Workday Functional Lead in Nantwich

Role Overview

We are seeking an experienced

Workday Functional Lead to lead the client-side functional workstream of an initial Workday implementation.

The successful candidate will be responsible for coordinating HR Subject Matter Experts (SMEs) and HRIS team members, driving functional design decisions, managing the System Integrator (SI), and providing assurance that the proposed Workday solutions meet business requirements and align with Workday best practices.

This is a client-side functional leadership and design assurance role, not a hands-on Workday configuration role .

The focus is on functional workstream management, business process design, solution governance, stakeholder coordination and operational readiness.

Key Responsibilities

Functional Workstream Leadership

• Lead and manage the Workday functional workstream throughout the implementation lifecycle, from discovery and design through to testing, deployment and transition.
• Develop, maintain and manage detailed functional workstream plans, deliverables, milestones and dependencies.
• Coordinate HR SMEs, HRIS team members and other business stakeholders to ensure timely completion of functional activities.
• Own functional workstream reporting, progress tracking and RAID management (Risks, Assumptions, Issues and Dependencies).
• Identify and escalate design decisions, delivery risks and cross-workstream dependencies.
• Ensure the functional workstream remains aligned with the overall programme plan and key milestones.
• Functional Design and Solution Assurance
• Lead and coordinate the completion and review of Workday design workbooks and functional requirements.
• Facilitate workshops with HR SMEs, HRIS teams and the SI to review requirements, assess solution options and agree design decisions.
• Challenge and assure the SI's proposed Workday solutions, ensuring alignment with business requirements, Workday capabilities and leading practices.
• Evaluate functional design options, including their impact on HR processes, user experience, integrations and downstream systems.
• Maintain oversight of design decisions, ensuring appropriate business ownership, approval and documentation.
• Identify potential design gaps, unnecessary complexity and opportunities to adopt standard Workday functionality.
• Ensure end-to-end HR processes are considered rather than individual functional areas being designed in isolation.

System Integrator Management

• Act as the primary client-side functional counterpart to the SI's functional leads.
• Manage and challenge SI functional deliverables, design recommendations and proposed solutions.
• Review the quality and completeness of functional documentation, workbooks and design outputs.
• Track SI functional progress against agreed deliverables and milestones.
• Coordinate the resolution of functional issues, design gaps and dependencies.
• Provide independent client-side assurance that the configured solution reflects the agreed design and business requirements.

HR Processes and Operational Readiness

• Lead the development and documentation of future-state HR business processes.

Own and lead the production of Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) , working with HR SMEs and HRIS stakeholders.

• Ensure SOPs reflect agreed Workday designs, business processes, responsibilities and operational controls.
• Support the definition of future-state roles, responsibilities and hand-offs between HR, HRIS and other business functions.
• Ensure process documentation supports a successful transition into business-as-usual operations.
• Work closely with testing, change management and training teams to ensure functional designs are understood and validated.

Testing and Deployment Support

• Support the definition and review of functional testing scenarios and acceptance criteria.
• Coordinate HR SME participation in functional testing and User Acceptance Testing (UAT).
• Support the triage and resolution of functional defects, working with the SI and HRIS teams.
• Ensure the business understands and accepts the delivered solution ahead of deployment.
• Support functional cutover readiness, knowledge transfer and transition to BAU.

Skills and Experience

Essential

• Proven experience leading a functional workstream on a

Workday HCM implementation , ideally including an initial deployment.

• Strong understanding of Workday functional design principles, capabilities and standard business processes.
• Experience working in a client-side functional leadership, design assurance or solution governance capacity.
• Demonstrable experience managing and challenging a Workday System Integrator.
• Experience coordinating HR SMEs and HRIS resources across multiple functional areas.
• Strong understanding of Workday design workbooks, functional requirements and solution decision-making.
• Ability to evaluate solution options and challenge proposed configurations without undertaking configuration directly.
• Experience developing and managing workstream plans, status reports, RAID logs and dependencies.
• Experience designing and documenting end-to-end HR processes and writing Standard Operating Procedures.
• Strong workshop facilitation, stakeholder management and communication skills.
• Ability to balance business requirements with standard Workday functionality and implementation best practices.

Highly Desirable

Strong knowledge of recruitment systems, recruitment processes and end-to-end recruitment solution design.

• Experience with Workday Recruiting, including recruitment workflows, requisition management, candidate management and hire processes.
• Understanding of recruitment system integrations, third-party recruitment platforms and the interaction between recruitment and core HCM.
• Experience designing and assuring end-to-end Hire-to-Retire processes.
• Previous experience working on complex, multi-country or global Workday implementations.

Role Clarification – Not a Configuration Position

This position is focused on client-side functional leadership, solution design oversight and SI assurance .

The successful candidate is not expected to configure Workday, build business processes or undertake technical development.

These responsibilities will sit with the System Integrator.

However, the candidate must possess sufficient Workday functional and design knowledge to challenge the SI, assess solution options, identify design risks and ensure that the delivered solution meets the organisation's requirements.

Ideal Candidate

An experienced Workday Functional Lead who has worked on the client side of an initial implementation and understands how to manage the functional design process, coordinate HR stakeholders and hold an SI accountable for delivering appropriate solutions.

The individual will be organised, delivery-focused and confident challenging technical and functional design decisions, while ensuring the HR business is fully engaged and prepared to adopt the new system.