Product Manager - Workday

Northeastern University; Boston (MA); On-site; USD 157,000 - 228,000; Full time

Job summary

Northeastern University seeks a Product Manager for Workday to own the platform end-to-end across Finance, HCM, Payroll, and Procurement. You will translate business strategy into a unified Workday roadmap, balance stakeholder needs, and drive value realization across geographies.

The role requires collaboration with business process owners, functional analysts, and technical teams, manage releases and configurations, ensure SOX compliance, and mentor a growing Workday capability.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in business or related field.
• 5+ years supporting or leading Workday implementations/operations.
• Experience owning a product roadmap in enterprise systems.
• Strong knowledge of Workday data model and integrations.
• Experience with cross-functional teams.
• Workday certifications in Financial, HCM, Payroll, or Procurement.
• Experience with Workday Extend/Orchestrate.
• Certified Scrum Product Owner or SAFe POPM.
• Experience in multi-entity, multi-country deployments.
• Familiarity with adjacent systems integrated with Workday.

Responsibilities

• Own Workday product strategy and multi-year roadmap across Finance, HCM, Payroll, and Procurement modules.
• Define and prioritize the enterprise backlog, balancing stakeholder needs, compliance, and technical debt.
• Coordinate cross-module governance and Workday release activities and integrations.
• Own SOX compliance, security, data governance, and audit-readiness for the Workday tenant.
• Lead functional teams across Finance, HCM, Payroll, and Procurement with a product mindset.

Skills

Workday expertise

Cross-functional leadership

Stakeholder management

Communication skills

Global deployment

Education

Bachelor's degree in business or related field

Tools

Workday certifications

Workday Extend/Orchestrate

Workday Studio/Orchestrate

EIBs & Integrations

Job description

Product Manager - Workday

About the Opportunity

Job Summary

The Product Manager owns the Workday platform end-to-end as asingle, coherent enterprise product spanning Finance, HCM, Payroll,and Procurement. This role sits at the intersection of thebusiness, functional teams, and technical delivery - translatingbusiness strategy into a unified Workday roadmap and ensuring thatdecisions are made in one module. The Product Lead is theaccountable owner for the health, roadmap, governance, and valuerealization of the Workday ecosystem.

24/7 business continuity:

This role requires occasional availability outside of traditionalworking hours to address urgent business needs as they arise,including, but not limited to, responding to security incidents,supporting software deployments, resolving software issues orsystem breaks, and addressing other critical operationalrequirements. The ideal candidate must be proactive and adaptable,ensuring minimal disruption to business operations by promptlyaddressing any issues, regardless of time or day. Flexibility and astrong sense of urgency are essential for success in thisposition.

Other duties as required:

This role requires flexibility in performing duties outside of theprimary responsibilities to support evolving business needs. Theideal candidate must be adaptable and willing to take on additionaltasks or projects as required, ensuring smooth operations acrossthe organization. This may include stepping in to assist withcross-functional teams, handling unexpected challenges, orcontributing to initiatives that support business growth andsuccess. A proactive mindset and the ability to pivot quickly areessential for thriving in this dynamic environment.

Hybrid work schedule:

This role is hybrid and in the office a minimum of three days aweek to facilitate collaboration and teamwork. In-officepresence is an essential part of our on-campus culture and allowsfor engaging directly with staff and students, sharing ideas, andcontributing to a dynamic work environment. Being on-site allowsfor stronger connections, more effective problem-solving, andenhanced team synergy, all of which are key to achieving ourcollective goals and driving success.

Applicants must be authorized to work in the United States. TheUniversity is unable to work sponsor for this role, now or in thefuture.

Minimum Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in business, Information Systems, HR,Finance, or related field (or equivalent experience).
• 5+ years of experience supporting or leading Workday (orcomparable ERP/HCM platform) implementations or operations, with atleast 3+ years spanning multiple modules (Finance, HCM, Payroll,and/or Procurement).
• Demonstrated experience owning a product roadmap or acting as aproduct/platform owner in an enterprise systems context.
• Strong understanding of Workday's data model, business processframework, security architecture, and integration methods (EIBs,Core Connectors, Workday Studio/Orchestrate, APIs).
• Experience coordinating cross-functional teams spanningbusiness, functional, and technical disciplines.
• Track record managing Workday releases, testing cycles, andchange management at an enterprise scale.
• Excellent stakeholder management and communication skills, withthe ability to translate between business language and technicaldetail.
• Workday certifications in one or more pillars (FinancialManagement, HCM, Payroll, Procurement, Integrations, orReporting).
• Experience with Workday Extend, Workday Orchestrate, orAdaptive Planning.
• Prior experience in a product management or platform owner role(e.g., Certified Scrum Product Owner, SAFe POPM).
• Experience operating in a multi-entity, multi-country Workdaydeployment.
• Familiarity with adjacent systems commonly integrated withWorkday (procurement/supplier networks, tax engines, benefitscarriers, treasury/banking systems, expense management).

