Lead Workday Product Owner: Strategy, Roadmap & Delivery

Obama Foundation; Chicago (IL); Hybrid; USD 102,000 - 127,000; Full time

Job summary

The Obama Foundation in Chicago is seeking a Lead Workday Product Owner to bridge business teams and the Workday platform, owning the strategic roadmap and coordinating both internal staff and our external AMS partners to implement configurations and complex builds.

You will partner with the People Team, Finance, Operations, and IT to align the Workday system with organizational goals, manage sprint priorities, and drive adoption through training and governance.

Qualifications

• 5+ years of progressive experience in Workday product management.
• Preferred: Workday Pro Platform Certification Experience operating within an Agile/Scrum environment; proven ability to manage a product backlog, run sprint planning, and prioritize technical deliverables.
• Strong functional proficiency across core Workday modules (HCM, Payroll, Time Tracking, Absence, Projects, Adaptive) and Custom Reporting, with demonstrated capability to execute hands‑on technical configurations while guiding teams on complex implementations.
• Experience directing technical resources (internal engineers and external AMS partners) and evaluating when to build in‑house versus outsource.
• Experience scoping technical requirements and drafting Statements of Work (SOWs) for well‑defined Workday projects.
• Exceptional communicator, verbal and written; track record of facilitating discussions, negotiating priorities, and driving consensus among cross‑functional teams.

Responsibilities

• Strategic Partnership & Stakeholder Management: Lead regular discussions with leaders across the People Team, Finance, Payroll, and Operations to gather business requirements, translate them into technical objectives, and ensure cross-functional alignment.
• Roadmap & Backlog Management: Create and own the Workday strategic roadmap. Utilize Agile methodologies to manage the system backlog, plan sprints, and prioritize feature rollouts and fixes based on business value and current pain points.
• Resource Triaging & Technical Oversight: Direct internal Workday administrators and external AMS partners. Evaluate business requests and effectively triage work to determine what should be configured personally, assigned to the internal engineer, or outsourced to the AMS partner.
• Project Scoping & Vendor Management: Scope and manage external deliverables, including drafting and reviewing Statements of Work (SOWs) for well‑defined, large‑scale projects handled by AMS partners.
• Governance & Accountability: Define, implement, and maintain a clear RACI (Responsible, Accountable, Consulted, Informed) matrix across all Workday modules to establish strict ownership of data inputs, process flows, and system updates.
• Change Management & Adoption: Ensure business partners and end‑users are prepared for bi‑annual Workday releases and internal feature rollouts through clear communication and user acceptance testing (UAT) coordination.
• Training & Enablement: Develop and execute comprehensive training programs and documentation to ensure organizational readiness and support the successful adoption of new Workday features and releases.

Skills

Stakeholder alignment

Agile / Scrum

Workday configuration

Vendor management

Education

Workday Pro Platform Certification

Job description

The Obama Foundation in Chicago is seeking a Lead Workday Product Owner to bridge business teams and the Workday platform, owning the strategic roadmap and coordinating both internal staff and our external AMS partners to implement configurations and complex builds.

You will partner with the People Team, Finance, Operations, and IT to align the Workday system with organizational goals, manage sprint priorities, and drive adoption through training and governance.