Sr Manager, Cybersecurity

Workday, Inc.; Pleasanton, Northern (CA, KY); Hybrid; USD 182,000 - 324,000; Full time

Job summary

Workday is seeking a senior technical leader with deep expertise in security incident response to drive a world‑class response program across major cybersecurity events. You will scale incident response, partner with risk, legal, and compliance, and influence across Workday’s multi‑cloud environment.

The role requires a proven leader with an engineering mindset, capable of building automation, improving security operations, and guiding AI‑enabled security capabilities.

Qualifications

• 10+ years in cybersecurity or information security roles.
• 3+ years of experience leading and developing security teams.
• Bachelor’s degree.

Responsibilities

• Oversee day-to-day security operations within the Security Incident Response team.
• Lead, coach, and develop a team of cybersecurity engineers, including performance management, career development, and mentoring.
• Set clear goals, priorities, and KPIs for the team aligned to the security and business strategy.
• Foster a culture of accountability, collaboration, and continuous improvement.
• Track and report security metrics, risk indicators, and program maturity to senior leadership.
• Champion the security mindset across every aspect of the company.
• Advise senior leadership in cybersecurity matters.
• Contribute to the program vision and implementation of a world class Response program at Workday.
• Architect and evolve a Response platform that enables Cyber Defense to operate with precision, automation and innovation.
• Build automation solutions around open-source and proprietary tools.
• Evaluate new tools and techniques to create innovative and practical security solutions.
• Partner with risk, legal, and compliance teams to identify, assess, and manage security risks for new and existing initiatives.
• Prioritize and drive remediation of security findings across infrastructure, applications, and processes.
• Lead or coordinate response to security incidents, including triage, containment, investigation, and post-incident reviews.

Skills

Security leadership

Incident response expertise

Engineering mindset

Communication & influence

Cross-team collaboration

Problem solving

Education

Bachelor's degree

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

Workday is continuing to invest in a world-class cybersecurity incident response program that strengthens customer confidence in our platform. Our team is building the Security Center of the future by advancing core response capabilities across incident response, digital forensics, threat hunting, security automation, and AI-driven security operations. We operate as a highly visible global security function, partnering closely across key Workday teams to detect, investigate, contain, and learn from cybersecurity events. The environment is rigorous, high-performing, and deeply collaborative, with a strong focus on continuous development, operational excellence, and building modern response capabilities at scale.

About the Role

Workday is looking for a senior technical leader with deep expertise in security incident response and a strong engineering mindset. This role is central to leading and maturing a highly visible response function that is engaged in major cybersecurity events and helps strengthen trust and resilience across Workday. The right candidate will bring advanced technical leadership across incident response, security automation, systems and network security, threat hunting, digital forensics, and modern AI-enabled security capabilities. Most importantly, this person will be a proven leader in building and scaling incident response programs, leading teams through complex security events, and driving operational maturity across people, process, and technology. This role requires someone who can go deep technically, lead with credibility, and influence broadly across the business. You will be expected to understand Workday’s internal architecture, operate effectively across a multi-cloud enterprise environment, and apply strong judgment in high-pressure situations. Workday provides a hybrid and flexible work model for employees.

Basic Qualifications

• 10+ years of experience in cybersecurity or information security roles.
• 3+ years of experience leading and developing security teams.
• Bachelor’s degree.

Other Qualifications

• Strong technical leadership presence with the ability to set direction, build credibility, and motivate high-performing teams.
• Deep expertise in security incident response, with demonstrated experience leading or significantly contributing to complex investigations and major security events.
• Strong engineering mindset with experience improving security operations through automation, orchestration, and scalable technical solutions.
• Pragmatic approach to security, balancing risk reduction with business enablement.
• Structured problem-solving, sound judgment, and effective decision-making in fast-paced environments.
• Proven track record of delivering security improvements in complex, fast-paced environments.
• Excellent communication skills, with the ability to influence and build trust across technical and non-technical teams.
• Proven ability to communicate and influence at senior leadership levels, including presenting to directors, VPs, and/or C-level stakeholders.
• Ability to drive multiple projects and priorities while managing operational responsibilities.
• Experience collaborating across global or distributed teams.
• Demonstrated success in designing, implementing, and maturing security programs at scale in complex, fast-moving environments (e.g., cloud-native, SaaS, large enterprise).
• Hands-on or leadership experience in one or more of the following areas: Security operations (SOC) Incident Response and forensics Cloud security (AWS/Azure/GCP) Security Automation & Orchestration Designing and implementing security solutions Designing and implementing Agentic AI security solutions Application / product security and secure development practices.

