Sr. Manager, Application Development (Workday)

Workday Talent Hub; Chicago (IL); Hybrid; USD 150,000 - 200,000; Full time

Job summary

Workday Talent Hub is seeking a senior Workday leader to support HR and Finance initiatives within the Workday ecosystem in Chicago. The role emphasizes technical credibility and the ability to guide large, cross-functional teams.

The ideal candidate has 8–10+ years of Workday experience across HR/HCM and Finance, with broad exposure to the platform, AWS, and Java-based development. You’ll interact with senior executives to drive delivery and architecture decisions.

Qualifications

• 8–10+ years of Workday HR/HCM and Finance experience.
• Broad Workday ecosystem knowledge across modules.
• Strong technical background plus leadership experience.

Responsibilities

• Lead technical teams and deliver Workday HR/Finance initiatives.
• Engage with senior leadership to challenge decisions and communicate status.
• Collaborate with HR, Finance, IT, and CIO stakeholders on deliverables.
• Maintain hands-on awareness of Workday to guide architecture.

Skills

Workday HR/HCM experience

Workday Finance experience

AWS exposure

Java/application development exposure

Senior leadership experience

Executive stakeholder communication

Tools

Workday

Java

AWS

Job description

• Java/application development exposure

Location: Chicago, IL - 5 days on site ( but will have 50 remote days to choose from + every federal holiday off and the week of Christmas/new year's employees are completely remote.)

Duration: Long term contract

The biggest focus should be finding someone with the combination of deep Workday HR + Finance experience, technical credibility, AWS exposure, and strong senior leadership experience.

Role Overview

This person will support the HR and Finance space within the Workday ecosystem. They need to be both highly technical and a strong leader.

The role itself will not be hands-on day-to-day, but they need to have been hands-on with Workday throughout their career and stayed close enough to the technology to lead technical teams, challenge decisions, and speak confidently with senior leadership.

They will report to Steve and work closely with leaders across HR, Finance, IT, and potentially the CIO around deliverables, progress, and any issues impacting delivery.

Top Must-Haves

• 8-10+ years of deep Workday experience preferred; 6-8 may work depending on depth
• Experience across both Workday HR/HCM and Finance
• Needs broad Workday ecosystem knowledge - not just one module
• Should understand core HR areas such as HCM, payroll, recruiting, time tracking, etc., in addition to the Finance side
• Strong technical/application development background
• AWS is very important
• Java/application development exposure
• Strong leadership experience in addition to technical experience
• Comfortable working directly with senior executives and business leaders

Workday Experience – Important Distinction

Someone who has only:

• Administered Workday
• Participated in one Workday implementation
• Specialized in one module
• Worked for a client that happens to use Workdaywill likely not have enough depth.

Consulting experience can work, but ideally, they have been consulting specifically within the Workday ecosystem and have had broad exposure across the platform.