Workday Product Operations Manager

The City of Seattle is seeking a Workday Product Operations Manager to drive operational excellence and governance for the City’s Workday HCM platform. In this onsite role in Seattle, you will set the product direction, oversee configuration and release readiness, and help ensure secure, accurate HR, payroll, and timekeeping experiences for employees, managers, and HR partners.

What you’ll do

• Act as the Workday HCM product owner, owning product vision, roadmap, prioritization, and governance.
• Translate business needs into Workday capabilities and design scalable processes for HR, payroll, and timekeeping.
• Evaluate Workday features, modules, vendor tools, and configuration options to support modernization and continuous improvement.
• Contribute to long-term Workday strategic planning and enterprise HRIS modernization efforts.
• Oversee daily Workday operations, including configuration, triage, testing, and release activities.
• Lead assessment, testing, and deployment of Workday’s semiannual releases and new modules.
• Establish repeatable workflows for change management, service requests, incident resolution, and release readiness.
• Lead Workday data conversion (mapping, transformation, cleanup, validation, and reconciliation).
• Serve as a functional architect for Workday HCM modules and related processes across HR, payroll, and timekeeping.
• Review and approve functional specifications for integrations, reports, conversions, and customizations.
• Oversee Workday integrations using EIB, Studio, APIs, and Core Connectors.
• Ensure data accuracy, privacy, consistency, and auditability across systems.
• Lead Workday reporting strategy, including dashboards, analytics, compliance reporting, and insights.
• Manage Workday security, including roles, access controls, and segregation of duties.
• Partner with IT Security and Internal Audit to support compliance with regulatory requirements and audit readiness.
• Own the Workday testing strategy, including test script development, SIT, UAT, defect management, and approvals.
• Develop Workday training strategy, including training materials, job aids, sessions, and change management.
• Support effective support models for employee, manager, and HR partner experience.
• Lead and mentor Workday analysts and technical specialists, set measurable performance goals, and support skill development and career progression.
• Evaluate team structure, workload, and skills to maintain operational readiness.
• Build partnerships with HR, Payroll, Finance, and departmental leaders to align Workday capabilities with business needs.
• Represent citywide HR, payroll, and timekeeping interests in functional decisions with vendors and consultants.
• Coordinate with Workday support teams to resolve cases and escalate issues when needed.
• Participate in Workday community forums and customer advisory groups, and lead Workday-focused projects.
• Develop and execute change management plans for adoption of new Workday capabilities.

Required experience

• Bachelor’s degree in IT, Business, HR, or related field (or equivalent experience). Additional 2 years of related experience in lieu of degree will be considered.
• 7+ years of Workday HCM or enterprise HRIS experience, including 4+ years leading HR technology teams and driving operational improvements.
• Strong functional and technical Workday knowledge, including configuration and integrations.
• Experience serving as a product manager or product owner for an enterprise application (preferably Workday or another HRIS platform).
• Experience defining product roadmaps, prioritizing backlogs, and translating business requirements into functional capabilities.
• Experience leading cross-functional decision-making, negotiating among competing priorities, and representing enterprise business needs in system design discussions.

Technologies you’ll work with

• Workday HCM
• EIB, Studio, APIs, Core Connectors
• SIT, UAT

Benefits

• Vacation, holiday, and sick leave
• Medical, dental, vision, life, and long-term disability insurance for employees and their dependents
• Free public transportation options

Preferred qualifications

• Strong working knowledge of HR, payroll, and timekeeping processes, with the ability to configure Workday to support standardized enterprise HR policies.
• Expertise in Workday Security, EIB, Studio, Advanced Reporting, and HCM Core configuration.
• Experience in HRIS modernization, Agile methodologies, or public-sector environments.
• Experience managing product lifecycles, including release planning, feature evaluation, impact analysis, and change management within a SaaS environment.

Additional details

• Salary range: $62.26 - $93.41 per hour (full pay range); equivalent annual range: $129,500.80 - $194,292.80.
• Hybrid schedule with a minimum requirement of three days onsite per week (subject to change).
• Application requires a complete online submission with updated contact information and work history (at least 10 years, or more if needed), plus resume and cover letter and completed supplemental questions.
• Apply online at https://www.governmentjobs.com/careers/seattle/.
• Questions or accommodation during recruitment: [email protected].
• Background check includes conviction and arrest records in compliance with Seattle’s Fair Chance Employment Ordinance (SMC14.17).
• Who may apply: open to all qualified candidates meeting minimum qualifications.