Sr. Manager, Workday

Sr. Manager, Workday
What You'll Do
The Senior Manager of People Technology leads the day-to-day delivery, optimization, and
governance of Avalara’s Workday platform. This role leads a team of Workday experts to design,
build, and support scalable solutions across the employee lifecycle, including HCM, Talent,
Performance, Advanced Compensation, Absence/Time Off, Benefits, Payroll, Recruiting (ATS),
and Extend.
They translate business priorities into a practical roadmap, ensure smooth execution of releases
and annual cycles, and partner closely with People & Culture, Talent Acquisition, and Finance to
deliver a reliable, user-friendly system for employees and managers.
How This Role Elevates Avalara
Team
• Strengthens People Technology capability by building and coaching a high-performing
Workday team with deep functional and technical expertise.
• Reduces operational friction by simplifying Workday processes and establishing clear
runbooks, standards, and governance so the team can execute with higher velocity and
fewer escalations.
• Creates a culture of innovation by encouraging analysts and partners to proactively
surface automation, AI, and process-improvement opportunities across Workday.
Elevates the Business
• Accelerates efficiency goals by redesigning Workday workflows and identifying
automation opportunities that meaningfully reduce manual work for employees,
managers, Talent Acquisition, and the People & Culture teams.
• Improves decision quality through reliable people data, consistent configuration, and
accessible reporting that leaders can trust for headcount, hiring, and talent planning
decisions.
• Supports scalable growth and M&A by designing Workday capabilities that can be
extended to new entities, roles, and geographies without bespoke rework.
• Strengthens control and readiness by improving Workday security, auditability, and
process discipline in support of SOX, risk management, and IPO readiness.
Elevates the Customer Experience
• Enhances the employee experience by making Workday easier to use; simplifying tasks
like hiring, transfers, performance, compensation, and leave so employees and
managers can complete work with fewer clicks and less confusion.
• Improves end-to-end workflows and processes to create a more intuitive, seamless
experience for employees and greater transparency for all stakeholders.
• Reduces support needs by designing processes, navigation, and in-system guidance that
minimize support tickets and r
What Your Responsibilities Will Be
Platform ownership & delivery
• Serve as product owner for Workday across key modules (e.g., Core HCM,
Talent/Performance, Compensation, Absence/Time Off, Benefits, Recruiting/ATS).
• Drive the end-to-end delivery of major Workday initiatives (e.g., ATS implementation,
global process redesigns, new modules), including design, configuration oversight,
testing, and deployment.
• Manage integration teams to ensure robust, monitored integrations between Workday
and downstream systems (payroll, benefits, identity, recruiting tools, analytics
platforms).
Governance, controls, and security
• Define and maintain Workday configuration standards, security model principles, and
business process design guidelines.
• Own Workday change governance (design reviews, approvals, release planning) and
ensure alignment with SOX, privacy, and security requirements.
• Coordinate Workday audits, access reviews, and control testing with Audit, Security, and
Compliance.
Operational excellence
• Oversee day-to-day Workday operations and ensure SLAs for incidents, enhancements,
and data corrections are met.
• Define and track operational KPIs (e.g., ticket volume, cycle time, incident recurrence,
adoption) and lead continuous improvement efforts.
• Ensure high-quality documentation for processes, configuration decisions, and
runbooks.
People leadership
• Manage and develop a high-performing Workday team (analysts, configuration
specialists, and/or vendor resources), with clear goals, coaching, and growth plans.
• Foster a culture of ownership, transparency, and experimentation — encouraging the
team to surface process and automation opportunities.
Stakeholder partnership & change leadership
• Act as the primary Workday partner for People & Culture, Talent Acquisition, Payroll,
Finance, and business leaders.
• Facilitate design and prioritization workshops; clearly communicate trade-offs,
timelines, and impacts.
• Drive effective change management for Workday releases and initiatives, including
communication and training plans.
AI & automation collaboration
• Identify and deliver high-impact automation and AI use cases in Workday workflows
• Ensure new Workday capabilities are designed with automation-readiness and data
quality in mind.
12-Month Success Signals
Within the first 12 months, this leader will:
• Workday Recruiting (ATS) is live and stable with agreed scope, on-time delivery, and
measurable improvements in time-to-fill, candidate/manager experience, and TA ticket
volume.
• Workday governance is operating consistently, with a documented intake and
prioritization process, clear RACI, and predictable release planning that stakeholders
trust.
• Key Workday processes are simplified (e.g., hiring, transfers, performance,
compensation, benefits/leave), evidenced by reduced manual work for P&C and fewer
support tickets from managers and employees.
• Audit and security posture is stronger, with successful completion of agreed Workday-
related audit and access reviews, and no repeat findings tied to Workday controls.
• Operational KPIs are trending in the right direction, such as reduced incident recurrence,
improved SLA adherence, and increased automation/straight-through processing for
common transactions.
• The Workday team is seen as a trusted partner, with clear ownership, improved
stakeholder satisfaction scores, and a visible development path for team members.
AI Expectations
The successful candidate will:
• Identify and prioritize AI and automation opportunities within Workday and adjacent
HR/TA processes to reduce manual work and improve decision quality.
• Evaluate AI-enabled capabilities in Workday and related platforms, balancing innovation
with data quality, risk, and change-management needs.
• Apply sound judgment on ethics, privacy, and compliance when using AI in people
processes, escalating risks and helping to shape appropriate governance and guardrails.
• Identify AI opportunities tied to revenue enablement, efficiency, workforce quality, or
risk reduction.
• Elevate AI maturity and best practices across the function.
What You’ll Need To Be Successful
• B.S. in Computer Science, Information Systems, or Engineering.
• 10+ years of experience in HRIS / People Technology / HR Systems, with 6+ years of
hands-on ownership of Workday in a global environment.
• 4+ years of people management experience leading Workday or HR technology teams.
• Deep functional and configuration knowledge of multiple Workday modules, including:
o Core HCM, Talent & Performance, Advanced Compensation, Time & Absence,
Benefits, Payroll, Extend, Recruiting, and/or Studio/Orchestrations.
• Demonstrated experience leading large Workday initiatives (implementations, new
modules, major redesigns, or global rollouts) from discovery through deployment and
stabilization.
• Proven ability to design and govern Workday security, business processes, and
configuration standards in partnership with Security, Audit, and IT.
• Strong understanding of end-to-end HR and TA processes (hire-to-retire, performance,
compensation, benefits, recruiting) and how they are enabled in Workday.
• Experience working with external Workday partners (implementation, AMS, or
consulting) and managing vendor performance.
• Excellent communication and stakeholder management skills, with the ability to simplify
complexity, influence senior leaders, and drive alignment across HR, Technology, and
the bu