HR Workday Governance, Integration & Enablement Lead
Chicago, IL - USA
Job Summary
This role owns the operating model for how Workday work is requested prioritized and delivered across HR. Sitting between HR Centers of Excellence (COEs) and HR Technology it translates business needs into well-defined requirements manages dependencies between teams and ensures Workday investment is sequenced against capacity and aligned to HRs strategic priorities.
Success looks like: every piece of Workday work coming through a consistent process the HR roadmap reflecting real priorities and realistic timelines HR teams building stronger Workday capability over time and a platform delivering its full potential.
Role Responsibilities:
Workday Roadmap & Planning
Owns the consolidated cross-HR Workday roadmap the single integrated view across all COE module roadmaps. Works with COE System Leads and HR Tech to sequence initiatives against capacity and technical constraints surface interdependencies and facilitate prioritization decisions when conflicts arise.
- Meets bi-weekly with COE System Leads to review priorities incorporating new requests and changes to capacity or technical constraints
- Surfaces interdependencies across COEs for example where a Recruiting change affects Pre-boarding or a Core HCM data change has downstream impacts on Reporting
- Prepares clear trade-off options when competing priorities arise facilitating decisions and ensuring outcomes are documented in the roadmap
Governance & Intake
Owns the end-to-end process by which Workday change requests are submitted assessed and prioritized from initial intake through to a decision on whether and when work proceeds.
- Maintains a standardized intake template grounded in problem definition impacted users business goals and success measures moving the conversation from what we want to build to what problem we are solving and for whom
- Facilitates a monthly governance forum with CHRO COE leaders and HR Tech leadership to review roadmap status and make prioritization decisions
- Tracks adherence to the intake process and ensures smaller enhancements move through the system efficiently rather than sitting in backlogs
Operating Discipline & Ways of Working
- Establishes clear categories of work major initiatives enhancements break/fix and BAU with agreed criteria for how each is handled resourced and tracked
- Sets required artefacts at each stage: a business requirements brief before any build begins; a test plan with defined owners before any deployment
- Defines ownership across HR and HR Tech at every handoff point so nothing falls between teams
- Simplifies delivery paths for lower-risk enhancements without compromising quality; introduces consistent sizing practices so estimates are reliable
Stakeholder Forums
Designs and runs recurring forums to keep HR COEs HR Tech and senior leadership aligned on priorities progress and decisions:
- Monthly Workday Governance Forum CHRO COE Heads HR Tech leadership: roadmap status and prioritization decisions
- Bi-weekly COE System Leads Forum working-level alignment on upcoming work and cross-COE dependencies
- Workday Advisory Board Market HR and HRBP representatives: voice of the business into roadmap and solution design
Enablement & Capability Building
- Provides COEs with templates and toolkits for process mapping role matrices and workflow documentation
- Contributes practical input during design sessions on what Workday can and cannot do natively helping COE System Leads sense-check designs and avoid unnecessary custom configuration
- Works with COE System Leads to sharpen requirements briefs from high-level business needs into something specific enough for HR Tech to size and scope
- Runs coaching sessions on requirements writing test planning and Workdays data model; stays current on Workdays product roadmap and brings recommendations to governance
HRHR Tech Integration
- Serves as the primary connection point between HR COEs and HR Tech ensuring needs are clearly understood on both sides
- Maintains clear boundaries between HR responsibilities (requirements UAT change management) and HR Tech responsibilities (configuration technical design deployment)
- Identifies and addresses process friction on both sides of the relationship advocating for improvements wherever they are needed
Change Management & User Experience
- Maintains a centralized Workday SharePoint site covering roadmap status ways of working guidance job aids and release updates
- Provides COEs with standardized templates for change management training and communications
- Establishes user experience principles ensuring configuration decisions prioritize usability for employees managers and HR teams
- Tracks Workday usage metrics and NPS sharing insights to identify where features are underused or further enablement is needed
Qualifications:
- Hands-on Workday experience across multiple modules (e.g. Core HCM Recruiting Compensation Absence Reporting) able to engage substantively in requirements and design conversations
- Experience running governance or program management processes in a complex HR or HR Tech environment including facilitating decisions with senior stakeholders
- Proven ability to work across organizational boundaries bringing together HR HR Tech and business stakeholders with different priorities and producing decisions rather than just discussions
- Comfortable operating without direct authority able to influence and hold people to process through relationships and credibility
- Familiarity with product management principles: defining problems before solutions measuring outcomes not just outputs and iterating based on user feedback
- Knowledge of Workdays release cycle and product roadmap with the ability to assess how upcoming features may affect HRs plans
As Workday capability matures this role can extend to support broader HR systems alignment applying the same approach across the wider HR technology landscape in partnership with HR Tech.
Additional Information :
This role has a market-competitive salary with an anticipated base compensation of the following range: $165000-$220000. Actual salaries will vary depending on a candidates experience qualifications skills and location. This role might also be eligible for a sales-based incentive or performance-based bonus. Other benefits include a flexible working environment comprehensive health insurance industry-leading parental leave life insurance education support and more.
Our Benefits
- Flexible working environment
- Volunteer time off
- LinkedIn Learning
- Employee-Assistance-Program (EAP)
NIQ may utilize artificial intelligence (AI) tools at various stages of the recruitment process including résumé screening candidate assessments interview scheduling job matching communication support and certain administrative tasks that help streamline workflows. These tools are intended to improve efficiency and support fair and consistent evaluation based on job-related criteria. All use of AI is governed by NIQs principles of fairness transparency human oversight and inclusion. Final hiring decisions are made exclusively by humans. NIQ regularly reviews its AI tools to help mitigate bias and ensure compliance with applicable laws and regulations. If you have questions require accommodations or wish to request human review were permitted by law please contact your local HR representative. For more information please visit NIQs AI Safety Policies and Guiding Principles: NIQ
NIQ is the worlds leading consumer intelligence company delivering the most complete understanding of consumer buying behavior and revealing new pathways to 2023 NIQ combined with GfK bringing together the two industry leaders with unparalleled global reach. With a holistic retail read and the most comprehensive consumer insightsdelivered with advanced analytics through state-of-the-art platformsNIQ delivers the Full View. NIQ is an Advent International portfolio company with operations in 100 markets covering more than 90% of the worlds population.
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Our commitment to Diversity Equity and Inclusion
At NIQ we are steadfast in our commitment to fostering an inclusive workplace that mirrors the rich diversity of the communities and markets we serve. We believe that embracing a wide range of perspectives drives innovation and excellence. All employment decisions at NIQ are made without regard to race color religion sex (including pregnancy sexual orientation or gender identity) national origin age disability genetic information marital status veteran status or any other characteristic protected by applicable laws. We invite individuals who share our dedication to inclusivity and equity to join us in making a meaningful impact. To learn more about our ongoing efforts in diversity and inclusion please visit the Work :
Yes
Employment Type :
Full-time
About Company
NIQ is the worlds leading consumer intelligence company, delivering the most complete understanding of consumer buying behavior and revealing new pathways to growth. In 2023, NIQ combined with GfK, bringing together the two industry leaders with unparalleled global reach. With a holi ... View more