Principal Grants Management Implementation Consultant, Higher Education

Workday; McLean (VA); Hybrid; USD 140,000 - 237,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Workday Bonus Plan

Annual stock grants

Flexible work options

Job summary

Workday is seeking an experienced Grants Management Consultant to support Higher Education implementations. You’ll partner with mission-driven institutions to design, configure, and deploy Workday Grants Management solutions, translating business requirements into practical configurations.

You’ll collaborate with clients, project teammates, and Engagement Managers to drive successful milestones and enable long-term success.

Qualifications

• 4+ years of Grants or Financial consulting experience OR 4+ years of Grants operational experience in Higher Education institutions
• Experience with Workday, Lawson, SAP, Oracle, PeopleSoft, or similar applications
• Experience with Grants Management solutions along with Accounts Receivable, Projects, Endowments, Fund or Nonprofit Accounting

Responsibilities

• Design and configure Workday Grants Management solutions across engagements
• Partner with customers to elicit and document business requirements
• Configure Grants Management to align with customer needs and document decisions
• Support data conversion, integrations, and testing with clients and teams
• Drive project execution and stakeholder alignment with the Engagement Manager

Skills

Grants management

Workday

Stakeholder management

Communication

Education

Bachelor’s degree in Finance or Accounting

Tools

Workday Grants

Lawson

SAP

Oracle

PeopleSoft

Job description

Your work days are brighter here.

We’re obsessed with making hard work pay off, for our people, our customers, and the world around us. As a Fortune 500 company and a leading AI platform for managing people, money, and agents, we’re shaping the future of work so teams can reach their potential and focus on what matters most. The minute you join, you’ll feel it. Not just in the products we build, but in how we show up for each other. Our culture is rooted in integrity, empathy, and shared enthusiasm. We’re in this together, tackling big challenges with bold ideas and genuine care. We look for curious minds and courageous collaborators who bring sun‑drenched optimism and drive. Whether you're building smarter solutions, supporting customers, or creating a space where everyone belongs, you’ll do meaningful work with Workmates who’ve got your back. In return, we’ll give you the trust to take risks, the tools to grow, the skills to develop and the support of a company invested in you for the long haul. So, if you want to inspire a brighter work day for everyone, including yourself, you’ve found a match in Workday, and we hope to be a match for you too.

About The Team

The Higher Ed Functional Consulting team partners with colleges and universities to design and deliver Workday Grants Management solutions that help our customers get the most out of Workday. We lead implementations end‑to‑end, balancing scope, milestones, and quality across a steady pipeline of projects. Many of us previously worked in Higher Ed, and we understand the realities of shared governance, academic calendars, and public or public‑adjacent organizations. We also value creating sustainable ways of working that fit those environments. Our team is highly educated, curious, and always looking for ways to improve how we work. We actively experiment with Workday’s AI tools to make our implementations high‑quality and efficient, and we share what we learn so the entire practice benefits.

About The Role

We’re looking for an experienced Grants Management Consultant to support Higher Education implementations. In this role, you will partner with mission‑driven organizations to design, configure, and deploy Workday Grants Management solutions built for accuracy and long‑term success. You’ll bring Workday product and implementation expertise to client engagements, helping customers translate business requirements into practical solutions. You’ll work closely with clients, project teammates, and Engagement Managers to move implementations forward with clarity, quality, and strong partnership. You’ll have meaningful ownership over the Grants workstream, with the autonomy to recommend design approaches that set customers up for long‑term success. This role is ideal for someone who enjoys solving complex problems, building trust with stakeholders, and helping customers navigate key implementation milestones with confidence. You’ll both learn from experienced teammates and contribute your own ideas and patterns to help evolve how we implement Workday Grants Management in Higher Education.

Key Responsibilities

• Design and configure Workday Grants Management solutions
  • Apply deep expertise in the Workday Grants Management product across customer engagements
  • Partner with customers to elicit, clarify, and document business requirements
  • Configure Workday Grants Management to align with customer needs and operational realities
  • Document solution decisions clearly so customers can support and sustain their environment after go‑live
• Support data conversion, integrations, and testing
  • Partner with client and data conversion teams to support legacy grants/financial data conversion into Workday
  • Partner with integration teams to support the configuration and testing of integrations between Workday and third‑party or custom solutions, as applicable.
  • Support customers through testing cycles, including issue triage and resolution
  • Transfer system knowledge to customer teams to support adoption, confidence, and long‑term success in production
• Drive project execution and stakeholder alignment
  • Communicate regularly with the Engagement Manager on project status, hours forecasting, time reporting, risks, and mitigation plans
  • Help customers prepare for and navigate key implementation milestones, from design through testing and deployment
• Contribute to the practice and mentor others
  • Mentor consultants who are newer to Grants Management
  • Participate in updating training and knowledge‑sharing opportunities that strengthen team capability
  • Contribute to the Higher Education consulting practice by identifying opportunities for improvement and leading or participating in internal initiatives

