Workday Functional Partner - Recruitment in Sunderland

Arriva is a leading European passenger transport partner, operating in 11 countries across the UK and Europe. We employ around 35,000 people and deliver more than 1.5 billion passenger journeys each year, connecting people and communities safely, reliably, and sustainably. With strong roots dating back to 1938, Arriva has an ambitious growth and sustainability agenda. In 2024, the business was acquired by I Squared Capital, a global infrastructure investment fund manager, supporting Arriva’s next phase of development.

We are looking for a Workday Functional Partner – Recruitment to join our Workday Support Team at an exciting time of transformation. Based from either our Sunderland or London office, this role will operate on a hybrid basis with a minimum of three days per week in the office. This is a great opportunity to play a key role in shaping how we use Workday Recruiting to support our recruitment processes and deliver a great experience for both candidates and hiring managers.

As part of the wider Workday ecosystem, you will lead the ongoing development and optimisation of the recruitment module, ensuring it continues to meet the evolving needs of the organisation. You will be responsible for managing and improving recruiting processes within Workday, including implementing updates and enhancements across configuration, security and business processes. You will also contribute to Arriva’s wider Workday Transformation Programme, helping us maximise the value of the platform and drive continuous improvement.

Working closely with stakeholders across HR, recruitment and the wider business, you will build strong relationships to understand user needs and translate them into effective system solutions. Your expertise will help identify opportunities to streamline processes, improve system adoption and deliver greater efficiency for our users. A key focus of the role will be supporting our approach to “adopt rather than adapt”, ensuring we make the most of Workday’s out-of-the-box functionality while delivering simple, effective and scalable solutions for the organisation.

• SME in Workday Recruiting, responsible for the maintenance, change requests and upgrades across these areas.
• Support other Functional Specialists to deliver the Workday Support Teams solution for Recruiting, building relationships with key stakeholders to agree a continuous improvement for the way in which recruiting transactions and processes are delivered.
• Responsible for assessing all change impacts in relation to these areas and following the governance model in place to reduce risk and identify improvement.
• Support the BUs as a critical enabler to maximise automation opportunities and reduce off system processes.
• Host and facilitate workshops and demonstrations virtually and in-person to help stakeholders understand what good looks like.
• Responsible for configuring and maintaining any updates to the business processes and security policies.
• Utilise Workday Community and Workday Success Plans to understand best practice, and market trends alongside remaining connected with Workday to ensure we bring the outside in at relevant opportunities.
• Working alongside other Functional Partners to configure and maintain reports that fall under the category of Recruiting.
• Data management; correcting and uploading data through EIB.
• Responsible for testing any new functionality or upgrades/releases.
• Actively works and supports resolution of issues escalated; managing incidents, tracking ticket status and partnering with other support teams as necessary to resolve working to SLA’s.
• Identifies and recommends processes areas that could be simplified, improved, or changed; to enhance user experience and drive simplification.
• Support in maintaining training activities and materials, including user guides, FAQ, recorded demos, SharePoint content, etc.
• Project support as requirement; disentanglement, new functionality, new modules etc.

We welcome applications from individuals who are passionate about improving HR systems and creating efficient, user-friendly processes that support both HR teams and the wider business. You will enjoy solving problems, working collaboratively with stakeholders and using your expertise to drive continuous improvement within HR technology and services.

Candidates will preferably:

• Have experience supporting or delivering HR processes, data and systems, ideally including experience working with Workday.
• Be able to proactively identify and troubleshoot system issues, while supporting and transferring knowledge to business users to build confidence and capability in the system.
• Possess a highly analytical mindset combined with a strong customer-focused approach to service delivery.
• Demonstrate a passion for simplifying processes and driving continuous improvement within HR systems and services.
• Have excellent interpersonal and communication skills, with the ability to build effective working relationships with stakeholders across different teams and levels of the organisation.
• Have experience working within complex or global organisations and navigating multiple stakeholder needs.

It would also be beneficial if candidates:

• Have experience working with core HR processes and an understanding of how HR systems interact with payroll and other external platforms such as time recording or recruitment systems.
• Have experience working within multi-national or multi-business organisations.
• Have supported organisational changes such as mergers, acquisitions, sales or divestitures and understand the potential impact on HR systems.
• Have achieved, or be working towards, Workday Pro – Recruiting certification.

Finally, we’re looking for candidates who align with Arriva’s values and are passionate about developing people, supporting growth and helping to build the future leadership pipeline across the organisation. The closing date for applications is Sunday 31 May 2026. Arriva Group reserves the right to close this vacancy early.