Key Responsibilities & Accountabilities

Product & Roadmap Management

• Own the overall Workday product strategy and multi-year roadmapacross Finance, HCM, Payroll, and Procurement modules.
• Define and prioritize the enterprise backlog, balancingcompeting demands from business stakeholders, compliancerequirements, and technical debt.
• Maintain a single source of truth for the Workday productvision, ensuring module-level roadmaps (Finance, HCM, Payroll,Procurement) are integrated rather than siloed.
• Own the business case, ROI tracking, and value-realizationmetrics for the Workday investment

Cross-Functional Coordination

• Serve as the primary liaison between business process owners(HR, Finance, Payroll, Procurement leadership), functionalanalysts/configuration teams, and technical/integration teams.
• Run cross-module governance forums (e.g., Change AdvisoryBoard, Design Council) to review proposed configuration changes,tenant updates, and integrations for cross-functional impact.
• Coordinate release and update cycles (including Workday'sbiannual releases) across all modules, ensuring testing,communication, and training are synchronized.
• Partner with business stakeholders to gather, document, andprioritize requirements, and translate them intofunctional/technical specifications.

Platform & Technical Stewardship

• Own the overall system architecture philosophy for Workday,including integration patterns, security/role-based access model,and data governance standards.
• Partner with technical teams (integrations, EIBs, WorkdayStudio/Orchestrate, reporting/BIRT, PECI, etc.) to ensure thetechnical roadmap supports business needs.
• Oversee tenant configuration standards, environment strategy(sandbox/preview/production), and change management processes toprotect system integrity.
• Monitor system performance, data quality, and integrationhealth across connected systems (e.g., banks, benefits providers,tax engines, procurement/supplier networks).

Vendor & Ecosystem Management

• Serve as the primary business owner of the relationship withWorkday (account team, support, and partner/AMS resources).
• Manage third-party implementation or managed services partners,ensuring delivery quality and contract accountability.
• Track Workday product updates, new features, andcommunity/Brainstorm ideas, and assess their relevance to theorganization's roadmap.

Governance, Risk & Compliance

• Ensure Workday configurations and integrations comply with SOX,payroll/tax regulations, labor law, and data privacy requirementsacross all supported geographies.
• Own change control and audit-readiness for the Workday tenant,including security role reviews and segregation-of-duties (SoD)controls.
• Partner with Internal Audit and Security teams on periodiccontrol reviews and remediation.

Team Leadership

• Provide functional leadership (direct or matrixed) to moduleleads/analysts across Finance, HCM, Payroll, and Procurement.
• Set performance goals, mentor team members, and buildorganizational Workday expertise/capability.
• Foster a product mindset across the team - outcomes andbusiness value over ticket-closing.

Position Type

Information Technology

Additional Information

Northeastern University considers factors such as candidate workexperience, education and skills when extending an offer.

Northeastern has a comprehensive benefits package for benefiteligible employees. This includes medical, vision, dental, paidtime off, tuition assistance, wellness & life, retirement- aswell as commuting & transportation. Visit https://hr.northeastern.edu/benefits/ for more information.

All qualified applicants are encouraged to apply and will receiveconsideration for employment without regard to race, religion,color, national origin, age, sex, sexual orientation, disabilitystatus, or any other characteristic protected by applicablelaw.

Compensation Grade/Pay Type:

115S

Expected Hiring Range:

$157,130.00 - $227,840.00

With the pay range(s) shown above, the starting salary will dependon several factors, which may include your education, experience,location, knowledge and expertise, and skills as well as a paycomparison to similarly-situated employees already in the role.Salary ranges are reviewed regularly and are subject tochange.