About You

You bring strong Workday Grants Management expertise, sound judgment, and a collaborative approach to delivery. You know how to balance customer needs, project realities, and solution quality. You communicate clearly, build trust quickly, and work well across teams and workstreams. We’re open to hiring at the Senior Consultant or Principal Consultant level depending on your experience, scope of expertise, and track record of leading complex client engagements.

Basic Qualifications: Senior Grants Management Consultant (P4)

• 4+ years of Grants or Financial consulting experience OR 4+ years of Grants operational experience in Higher Education institutions
• Experience with Workday, Lawson, SAP, Oracle, PeopleSoft, or similar applications
• Experience with Grants Management solutions along with one or more of the following: Accounts Receivable, Projects, Endowments, Fund or Nonprofit Accounting

Basic Qualifications: Principal Grants Management Consultant (P5)

• 6+ years of Grants and Financial consulting experience OR 6+ years of Grants operational experience in Higher Education institutions.
• 6+ years of experience in a consulting, software, or internal Workday environment with hands‑on responsibility for payroll configuration, testing, and partnering with stakeholders
• Experience with Workday Grants (6+ years)

Other Qualifications

• Experience working with Higher Education and/or Nonprofit organizations
• Bachelor’s degree or equivalent experience - preferably in Finance or Accounting
• At least 2 full‑cycle software implementations in the Higher Education industry
• Understand the reporting and compliance requirement for government funded grants
• Working knowledge of research or clinical trial solutions
• Relationship Management: Proven ability to build trusted, long‑term relationships with payroll, HR, and/or finance stakeholders in Higher Education and/or Nonprofit environments, including navigating complex governance structures (e.g., committees, unions, shared governance)
• Task Management: Ability to manage multiple customers in parallel, estimate effort accurately, surface risks early, and coordinate with Engagement Managers and project teams to keep scope, schedule, and quality on track
• Ability to travel up to 50% based on client and project needs, particularly for key implementation milestones such as design sessions and major testing events

Encouragement to Apply

If you’re excited about this role but your experience doesn’t align perfectly with every qualification, we encourage you to apply. We’re especially interested in people who bring strong judgment, learning agility, and a collaborative approach to solving complex customer problems.

Posting End Date

Applications are accepted for this position on an ongoing basis through 11/30/26.

Workday Pay Transparency Statement

The annualized base salary ranges for the primary location and any additional locations are listed below. Workday pay ranges vary based on work location. As a part of the total compensation package, this role may be eligible for the Workday Bonus Plan or a role‑specific commission/bonus, as well as annual refresh stock grants. Recruiters can share more detail during the hiring process. Each candidate’s compensation offer will be based on multiple factors including, but not limited to, geography, experience, skills, job duties, and business need, among other things. For more information regarding Workday’s comprehensive benefits, please click here. Primary Location: USA.GA.Atlanta Primary Location Base Pay Range: $140,300 USD - $210,500 USD Additional US Location(s) Base Pay Range: $133,300 USD - $236,900 USD Additional Considerations: The application deadline for this role is the same as the posting end date stated as below: 11/30/2026

Our Approach to Flexible Work

With Flex Work, we’re combining the best of both worlds: in‑person time and remote. Our approach enables our teams to deepen connections, maintain a strong community, and do their best work. We know that flexibility can take shape in many ways, so rather than a number of required days in‑office each week, we simply spend at least half (50%) of our time each quarter in the office or in the field with our customers, prospects, and partners (depending on role). This means you'll have the freedom to create a flexible schedule that caters to your business, team, and personal needs, while being intentional to make the most of time spent together. Those in our remote “home office” roles also have the opportunity to come together in our offices for important moments that matter.

Are you being referred to one of our roles? If so, ask your connection at Workday about our Employee Referral process!

Workday is an Equal Opportunity Employer including individuals with disabilities and protected veterans. Workday will consider qualified applicants with arrest and conviction records. Workday will provide reasonable accommodations for qualified individuals during the application process, and we will not take adverse action against candidates for reporting a violation. If you require a reasonable accommodation, you may email [e-mail], as far in advance as possible. At Workday, we value our