Workday HCM Specialist

Focus on WD; Greater London; Hybrid; GBP 75,000 - 85,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Comprehensive benefits

Hybrid work model

2 days on-site in London

Job summary

Focus on WD is seeking an experienced Workday HCM Specialist to join its growing Workday team in London. The role focuses on optimisation, adoption, and delivering value from the Workday platform.

You will work with HR stakeholders to translate requirements into Workday solutions, manage the backlog, support releases, and drive continuous improvement across HCM, Absence and Compensation.

Qualifications

• Significant hands-on Workday experience across HCM, Absence and Compensation.
• Strong understanding of HR processes enabled through Workday.
• Experience translating requirements into Workday solutions and clearly defined requirements.

Responsibilities

• Act as a Workday HCM functional specialist across HCM, Absence, Compensation.
• Engage with HR and stakeholders to understand requirements and maximise Workday value.
• Translate requirements into user stories, acceptance criteria and solutions.
• Support backlog prioritisation and alignment to business priorities.
• Collaborate with delivery teams through development lifecycle including testing and deployment.
• Lead adoption of Workday feature releases and identify improvement opportunities.
• Support reporting and analytics to reflect business information needs.
• Assist Workday configuration, processes, structures and governance.
• Provide functional support for complex issues with internal teams and partners.
• Support user adoption through guidance and knowledge sharing.
• Build relationships across HR and delivery teams as the Workday contact.
• Keep up-to-date with Workday functionality and emerging capabilities.

Skills

Workday HCM

HCM processes

Stakeholder management

Analytics

UAT/testing

Tools

Workday

Job description

Workday HCM Specialist

A leading UK organisation is looking for an experienced Workday HCM Specialist to join its growing Workday team. Recently live with Workday HCM, the organisation is now focused on maximising the value of the platform through optimisation, continuous improvement, user adoption and effective use of Workday functionality. This is an opportunity to play a key role in shaping the future use of Workday, working closely with HR stakeholders and delivery partners to improve processes, introduce new functionality and ensure the platform continues to support evolving business needs.

Salary: £75,000 - £85,000 Per Annum plus comprehensive benefits

Hybrid Working: 2 Days on-site in London per week

Key Responsibilities

• Act as a Workday HCM functional specialist, providing subject matter expertise across HCM, Absence, Compensation and related Workday functionality.
• Work closely with HR and business stakeholders to understand requirements, improve existing processes and identify opportunities to maximise the use and value of Workday.
• Translate business requirements into clear user stories, acceptance criteria and practical Workday solutions.
• Support the prioritisation and management of the Workday backlog, ensuring enhancements and improvements are clearly defined and aligned to business priorities.
• Work with delivery teams and partners throughout the development lifecycle, supporting refinement, testing, UAT, deployment and post-release validation.
• Lead the functional assessment and adoption of Workday's regular feature releases, identifying relevant new functionality and opportunities for improvement.
• Support Workday reporting and analytics, ensuring business information requirements are reflected in the platform and its ongoing development.
• Support Workday configuration, business processes, organisational structures, positions and compensation, ensuring appropriate governance and operational effectiveness.
• Provide functional support for complex issues, working with internal teams, Workday and external partners where required.
• Support user adoption through effective guidance, documentation, knowledge sharing and continuous improvement.
• Build strong relationships across HR, business and delivery teams, acting as a key point of contact for Workday-related requirements and improvements.
• Keep up to date with Workday functionality and emerging capabilities, identifying opportunities to improve processes and increase return on investment from the platform.

Essential Experience & Skills

• Significant hands‑on Workday experience across HCM, Absence and Compensation, with broader Workday knowledge desirable.
• Strong understanding of HR processes and how these can be effectively enabled through Workday.
• Proven experience in a Workday HCM Specialist, Functional Lead, Product Owner, Business Analyst or similar role.
• Strong experience of Workday optimisation, enhancement or continuous improvement.
• Experience supporting Workday releases, testing, UAT and deployment.
• Experience translating business requirements into Workday solutions and clearly defined requirements.
• Experience with Workday configuration, business processes and tenant governance.
• Strong stakeholder management and communication skills, with the ability to work effectively with both HR and technical audiences.
• Experience working with Workday partners, implementation teams or AMS providers.
• Strong analytical, problem‑solving and decision‑making skills.
• Ability to identify opportunities to improve user experience, process efficiency and the overall value delivered by Workday.

Desirable Experience

• Workday certification in relevant functional areas.
• Experience working in a recently implemented Workday environment.
• Experience supporting Workday adoption and user enablement.
• Experience with Workday reporting and analytics.
• Experience operating within an Agile or product-based delivery environment.
• Experience supporting Workday transformation or optimisation programmes.

The Opportunity

This is a hands‑on opportunity for an experienced Workday professional to join a growing team at an important stage of its Workday journey. You will have genuine influence over how the platform develops, how it is used across the organisation and how the business maximises its investment in Workday.