Workday Financials Senior Principal Consultant - Accounting Center & Prism in London

The Senior Principal Consultant will act as a strategic bridge between business and technical teams, leading complex Workday Financials engagements with a focus on Accounting Center and Prism Analytics. This role combines deep functional finance expertise with advanced data, reporting, and transformation capabilities to deliver scalable, data-driven accounting solutions. You will guide clients through transformation, implementation, and operational phases, while shaping solution design, driving delivery strategy, and leading high-performing teams.

Key Responsibilities

• Act as a subject matter expert in Workday Financials, with deep specialization in Accounting Center and Prism Analytics.
• Lead the end-to-end design and delivery of Accounting Center solutions, including accounting rules, journal generation frameworks, and source data integration.
• Architect and oversee Prism Analytics data pipelines, datasets, and reporting solutions to support financial insights and decision-making.
• Drive solution design workshops, translating complex business and data requirements into scalable Workday configurations.
• Define and lead data strategy, including ingestion, transformation, reconciliation, and auditability of financial data.
• Provide strategic guidance to clients on data-driven accounting models and reporting transformation.
• Own and drive delivery across multiple workstreams, ensuring alignment between finance, data, and technical teams.
• Identify dependencies and manage integration between source systems, Accounting Center, and Prism Analytics.
• Act as a trusted advisor to senior client stakeholders, including Finance and IT leadership.
• Lead, mentor, and develop consultants and analysts, fostering both functional and technical capability growth.
• Oversee testing strategies, validation processes, and issue resolution to ensure high-quality deliverables.
• Take leadership roles such as Engagement Lead, Solution Architect, or Delivery Assurance Reviewer.
• Ensure adherence to organisational standards, delivery methodologies, and best practices.
• Support business development activities, including solution shaping and client proposals where required.

Skills & Requirements:

• Bachelor’s degree or equivalent experience.
• 8-12+ years of ERP consulting experience, with strong exposure to finance transformation and data-led solutions.
• 5+ years of Workday Financials implementation experience, including Accounting Center and/or Prism Analytics.
• Proven expertise in Accounting Center design (accounting rules, journal processing, event-driven accounting).
• Prism Analytics (datasets, pipelines, reporting, and data modelling).
• Strong understanding of core finance processes, including general ledger, accounting, and financial reporting.
• Experience delivering data transformation and reporting solutions within ERP or SaaS environments.
• Experience integrating multiple source systems into financial platforms.
• Proven ability to lead complex, multi-workstream programmes and make tactical delivery decisions.
• Strong stakeholder engagement and communication skills, with experience working with senior business leaders.
• Proven leadership and mentoring experience within consulting teams.
• Minimal travel required, but must be willing to travel on-site as needed.
• Eligible for SC Clearance - you must have been a UK resident for the last five years and be legally entitled to work in the UK.

Why choose Cognizant:

• Entrepreneurial environment that welcomes your ideas.
• Opportunity to do great work.
• Outreach programs that support communities and tap into your volunteer spirit.
• Learning opportunities to help current needs and advancement.
• Global operations, with opportunities in North America, Europe and Asia Pacific.
• An abundance of Affinity groups to meet your needs.

Cognizant Core Values:

• Work as One: We think beyond roles, relying on each other’s strengths to win as a team.
• Raise the Bar: We always aim for excellence in how we work and what we deliver.
• Dare to Innovate: We push boundaries and take chances to reimagine what’s possible.
• Do the Right Thing: We all lead with integrity and always make the ethical choice.
• Own It: We own the outcomes for our company, colleagues, and community.