Product Manager Workday

About the Opportunity

The Product Manager owns the Workday platform end-to-end as a single coherent enterprise product spanning Finance HCM Payroll and Procurement. This role sits at the intersection of the business functional teams and technical delivery translating business strategy into a unified Workday roadmap and ensuring that decisions are made in one module. The Product Lead is the accountable owner for the health roadmap governance and value realization of the Workday ecosystem.

24/7 business continuity:

This role requires occasional availability outside of traditional working hours to address urgent business needs as they arise including but not limited to responding to security incidents supporting software deployments resolving software issues or system breaks and addressing other critical operational requirements. The ideal candidate must be proactive and adaptable ensuring minimal disruption to business operations by promptly addressing any issues regardless of time or day. Flexibility and a strong sense of urgency are essential for success in this position.

Other duties as required:

This role requires flexibility in performing duties outside of the primary responsibilities to support evolving business needs. The ideal candidate must be adaptable and willing to take on additional tasks or projects as required ensuring smooth operations across the organization. This may include stepping in to assist with cross-functional teams handling unexpected challenges or contributing to initiatives that support business growth and success. A proactive mindset and the ability to pivot quickly are essential for thriving in this dynamic environment.

Hybrid work schedule:

This role is hybrid and in the office a minimum of three days a week to facilitate collaboration and -office presence is an essential part of our on-campus culture and allows for engaging directly with staff and students sharing ideas and contributing to a dynamic work environment. Being on-site allows for stronger connections more effective problem-solving and enhanced team synergy all of which are key to achieving our collective goals and driving success.

Applicants must be authorized to work in the United States. The University is unable to work sponsor for this role now or in the future.

• Bachelors degree in business Information Systems HR Finance or related field (or equivalent experience).

• 5 years of experience supporting or leading Workday (or comparable ERP/HCM platform) implementations or operations with at least 3 years spanning multiple modules (Finance HCM Payroll and/or Procurement).

• Demonstrated experience owning a product roadmap or acting as a product/platform owner in an enterprise systems context.

• Strong understanding of Workdays data model business process framework security architecture and integration methods (EIBs Core Connectors Workday Studio/Orchestrate APIs).

• Experience coordinating cross-functional teams spanning business functional and technical disciplines.

• Track record managing Workday releases testing cycles and change management at an enterprise scale.

• Excellent stakeholder management and communication skills with the ability to translate between business language and technical detail.

• Workday certifications in one or more pillars (Financial Management HCM Payroll Procurement Integrations or Reporting).

• Experience with Workday Extend Workday Orchestrate or Adaptive Planning.

• Prior experience in a product management or platform owner role (e.g. Certified Scrum Product Owner SAFe POPM).

• Experience operating in a multi-entity multi-country Workday deployment.

• Familiarity with adjacent systems commonly integrated with Workday (procurement/supplier networks tax engines benefits carriers treasury/banking systems expense management).

Product & Roadmap Management

• Own the overall Workday product strategy and multi-year roadmap across Finance HCM Payroll and Procurement modules.

• Define and prioritize the enterprise backlog balancing competing demands from business stakeholders compliance requirements and technical debt.

• Maintain a single source of truth for the Workday product vision ensuring module-level roadmaps (Finance HCM Payroll Procurement) are integrated rather than siloed.

• Own the business case ROI tracking and value-realization metrics for the Workday investment

Cross-Functional Coordination

• Serve as the primary liaison between business process owners (HR Finance Payroll Procurement leadership) functional analysts/configuration teams and technical/integration teams.

• Run cross-module governance forums (e.g. Change Advisory Board Design Council) to review proposed configuration changes tenant updates and integrations for cross-functional impact.

• Coordinate release and update cycles (including Workdays biannual releases) across all modules ensuring testing communication and training are synchronized.

• Partner with business stakeholders to gather document and prioritize requirements and translate them into functional/technical specifications.

Platform & Technical Stewardship

• Own the overall system architecture philosophy for Workday including integration patterns security/role-based access model and data governance standards.

• Partner with technical teams (integrations EIBs Workday Studio/Orchestrate reporting/BIRT PECI etc.) to ensure the technical roadmap supports business needs.

• Oversee tenant configuration standards environment strategy (sandbox/preview/production) and change management processes to protect system integrity.

• Monitor system performance data quality and integration health across connected systems (e.g. banks benefits providers tax engines procurement/supplier networks).

Vendor & Ecosystem Management

• Serve as the primary business owner of the relationship with Workday (account team support and partner/AMS resources).

• Manage third-party implementation or managed services partners ensuring delivery quality and contract accountability.

• Track Workday product updates new features and community/Brainstorm ideas and assess their relevance to the organizations roadmap.

Governance Risk & Compliance

• Ensure Workday configurations and integrations comply with SOX payroll/tax regulations labor law and data privacy requirements across all supported geographies.

• Own change control and audit-readiness for the Workday tenant including security role reviews and segregation-of-duties (SoD) controls.

• Partner with Internal Audit and Security teams on periodic control reviews and remediation.

Team Leadership

• Provide functional leadership (direct or matrixed) to module leads/analysts across Finance HCM Payroll and Procurement.

• Set performance goals mentor team members and build organizational Workday expertise/capability.

• Foster a product mindset across the team outcomes and business value over ticket-closing.

Position Type

Additional Information

Northeastern University considers factors such as candidate work experience education and skills when extending an offer.

All qualified applicants are encouraged to apply and will receive consideration for employment without regard to race religion color national origin age sex sexual orientation disability status or any other characteristic protected by applicable law.

Compensation Grade/Pay Type:

Expected Hiring Range:

With the pay range(s) shown above the starting salary will depend on several factors which may include your education experience location knowledge and expertise and skills as well as a pay comparison to similarly-situated employees already in the role. Salary ranges are reviewed regularly and are subject to change.