Sr. Manager, Workday

What You'll Do

The Senior Manager of People Technology leads the day-to-day delivery, optimization, and governance of Avalara's Workday platform. This role leads a team of Workday experts to design, build, and support scalable solutions across the employee lifecycle, including HCM, Talent, Performance, Advanced Compensation, Absence/Time Off, Benefits, Payroll, Recruiting (ATS), and Extend. They translate business priorities into a practical roadmap, ensure smooth execution of releases and annual cycles, and partner closely with People & Culture, Talent Acquisition, and Finance to deliver a reliable, user-friendly system for employees and managers.

How This Role Elevates Avalara

Team

• Strengthens People Technology capability by building and coaching a high-performing Workday team with deep functional and technical expertise.
• Reduces operational friction by simplifying Workday processes and establishing clear runbooks, standards, and governance so the team can execute with higher velocity and fewer escalations.
• Creates a culture of innovation by encouraging analysts and partners to proactively surface automation, AI, and process-improvement opportunities across Workday.

Business

• Accelerates efficiency goals by redesigning Workday workflows and identifying automation opportunities that meaningfully reduce manual work for employees, managers, Talent Acquisition, and the People & Culture teams.
• Improves decision quality through reliable people data, consistent configuration, and accessible reporting that leaders can trust for headcount, hiring, and talent planning decisions.
• Supports scalable growth and M&A by designing Workday capabilities that can be extended to new entities, roles, and geographies without bespoke rework.
• Strengthens control and readiness by improving Workday security, auditability, and process discipline in support of SOX, risk management, and IPO readiness.

Customer Experience

• Enhances the employee experience by making Workday easier to use; simplifying tasks like hiring, transfers, performance, compensation, and leave so employees and managers can complete work with fewer clicks and less confusion.
• Improves end-to-end workflows and processes to create a more intuitive, seamless experience for employees and greater transparency for all stakeholders.
• Reduces support needs by designing processes, navigation, and in-system guidance that minimize support tickets.

Your Responsibilities Will Be

Platform ownership & delivery

• Serve as product owner for Workday across key modules (e.g., Core HCM, Talent/Performance, Compensation, Absence/Time Off, Benefits, Recruiting/ATS).
• Drive the end-to-end delivery of major Workday initiatives (e.g., ATS implementation, global process redesigns, new modules), including design, configuration oversight, testing, and deployment.
• Manage integration teams to ensure robust, monitored integrations between Workday and downstream systems (payroll, benefits, identity, recruiting tools, analytics platforms).

Governance, controls, and security

• Define and maintain Workday configuration standards, security model principles, and business process design guidelines.
• Own Workday change governance (design reviews, approvals, release planning) and ensure alignment with SOX, privacy, and security requirements.
• Coordinate Workday audits, access reviews, and control testing with Audit, Security, and Compliance.

Operational excellence

• Oversee day-to-day Workday operations and ensure SLAs for incidents, enhancements, and data corrections are met.
• Define and track operational KPIs (e.g., ticket volume, cycle time, incident recurrence, adoption) and lead continuous improvement efforts.
• Ensure high-quality documentation for processes, configuration decisions, and runbooks.

People leadership

• Manage and develop a high-performing Workday team (analysts, configuration specialists, and/or vendor resources), with clear goals, coaching, and growth plans.
• Foster a culture of ownership, transparency, and experimentation — encouraging the team to surface process and automation opportunities.

Stakeholder partnership & change leadership

• Act as the primary Workday partner for People & Culture, Talent Acquisition, Payroll, Finance, and business leaders.
• Facilitate design and prioritization workshops; clearly communicate trade-offs, timelines, and impacts.
• Drive effective change management for Workday releases and initiatives, including communication and training plans.

AI & automation collaboration

• Identify and deliver high-impact automation and AI use cases in Workday workflows.
• Ensure new Workday capabilities are designed with automation-readiness and data quality in mind.

12-Month Success Signals

Within the first 12 months, this leader will:

• Workday Recruiting (ATS) is live and stable with agreed scope, on-time delivery, and measurable improvements in time-to-fill, candidate/manager experience, and TA ticket volume.
• Workday governance is operating consistently, with a documented intake and prioritization process, clear RACI, and predictable release planning that stakeholders trust.
• Key Workday processes are simplified (e.g., hiring, transfers, performance, compensation, benefits/leave), evidenced by reduced manual work for P&C and fewer support tickets from managers and employees.
• Audit and security posture is stronger, with successful completion of agreed Workday-related audit and access reviews, and no repeat findings tied to Workday controls.
• Operational KPIs are trending in the right direction, such as reduced incident recurrence, improved SLA adherence, and increased automation/straight-through processing for common transactions.
• The Workday team is seen as a trusted partner, with clear ownership, improved stakeholder satisfaction scores, and a visible development path for team members.