You will engage in the following activities

• Oversee day-to-day security operations within the Security Incident Response team.
• Lead, coach, and develop a team of cybersecurity engineers, including performance management, career development, and mentoring.
• Set clear goals, priorities, and KPIs for the team aligned to the security and business strategy.
• Foster a culture of accountability, collaboration, and continuous improvement.
• Track and report security metrics, risk indicators, and program maturity to senior leadership.
• Champion the security mindset across every aspect of the company.
• Advise senior leadership in cybersecurity matters.
• Contribute to the program vision and implementation of a world class Response program at Workday.
• Architect and evolve a Response platform that enables Cyber Defense to operate with precision, automation and innovation.
• Build automation solutions around open-source and proprietary tools.
• Evaluate new tools and techniques to create innovative and practical security solutions.
• Partner with risk, legal, and compliance teams to identify, assess, and manage security risks for new and existing initiatives.
• Prioritize and drive remediation of security findings across infrastructure, applications, and processes.
• Lead or coordinate response to security incidents, including triage, containment, investigation, and post-incident reviews.

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.CA.Pleasanton

Primary Location Base Pay Range: $216,000 USD - $324,000 USD

Additional US Location(s) Base Pay Range: $182,400 USD - $324,000 USD

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.

Equal Opportunity & Inclusion

Workday adopts fair chance law and will consider for employment qualified applicants with arrest and conviction records. Workday is an Equal Opportunity Employer including individuals with disabilities and protected veterans. Workday is committed to providing reasonable accommodations for qualified individuals during our application process, in order to perform one or more essential functions of their job, as well as regarding the use of AI tools for employment decision-making to any degree. Please see below for more details including how to request an accommodation as a qualified veteran, due to a disability or for religious reasons, or as otherwise provided under applicable law. Workday prohibits taking adverse action against any candidate or employee for reporting a possible violation of this policy, requesting one or more work accommodations, exercising a privacy right, or cooperating in an investigation in accordance with applicable law. Any employee who retaliates against a candidate or employee for doing so may be subject to disciplinary action, up to and including termination of employment, to the fullest extent allowable under applicable law.

If you require a reasonable accommodation, you may email [e-mail], as far in advance as possible.

Workday is proud to be an equal opportunity workplace. Individuals seeking employment at Workday are considered without regards to age, ancestry, color, gender (including pregnancy, childbirth, or related medical conditions), gender identity or expression, genetic information, marital status, medical condition, mental or physical disability, national origin, protected family care or medical leave status, race, religion (including beliefs and practices or the absence thereof), sexual orientation, military or veteran status, or any other characteristic protected by federal, state, or local laws. Further, pursuant to applicable local ordinances, Workday will consider for employment qualified applicants with arrest and conviction records. We do not accept resumes from headhunters, placement agencies, or other suppliers that have not signed a formal agreement with us. Workday is proud to be an equal opportunity workplace.

Workday prohibits taking adverse action against any candidate or employee for reporting a possible violation of this policy, requesting one or more work accommodations, exercising a privacy right, or cooperating in an investigation in accordance with applicable law. If you require a reasonable accommodation, you may email [e-mail], as far in advance as possible.

Workday will never ask candidates to apply to jobs through websites that are not Workday Careers.

Workday will never ask candidates to pay a recruiting fee, or pay for consulting or coaching services, in order to apply for a job at Workday.