Sr Workday Analyst, HR Systems

The Senior Workday Analyst will serve as a senior functional and technical resource within the HR Systems & Operations team, supporting the continued optimization, administration, and strategic development of the Workday platform. This is a hands-on configuration role with primary functional ownership for Core HCM, Absence, and Time Tracking, along with strong supporting capability in Reporting and Security and cross-functional support across the broader Workday ecosystem.

The ideal candidate will bring strong Workday configuration experience, a deep understanding of business processes and foundational HCM architecture, and the ability to independently assess complex requirements, recommend scalable solutions, troubleshoot production issues, and own configuration from design through testing and deployment. This role will strengthen internal Workday capability and provide additional depth and capacity to support strategic HR technology initiatives, system enhancements, and ongoing production operations.

Key Responsibilities

Functional Ownership & Configuration

• Serve as the primary HR Systems owner for assigned Workday functional areas, including Core HCM, Absence, and Time Tracking.
• Act as a subject matter expert for assigned functional areas, independently assessing requirements, recommending solution approaches, and owning configuration through testing and deployment.
• Configure, maintain, and optimize Workday functionality, including business processes, eligibility and condition rules, validations, notifications, calculations, and related configuration.
• Support worker lifecycle processes, including hires, job changes, transfers, terminations, organizational changes, and other employee transactions.
• Configure and support absence plans, time-off plans, accruals, eligibility, leave-related configuration, and absence business processes.
• Configure and support time entry, time calculations, eligibility, time-related business processes, and related downstream payroll impacts.
• Evaluate current-state processes and recommend system and process improvements that improve scalability, controls, data quality, and the employee and manager experience.
• Provide guidance on Workday best practices and appropriately challenge requests when an alternative configuration, process, or governance approach would provide a more effective or scalable solution.

Production Support, Optimization & Data Administration

• Independently troubleshoot complex Workday issues, identify root causes, and drive issues through resolution in partnership with appropriate stakeholders.
• Assess upstream and downstream impacts when designing configuration changes, with particular attention to dependencies across HCM, Absence, Time Tracking, Payroll, Compensation, Benefits, Recruiting, Talent, Performance, Reporting, Security, and integrations.
• Perform and support data corrections, EIBs, mass data changes, and other system administration activities in accordance with established controls.
• Partner with other HR Systems team members on cross-functional projects, enhancements, configuration, and production support.
• Provide functional and technical support for Recruiting, Talent, Performance, Compensation, Benefits, and other Workday areas as needed.

Cross-Functional Partnership

• Serve as the primary day-to-day HR Systems partner to Payroll for Workday-related configuration, troubleshooting, testing, and issue resolution.
• Partner with HR Centers of Excellence, HR Operations, Payroll, business stakeholders, IS, and external vendors to gather requirements and translate business needs into scalable system solutions.
• Maintain working knowledge of Workday integrations and data flows, with the ability to troubleshoot functional issues and effectively partner with integration resources and external vendors.

Reporting & Security

Reporting and Security are governed by HR Systems leadership. The Senior Workday Analyst is expected to maintain strong working knowledge in both areas to independently troubleshoot Workday processes and support business needs within established governance standards.

• Design and build advanced, matrix, and composite reports, including dashboards and discovery boards, to meet operational and business needs.
• Understand Workday data sources, business objects, calculated fields, report dependencies, and security implications.
• Create or modify operational reports where appropriate and in accordance with established reporting standards.
• Identify security-related causes of system or business process issues and understand role-based and user-based security concepts.
• Partner with HR Systems leadership on security changes, troubleshooting, and access-related decisions.
• Follow established reporting, security, privacy, and data governance standards.

Testing, Releases & Governance

• Coordinate end-to-end, regression, and user acceptance testing; document test results, configuration decisions, and identified issues; and partner with HR, Payroll, and business stakeholders through resolution.
• Assess Workday releases and feature updates for assigned functional areas, evaluate business impact and adoption opportunities, coordinate testing, and support implementation of relevant functionality.
• Maintain configuration documentation, change records, testing evidence, and system documentation in accordance with established HR Systems governance and control requirements.
• Balance production support, planned enhancements, and strategic project work while maintaining clear focus on commitments and priorities.

Qualifications

• 5+ years of HRIS experience, including 3+ years of hands-on Workday configuration experience; equivalent depth of experience will also be considered.
• Strong hands-on experience with Workday Core HCM, with demonstrated configuration experience in Workday Absence and/or Time Tracking and the ability to develop proficiency across both areas.
• Strong knowledge of Workday business process configuration and foundational architecture, including organizations, staffing structures, worker data, eligibility, condition rules, and related dependencies.
• Demonstrated ability to independently troubleshoot complex Workday issues and translate business requirements into practical, scalable system solutions.
• Experience supporting a production Workday environment and managing configuration through testing and deployment.
• Strong working knowledge of Workday Reporting and working knowledge of Workday Security concepts and governance.
• Experience partnering with Payroll in a Workday environment and understanding the downstream impact of HCM, absence, and time configuration on payroll processes.
• Working knowledge of Workday integrations, data flows, and EIBs; direct integration development experience is a plus but not required.
• Strong analytical, problem-solving, and communication skills, with the ability to work directly with HR, Payroll, business stakeholders, IS, and external partners.
• Workday Pro or other relevant Workday certifications are preferred, but not required.

Core Competencies

• Demonstrated ownership mindset with the ability to independently drive issues from analysis through resolution.
• Strong judgment when working with sensitive employee data, system access, and business-critical HR processes.
• Ability to manage multiple priorities and balance production support with project and enhancement work.
• Ability to operate effectively in ambiguity, investigate unfamiliar issues, and develop practical solutions.
• Strong stakeholder management skills, including the ability to explain technical issues, tradeoffs, and system constraints to nontechnical audiences.
• Ability to build trust and credibility across HR, Payroll, IT, and external partners through consistent, responsive, and reliable execution.

Location: Conshohocken, PA - Hybrid