People Systems Lead (Workday)

Corsearch; Greater London; Hybrid; GBP 90,000 - 125,000; Full time

Job summary

Corsearch is seeking a People Systems Lead in the UK to own both strategic and technical aspects of the Workday ecosystem. The role blends hands-on integration development with operation, partnering with HR leadership to drive continuous improvement and data-driven decision making.

You will design integrations, automate processes, and ensure secure, reliable data flows across Finance, payroll, and IT. A strong engineering mindset and experience in Workday security, reports, and governance are

Qualifications

• Hands-on experience in HRIS/Workday support and configuration.
• Strong Workday integration development skills (Studio, EIB, Core Connectors, RaaS, API).
• Comfort with data transformation formats (XML/JSON) and scripting (SQL; Python/JS).
• Engineer's mindset: APIs, automation, data flows; secure data handling.
• Experience partnering with HR leadership and delivering reports for people analytics.

Responsibilities

• Own end-to-end Workday integrations and related data flows across finance, payroll, IT/IAM, and data stack.
• Triaga Workday queries, provide technical escalation, and maintain data accuracy.
• Design, build, test, and maintain Studio and other integrations; reduce manual processes via automation.
• Deliver Workday reports and dashboards; enable data-driven decision making.
• Mentor a small team; manage performance and ensure project delivery while balancing maintenance tasks.

Skills

Workday integration development

SQL

Python/JavaScript

HRIS/Workday knowledge

APIs & data flows

Data governance

GDPR & compliance

Education

Workday Pro certification(s)

Tools

Studio

EIB

Core Connectors

RaaS

PEC I/PICOF

Job description

About The Role

We’re looking for a People Systems Lead to own both the strategic and technical dimensions of our Workday ecosystem. This is a hybrid builder‑and‑operator role: you will keep day‑to‑day operations running smoothly, partner with HR leadership on continuous improvement, and think and act like an engineer when it comes to integrations, automation, and data flows.

Reports to: Chief People Officer

Location: United Kingdom

As the person who administers and supports Workday for HR, managers, and employees while simultaneously designing integrations, automating manual processes, and ensuring our people data flows cleanly and securely across Finance, IT/IAM, payroll, and our wider data stack, you will be equally comfortable triaging a Workday query and building a Studio integration. Your goal is to deliver a seamless, intuitive user experience through targeted system improvements, proactive reconfiguration, and engineering‑grade reliability – while positioning people technology as a genuine enabler of business agility.

Key Responsibilities

Strategic HR Alignment & Platform Ownership

• Partner with the Chief People Officer and HR Directors to ensure Workday and connected systems effectively support business objectives.
• Position employee experience as a core driver of system design, proactively proposing reconfiguration and process improvements to increase operational agility.
• Lead release management, impact analysis, and UAT across Workday’s update cycles.
• Evaluate emerging Workday capabilities (Extend, Orchestrate, Prism) and recommend adoption where they add value.

Workday Administration & Support

• Enable People Operations to act as first‑line support for Workday queries and act as technical escalation point.
• Own complex business‑process configuration, condition rules, calculated fields, and the Workday security model end to end.
• Resolve data‑integrity issues at root cause, not symptom, maintaining high standards of accuracy across all HR data.

Integrations & Automation

• Design, build, test, and maintain Workday integrations using Studio, EIB, Core Connectors, RaaS, PECI/PICOF, and the Workday Web Services API (SOAP/REST).
• Build and own data flows between Workday and downstream systems – Finance, payroll, IAM, data warehouse, third‑party tools – including via middleware/iPaaS (e.g. Workato, MuleSoft, Boomi).
• Identify manual processes and replace them with automated, event‑driven flows; reduce ticket volume by engineering the root cause out.

Reporting & Analytics

• Build and maintain Workday reports, dashboards, and the data plumbing behind people analytics, including advanced, matrix, and composite reports.
• Use SQL and scripting (Python or similar) against the warehouse/Prism layer to support reporting and data integrity.
• Support ad hoc data requests and resolve reporting discrepancies across the business.

Security, Compliance & Governance

• Maintain the integrity of the Workday security model and ensure all integrations meet data‑privacy (GDPR) and audit requirements.
• Document architecture, integrations, and configuration to a standard that a due‑diligence team could follow.

Documentation, Training & Enablement

• Develop and maintain user guides, runbooks, and training materials that enable the People Operations team to handle day‑to‑day queries without escalation.
• Train HR and People teams on system usage and promote a culture of knowledge sharing.
• Act as the primary technical escalation point for the People Operations team.

People Management

• Lead, mentor, and develop a small team fostering a culture of technical excellence and continuous learning.
• Manage team performance through goal setting, regular feedback, and professional development planning.
• Allocate resources and prioritise tasks across the team to balance day‑to‑day maintenance with strategic project delivery.

Ideal Candidate

• Demonstrable hands‑on experience in HRIS, HR operations, and/or Workday support, including first‑line query resolution and configuration.
• Hands‑on Workday integration development: Studio, EIB, Core Connectors, RaaS, and the Web Services API (SOAP/REST).
• Comfort with XSLT/MVEL/XML/JSON for data transformation.
• A genuine engineering instinct – you think in terms of APIs, automation, and data flows, and you can read/write code (SQL essential; Python/JavaScript or similar an advantage).
• Solid functional grounding in Workday HCM modules (e.g. HCM, Absence, Time Tracking), security, and business process configuration.
• Experience partnering with HR leadership to ensure a great system and user experience.
• Experience building reports and supporting business data needs.
• Strong attention to detail with a focus on data accuracy, integrity, and reporting excellence.
• Excellent problem‑solving, analytical, and communication skills; ability to work independently and collaboratively within cross‑functional teams.

Nice to Have

• Middleware/iPaaS experience (Workato, MuleSoft, Boomi, Tray).
• Experience with Workday Extend, Orchestrate, or Prism.
• Workday Pro certification(s).
• Exposure to HR analytics and familiarity with global or multi‑entity HR processes.
• A computer science or engineering background (formal or self‑taught).

Core Competencies

• Operational Agility: resourceful, solution‑oriented, and capable of managing multiple priorities in a fast‑paced environment.
• Engineering & Analytical Mindset: focus on data accuracy, insight, and self‑sustaining improvements through APIs, automation, and root‑cause analysis.
• Collaborative Approach: thrives in cross‑functional teams and enjoys supporting HR, managers, and employees with both strategic and day‑to‑day needs.
• Continuous Improvement: proactively looks for ways to optimise operations, streamline processes, and deliver system enhancements that improve user experience.