IT Workday Systems Administrator

We are seeking an IT Workday Systems Administrator to join our IT team, supporting the day‑to‑day administration, configuration, and continuous improvement of Workday across Human Capital Management (HCM) and Finance. This role will ensure the platform remains secure, compliant, and reliable, while supporting business operations through effective release management, stakeholder engagement, reporting and analytics, and integration support.

Working as part of the Business Systems team, you will report directly to the Business Systems Director.

As a IT Workday Systems Administrator you will:

• Workday HCM administration
  • Administer and configure core HCM functionality (e.g., staffing, job profiles, organisations, business processes, security roles) in line with approved design and governance.
  • Support HR processes including hire, change job, compensation changes, leave and absence, onboarding/offboarding and data corrections, ensuring data quality and auditability.
  • Maintain eligibility rules, condition rules, calculated fields and validations to enable efficient and compliant HR operations.
  • Partner with HR stakeholders to translate business requirements into Workday configuration and clear operational guidance.
• Workday Finance administration
  • Provide functional administration and support for Workday Finance, working with Finance stakeholders on day‑to‑day queries and continuous improvement.
  • Support key finance processes such as supplier/customer maintenance, invoicing, expenses, approvals, period‑close support activities and master data governance (as applicable to Gleeds’ Workday footprint).
  • Maintain and troubleshoot finance‑related business processes, validations and security to support strong controls and segregation of duties.
  • Assist with testing and deployment of Workday updates that impact finance operations, ensuring documentation and communications are in place.
• Reporting, analytics and data
  • Build and maintain standard and custom reports, dashboards and prompts to meet HR and Finance operational and management reporting needs.
  • Create and maintain calculated fields, report filters and business object dependencies with appropriate documentation and peer review.
  • Support data quality initiatives, including validation checks, reconciliations and root‑cause analysis of data issues.
  • Provide guidance on data definitions and the appropriate use of reports to enable consistent decision‑making.
• Integrations, releases and change control
  • Support and monitor integrations between Workday and upstream/downstream systems (e.g., payroll, identity management, finance tooling), escalating to internal SMEs or vendors where required.
  • Participate in Workday release cycles: assess impact, coordinate stakeholder testing, execute regression tests and support deployment activities.
  • Operate within a controlled change process, ensuring changes are documented, approved and traceable (including configuration, security and report changes).
  • Maintain system documentation, including process maps, configuration summaries, runbooks and knowledge articles.
• Security, controls and compliance
  • Administer Workday security roles, domain security policies and business process security policies to meet audit, privacy and access‑control requirements.
  • Support periodic access reviews, segregation of duties checks and audit requests by providing evidence and system extracts as needed.
  • Ensure personal data is handled appropriately and in line with company policies and relevant regulations (e.g., GDPR).
  • Promote best practice across configuration, reporting and data sharing to reduce operational risk.
• Support and stakeholder management
  • Provide second‑line/third‑line support for Workday incidents, service requests and queries across HR and Finance, meeting agreed service levels.
  • Triage issues, identify root causes and implement sustainable fixes, collaborating with HR, Finance, IT and external partners as required.
  • Communicate clearly with stakeholders on progress, risks, workarounds and outcomes.
  • Contribute to the Workday product roadmap by identifying opportunities to simplify processes and improve user experience.

As a Gleeds team member, you will have access to:

• Opportunities to develop and grow your career
• A contributory pension scheme
• Employee Assistance Programme
• Our global travel scholarship programme
• Flexible working arrangements

Experience, Knowledge and Key Skills

Essential

• Proven experience administering and configuring Workday, with hands‑on capability across both HCM and Finance areas.
• Strong understanding of Workday security (domains, business process security policies, role‑based access) and the principles of least privilege and segregation of duties.
• Experience building and maintaining Workday reports, including calculated fields and complex reporting requirements.
• Understanding of the end‑to‑end employee lifecycle and core finance operational processes, with an ability to translate business needs into system outcomes.
• Experience supporting change and release cycles, including impact assessment, test planning and execution.
• Strong stakeholder management skills, able to work with HR, Finance and IT teams in a collaborative, service‑focused way.
• Excellent attention to detail, problem‑solving capability and a structured approach to troubleshooting.

Desirable

• Workday certifications in HCM and/or Finance.
• Experience with Workday integrations (e.g., EIBs, Core Connectors) and/or coordination with integration specialists.
• Experience working in a professional services environment with multi‑country HR and Finance requirements.
• Familiarity with IT service management practices (e.g., incident/problem/change management) and ticketing tools.
• Exposure to audit and compliance requirements in enterprise systems.
• Knowledge of Prisim

Behaviours and competencies

• Client and stakeholder focus: Understands stakeholder needs and delivers pragmatic, high‑quality solutions.
• Ownership: Takes accountability for outcomes, follows through and escalates appropriately.
• Collaboration: Works effectively across HR, Finance and IT, sharing knowledge and supporting others.
• Continuous improvement: Looks for ways to simplify processes, reduce manual effort and improve data quality.
• Integrity and confidentiality: Handles sensitive HR and financial information with discretion and professionalism.

Qualifications

• Relevant experience and/or qualifications in IT, HR systems, finance systems or a related discipline.
• Ongoing professional development and training in Workday and related disciplines is expected.

About us

Gleeds is a global property and construction consultancy with over 150 years of expertise, operating in 28 countries worldwide. From iconic landmarks to critical infrastructure, we drive innovation, sustainability and value, delivering transformative projects that shape communities and redefine the built environment.