Workday Product Operations Manager

The City of Seattle's Information Technology (IT) department is seeking a Workday Product Operations Manager (IT Professional -A) to drive the vision, governance, and operational excellence of the City’s Workday HCM platform. This role oversees functional and technical teams responsible for configuration, integrations, reporting, security, data governance, testing, release management, and data conversion. The Workday Manager also ensures Workday remains reliable, scalable, secure, and aligned with the city's needs.

The Workday Manager partners closely with Human Resources (HR) Centers of Excellence, Payroll, Finance, IT Security, Internal Audit, and departmental HR leaders to optimize HR processes, deliver enhancements, expand automation, and continuously improve employee experience. The Workday Manager drives product roadmap execution, manages operational performance, and ensures readiness for Workday’s releases and enterprise-wide modernization initiatives.

Product Ownership & Platform Strategy

• Serve as the Workday HCM product owner, responsible for product vision, roadmap, prioritization, and governance.
• Translate business needs into Workday capabilities and ensure design decisions support scalable HR, payroll, and timekeeping processes.
• Evaluate new Workday features, modules, vendor tools, and configuration opportunities to support modernization and continuous improvement.
• Contribute to long-term Workday strategic planning and enterprise HRIS modernization efforts.

Operational Excellence & Delivery Management

• Oversee daily Workday operations including configuration, triage, testing, and release activities.
• Lead assessment, testing, and deployment of Workday’s semiannual releases and new modules.
• Establish repeatable workflows for change management, service requests, incident resolution, and release readiness.

Data Conversion & Functional Architecture

• Lead Workday data conversion strategy including mapping, transformation, cleanup, validation, and reconciliation.
• Serve as functional architect for Workday HCM modules and related HR, payroll, and timekeeping processes.
• Review and approve functional specifications including integrations, reports, conversions, and customizations.

Integrations, Data Architecture & Reporting

• Oversee Workday integrations using EIB, Studio, APIs, and Core Connectors.
• Ensure data accuracy, privacy, consistency, and auditability across systems.
• Lead Workday reporting strategy including dashboards, analytics, compliance reporting, and insights.

Security, Compliance & Risk Management

• Manage Workday security including roles, access controls, and segregation of duties.
• Partner with IT Security and Internal Audit to ensure compliance with regulatory requirements.
• Support audit readiness through documentation and risk mitigation activities.

Testing Strategy Leadership

• Own Workday testing strategy including test script development, SIT, UAT, defect management, and approvals.

Training Strategy & End-User Readiness

• Develop Workday training strategy including training materials, job aids, sessions, and change management.
• Ensure effective support models for employee, manager, and HR partner experience.

Team Leadership & Workforce Planning

• Lead and mentor Workday analysts and technical specialists to foster a collaborative, high-performance culture.
• Set measurable performance goals and support skill development and career progression.
• Evaluate team structure, workload, and skills to ensure operational readiness.

Stakeholder & Enterprise Decision Participation

• Build partnerships with HR, Payroll, Finance, and departmental leaders to align Workday capabilities with business needs.
• Represent Citywide HR, payroll, and timekeeping interests in functional decision-making with vendors and consultants.

Vendor Management & External Engagement

• Coordinate with Workday support teams to resolve cases and escalate issues as needed.
• Participate in Workday community forums and customer advisory groups.

Project & Change Leadership

• Lead Workday-focused projects including module rollouts, process transformation, and integration enhancements.
• Develop and execute change management plans for adoption of new Workday capabilities

NOTE: Equivalent combinations of education/experience/training will be considered for the required qualifications except where specifically noted.

Required Qualifications:

• Bachelor’s degree in IT, Business, HR, or related field, or equivalent experience. Additional 2 years of related experience in lieu of degree will be considered.
• 7+ years of Workday HCM or enterprise HRIS experience including 4+ years of experience leading HR technology teams and driving operational improvements.
• Strong functional and technical Workday knowledge including configuration and integrations.
• Demonstrated experience serving as a product manager or product owner for an enterprise application, preferably Workday or another HRIS platform.
• Demonstrated experience defining product roadmaps, prioritizing backlogs, and translating business requirements into functional capabilities.
• Demonstrated experience to lead cross-functional decision-making, negotiate among competing priorities, and represent enterprise-level business needs in system design discussions.

Preferred Qualifications

• Strong working knowledge of HR, payroll, and timekeeping processes and the ability to configure Workday to support standardized enterprise HR policies.
• Expertise in Workday Security, EIB, Studio, Advanced Reporting, and HCM Core configuration.
• Experience in HRIS modernization, Agile methodologies, or public-sector environments.
• Experience managing product lifecycles including release planning, feature evaluation, impact analysis, and change management within a SaaS environment.

Salary: The full pay range for this position is $62.26 - $93.41 per hour, ($129,500.80 - 194,292.80 annual). The salary for this individual role will be based on experience, training, and internal equity.

Benefits: The City offers a comprehensive benefits package including vacation, holiday, and sick leave as well as medical, dental, vision, life and long-term disability insurance for employees and their dependents. More information about employee benefits is available on the City's website at: https://www.seattle.gov/human-resources/benefits. Additionally, we provide free public transportation options.

Telework Expectations: This position offers flexibility of a hybrid work schedule. At this time, hybrid telework schedules have a minimum requirement of three days onsite per week, which is subject to change at any time at the mayor’s discretion. Individual schedules are based on operational needs and agreement between the employee and their supervisor.