Federal Strategic Initiatives Director

Workday; Pleasanton (CA); On-site; USD 193,000 - 311,000; Full time

Job summary

Workday is seeking a Director of Strategic Initiatives for Federal programs in the United States. You will drive critical initiatives, ensure operational excellence, and strengthen communication across Workday, our Federal customers, and key partners.

You’ll influence product roadmaps, compliance, and security while coordinating with Engineering, Customer Success and Sales to align on government priorities.

Qualifications

• 10+ years of proven success in a strategic, operational, or enablement capacity.
• Experience with large scale cloud SaaS product, engineering, compliance and platform teams.
• Deep understanding of product lifecycle, security and infrastructure platforms.
• Bachelor’s degree or higher required
• Demonstrated experience working directly with customers, Customer Success, Implementation teams, and external partners to manage delivery commitments and resolve cross‑functional issues
• Proven ability to bring products to market on time with high customer satisfaction

Responsibilities

• Coordinate with Workday leaders to ensure Federal commitments, risks, and dependencies are visible.
• Work with Engineering and Federal Product to embed compliance and security early in roadmaps.
• Define and communicate the Federal government's strategic initiatives.
• Advocate for customers within product orgs to shape growth priorities.
• Collaborate with Federal Product, Compliance and Industry Strategy teams to support councils and analyst relations.
• Own budget planning and tracking for Federal strategic initiatives.
• Advise on and co‑define Federal growth initiatives through strategic planning forums and financial reviews.
• Respond to shifting market dynamics by developing alternate strategic options.
• Support Product Lifecycle governance for Federal‑specific capabilities.
• Partner with Workday’s Partner organization to align on strategy, enablement, and delivery expectations.
• Own portfolio‑level visibility across Federal initiatives and report status and risk to GM and senior leadership.
• Coordinate and run key meetings across the Federal Industry vertical, including staff meetings and town halls.
• Establish and own the internal communications strategy for the Product team and Government vertical.
• Build and nurture relationships with senior leaders across Engineering, Technical Product Management, Product & Technology, Product Delivery, Customer Experience, Marketing, and Sales to align on shared objectives.

Skills

Cross-functional leadership

Strategic thinking

Executive communication

Customer collaboration

Education

Bachelor’s degree or higher

Job description

Workday is seeking a Director of Strategic Initiatives for Federal programs in the United States. You will drive critical initiatives, ensure operational excellence, and strengthen communication across Workday, our Federal customers, and key partners.

You’ll influence product roadmaps, compliance, and security while coordinating with Engineering, Customer Success and Sales to align on government priorities.