Workday OPAL Product Director

Job Title: Workday OPAL Product Director

Location: Remote ( City of Philadelphia )

Job Type: Contract to Hire

Job description:

Key Skills:

Work Activities

Workday Financial Management Product Strategy & Roadmap Development:

• Define and maintain the Workday product roadmap aligned with the strategic goals of the organization.
• Collaborate with senior leaders, stakeholders, and department heads to prioritize and align Workday initiatives with broader organizational objectives.
• Manage product lifecycle from concept to delivery, ensuring the solutions meet business needs, regulatory requirements, and user expectations.

Cross-Functional Team Collaboration:

• Lead, mentor, and manage a team of 40 professionals across various functions, including functional experts, analysts, and system administrators, ensuring high performance, productivity, and engagement.
• Serve as the primary liaison between business stakeholders and technical teams, translating business requirements into actionable system configurations and enhancements.
• Provide strategic direction and thought leadership to team members across different Workday modules, ensuring alignment with organizational goals and priorities.
• Develop and implement training programs to continuously enhance the team’s technical expertise and leadership skills.
• Provide guidance on Workday best practices and drive change management initiatives to ensure successful adoption of new features.

Project Management & Delivery:

• Lead the execution of Workday implementation projects, upgrades, and system configurations, ensuring projects are delivered on time, within scope, and within budget.
• Serve as the primary point of contact for stakeholders, ensuring transparent communication on project statuses, timelines, risks, and outcomes.
• Identify and mitigate risks that could affect project timelines or quality, taking corrective action as needed.

Optimization & Continuous Improvement:

• Work with business stakeholders and technical teams to evaluate system performance, monitor key metrics, and implement updates or new features that drive efficiency and effectiveness.
• Lead the evaluation and deployment of new Workday features and functionality, ensuring continuous enhancement of the platform’s capabilities.
• Ensure the effective integration of Workday with other enterprise systems, managing dependencies and resolving challenges as needed.

Stakeholder Communication & Training:

• Act as a subject matter expert (SME) for all Workday-related topics, direct training and support to end users across the organization.
• Regularly communicate project status, outcomes, and improvements to both technical and non-technical stakeholders.
• Ensure training materials are developed and maintained, including user documentation and user support resources, to support effective platform adoption.

Compliance & Security:

• Ensure that Workday configurations and updates comply with all relevant regulatory requirements, data privacy laws, and internal policies. · Partner with the IT and security teams to maintain data integrity, security, and confidentiality within Workday, particularly for sensitive employee and financial data. Performs miscellaneous job-related duties as assigned.

Skills/experience of the assigned staff:

Required

• In-depth knowledge of Workday Finance, Purchasing and other Workday modules, with experience in system configuration, deployment, and post-implementation support.
• Strong understanding of public sector finance and purchasing processes, regulations, and compliance requirements.
• Ability to lead cross-functional teams and work with senior leaders to drive product success.
• Excellent project management, organizational, and time management skills with a focus on delivering high-quality results on time.
• Strong analytical and problem-solving abilities with the capacity to make data-driven decisions.
• Demonstrated experience leading Workday product strategy within a government agency, large municipality, or similarly complex public-sector organization.
• Experience working with Workday Studio, Workday Integration, Workday Reporting, and other technical components of the platform.

Highly Desired/Preferred

Experience with other ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning) solutions

• Strong communication and interpersonal skills, with the ability to influence and build relationships at all
• organizational levels.
• Self-motivated, detail-oriented, and able to manage multiple priorities
• Customer-centric mindset with a commitment to delivering excellent service and value to the organization.
• Adaptability and flexibility to respond to changing business needs and priorities.
• Bachelor’s degree in Business Administration, Information Technology, Finance, or a related field; advanced degrees or certifications (e.g., MBA, Workday Certification).
• Minimum of 10 years of experience in financial systems management with significant experience in system configuration, integration, and optimization and with at least 5 years in a leadership role managing large, cross-functional teams preferably in a large governmental environment.
• Proven experience in managing large-scale Workday implementations, system optimizations, and driving the development of strategic product roadmaps.
• Knowledge of data privacy laws and regulations specific to public sector operations.