AI Expectations

The successful candidate will:

• Identify and prioritize AI and automation opportunities within Workday and adjacent HR/TA processes to reduce manual work and improve decision quality.
• Evaluate AI-enabled capabilities in Workday and related platforms, balancing innovation with data quality, risk, and change-management needs.
• Apply sound judgment on ethics, privacy, and compliance when using AI in people processes, escalating risks and helping to shape appropriate governance and guardrails.
• Identify AI opportunities tied to revenue enablement, efficiency, workforce quality, or risk reduction.
• Elevate AI maturity and best practices across the function.

What You'll Need To Be Successful

• B.S. in Computer Science, Information Systems, or Engineering.
• 10+ years of experience in HRIS / People Technology / HR Systems, with 6+ years of hands-on ownership of Workday in a global environment.
• 4+ years of people management experience leading Workday or HR technology teams.
• Deep functional and configuration knowledge of multiple Workday modules, including: Core HCM, Talent & Performance, Advanced Compensation, Time & Absence, Benefits, Payroll, Extend, Recruiting, and/or Studio/Orchestrations.
• Demonstrated experience leading large Workday initiatives (implementations, new modules, major redesigns, or global rollouts) from discovery through deployment and stabilization.
• Proven ability to design and govern Workday security, business processes, and configuration standards in partnership with Security, Audit, and IT.
• Strong understanding of end-to-end HR and TA processes (hire-to-retire, performance, compensation, benefits, recruiting) and how they are enabled in Workday.
• Experience working with external Workday partners (implementation, AMS, or consulting) and managing vendor performance.
• Excellent communication and stakeholder management skills, with the ability to simplify complexity, influence senior leaders, and drive alignment across HR, Technology, and the business.
• Bachelor's degree in computer science, engineering, or a closely related technical discipline.

Preferred Qualifications

• Workday certifications (Pro or Implementer).
• Experience in high-growth SaaS/technology environments.
• Prior exposure to SOX/IPO readiness and AI/automation in People Technology.

Bar Raiser Expectations

We are hiring a Bar Raiser — a leader who elevates the performance, standards, and capability of the teams they lead and partner with. This role is expected to strengthen how People Technology operates by improving system quality, execution rigor, and cross-functional effectiveness.

A successful candidate will:

• Raise individual and team performance through clear expectations, coaching, and consistent feedback.
• Develop deep functional and technical expertise within the team, reducing reliance on external partners over time.
• Eliminate unnecessary complexity in Workday processes and integrations, prioritizing scalable, reusable solutions over one-off configurations.
• Improve how People Technology partners with People & Culture, Talent Acquisition, Finance, and IT by clarifying ownership, decision rights, and trade-offs.
• Demonstrate measurable improvements in efficiency, user experience, and system reliability over time.

Avalara is an AI-first Company

AI is embedded in our workflows, decision-making, and products. Success here requires embracing AI as an essential capability. You'll bring experience using AI and AI-related technologies, ready to thrive here. You'll apply AI every day to business challenges - improving efficiency, contributing solutions, and driving results for your team, our company, and our customers. You'll grow with AI by staying curious about new trends and best practices, and by sharing what you learn so others can benefit too.

How We'll Take Care Of You

Total Rewards

• In addition to a great compensation package, paid time off, and paid parental leave, many Avalara employees are eligible for bonuses.

Health & Wellness

• Benefits vary by location but generally include private medical, life, and disability insurance.

Inclusive culture and diversity

• Avalara strongly supports diversity, equity, and inclusion, and is committed to integrating them into our business practices and our organizational culture. We also have a total of 8 employee-run resource groups, each with senior leadership and exec sponsorship.

What You Need To Know About Avalara

We're defining the relationship between tax and tech. We've already built an industry-leading cloud compliance platform, processing over 54 billion customer API calls and over 6.6 million tax returns a year. Our growth is real - we're a billion dollar business - and we're not slowing down until we've achieved our mission - to be part of every transaction in the world. We're bright, innovative, and disruptive, like the orange we love to wear. It captures our quirky spirit and optimistic mindset. It shows off the culture we've designed, that empowers our people to win. We've been different from day one. Join us, and your career will be too.