knowledge of recruitment systems, recruitment processes and end-to-end recruitment solution design.
Experience with Workday Recruiting, including recruitment workflows, requisition management, candidate management and hire processes.
Understanding of recruitment system integrations, third-party recruitment platforms and the interaction between recruitment and core HCM.
Experience designing and assuring end-to-end Hire-to-Retire processes.
Previous experience working on complex, multi-country or global Workday implementations.

Responsibilities

Lead and manage the Workday functional workstream throughout discovery, design, testing, deployment and transition.
Develop, maintain and manage functional workstream plans, deliverables, milestones and dependencies.
Coordinate HR SMEs, HRIS team members and other business stakeholders to complete functional activities on time.
Own functional workstream reporting, progress tracking and RAID management.
Identify and escalate design decisions, delivery risks and cross-workstream dependencies; maintain alignment with the overall programme plan.
Lead and coordinate the completion and review of Workday design workbooks and functional requirements.
Facilitate workshops to review requirements, assess solution options and agree design decisions.
Challenge and assure SI solutions for alignment with business requirements, Workday capabilities and leading practices.
Evaluate design options and their effects on HR processes, user experience, integrations and downstream systems.
Maintain oversight of design decisions, including business ownership, approval and documentation.
Identify design gaps, unnecessary complexity and opportunities to use standard Workday functionality; ensure end-to-end HR processes are considered.
Act as the primary client-side functional counterpart to the SI's functional leads.
Manage and challenge SI deliverables and recommendations; review functional documentation and track progress against agreed milestones.
Coordinate resolution of functional issues, design gaps and dependencies, and provide independent assurance that the delivered solution reflects agreed designs and requirements.
Lead development and documentation of future-state HR business processes and produce SOPs with HR SMEs and HRIS stakeholders.
Ensure SOPs reflect agreed designs, processes, responsibilities and operational controls, and support transition to business-as-usual operations.
Support definition of future-state roles, responsibilities and hand-offs across HR, HRIS and other business functions.
Work with testing, change management and training teams so functional designs are understood and validated.
Support definition and review of functional testing scenarios and acceptance criteria.
Coordinate HR SME participation in functional testing and UAT, and support functional defect triage and resolution.
Ensure the business understands and accepts the delivered solution before deployment.
Support functional cutover readiness, knowledge transfer and transition to business-as-usual operations.