Workday Platform & Governance Owner - Workday SME

Guardian Life; Town of Bethlehem (NY); Hybrid; USD 152,000 - 250,000; Full time

Job summary

Guardian Life is seeking a Workday Platform & Governance Owner to act as the technical SME for the Workday ecosystem supporting 10,000+ employees. You will manage tenants, security, production change control, and cross-module configurations across all Workday domains.

The role requires 7–10 years of HRIS experience, Workday configuration expertise, and certifications. A hybrid schedule includes three days at office locations in New York, Holmdel, or Stanford, with governance leadership

Qualifications

• 7–10 years HRIS experience
• 5+ years advanced hands-on Workday configuration
• Workday Pro Certifications
• Deep expertise across all major Workday modules
• Strong Position Management and Job Management experience
• Experience designing and maintaining security architecture
• Strong understanding of SOD and audit controls
• Experience operating within a multi-tenant governance model

Responsibilities

• Serve as enterprise technical SME across all Workday modules and advise HRIT engineers on configuration design
• Configure complex cross-domain business processes and security groups
• Oversee tenant management, environment governance and sandbox refreshes
• Lead governance processes, including upgrades, releases and change management
• Chair Workday Change Advisory Board (CAB) for intake and demand
• Ensure compliance with documentation and audit requirements

Skills

HRIS experience

Workday configuration

Security governance

Audit controls

SOD

Tenant governance

Mentoring teammates

Education

Workday Pro Certifications

Tools

Workday EIB

Core Connectors

APIs

Workday Studio

Job description

**Position Summary**The **Workday Platform & Governance Owner** serves as the technical subject matter expert (SME) and governance authority for the Workday ecosystem supporting 10,000+ employees. This role is responsible for tenant management, security administration, production change control, configuration standards, and complex cross-module configuration within Workday.This position operates within IT, operating within a structured HRIS (functional design) and HRIT (technical delivery) model. This role ensures Workday remains secure, architecturally aligned, compliant, and technically optimized. While HRIT Engineers own module delivery, this role serves as the enterprise technical SME across all Workday domains and provides hands-on configuration for complex or cross-functional initiatives.**Key Responsibilities***Enterprise Technical SME (All Workday Modules)** Serve as the senior technical authority across:* Core HCM* Position Management & Job Management* Benefits* Compensation & Advanced Compensation* Recruiting* Talent Management* Workday Learning* Payroll* Time Tracking & Absence* Security* Integrations (EIB, Core Connectors, APIs, Studio fundamentals)Responsibilities include advising HRIT engineers on complex configuration design, new releases, AI agents and new functionality, validating cross-module impacts, supporting troubleshooting of high-severity issues, and mentoring team members on advanced configuration practices.*Hands-On Configuration Responsibilities** Configure complex cross-domain business processes* Design and implement advanced security groups and domain policies* Configure complex eligibility rules and condition logic* Support advanced compensation cycle setup* Configure complex Position Management structures* Build enterprise-impact calculated fields* Support integration troubleshooting* Perform configuration clean-up and technical debt remediation*Tenant Management & Environment Governance** Create and Maintain Tenant Management Plan* Oversee all Workday tenants (Production, Sandbox, Dev, Preview)* Coordinate sandbox refresh schedules* Enforce Dev → Test → Prod migration controls* Approve production configuration migrations* Oversee release preview cycles* Maintain production access governance* Support emergency change management* Lead governance processes, including prioritization of enhancements, upgrades and releases.* Establish and enforce technical and application change management standards, ensuring compliance with documentation and audit requirements*Security & Access Governance** Maintain enterprise Workday security model* Monitor and remediate segregation of duties (SOD) conflicts* Conduct periodic security reviews* Review elevated access requests* Partner with IT Security and Audit teams*Production Change Control & CAB Leadership** Chair Workday Change Advisory Board (CAB) for Intake and Demand* Review cross-module impact of proposed changes* Validate testing documentation prior to approval* Maintain structured change control records**Required Qualifications*** 7–10 years HRIS experience* 5+ years advanced hands-on Workday configuration* Workday Pro Certifications* Deep expertise across all major Workday modules* Strong Position Management and Job Management experience* Experience designing and maintaining security architecture* Strong understanding of SOD and audit controls* Experience operating within a multi-tenant governance modelLocation:* Three days a week at a Guardian office in New York, NY, Holmdel, NJ or Stanford, CT>**Salary Range:**$152,290.00 - $250,195.00The salary range reflected above is a good faith estimate of base pay for the primary location of the position. The salary for this position ultimately will be determined based on the education, experience, knowledge, and abilities of the successful candidate. In addition to salary, this role may also be eligible for annual, sales, or other incentive compensation.