Systems Architect

Job Description

The Workday Systems Architect / AI Lead is responsible for designing, architecting, and leading the implementation of Workday Financials, with a strong focus on intelligent automation, AI-driven insights, and scalable integration architecture. This role bridges Finance, HR, IT, and Data teams to deliver a future-state ecosystem that is efficient, secure, and data-driven.

Essential Duties

• Assess current finance systems, applications, data flows, and processes to design a scalable future-state architecture centered around Workday Financials.
• Lead the design and implementation of Workday Finance solutions aligned with organizational strategy and growth objectives.
• Establish enterprise-wide Workday roadmap and technology governance strategy.
• Define end-to-end system architecture including integrations, data models, security, and reporting frameworks.
• Partner with Finance stakeholders to translate business requirements into scalable, efficient technical solutions.
• Lead data conversion, validation, reconciliation, and cutover planning activities.
• Design and deliver complex Workday integrations using industry standards (REST, SOAP, JSON, APIs, middleware platforms).
• Develop integration patterns and reusable frameworks to simplify deployment and reduce technical complexity.
• Architect message-based and event-driven solutions leveraging modern integration approaches.
• Define data flows across Workday, ERP, and downstream systems ensuring integrity, security, and performance.
• Establish API governance, security standards, and monitoring practices.
• Lead the integration of AI and automation capabilities into Workday Finance processes (e.g., predictive analytics, anomaly detection, intelligent workflows).
• Design data architectures that enable advanced analytics, reporting, and machine learning use cases.
• Partner with data and analytics teams to develop intelligent insights and decision-support tools.
• Identify opportunities to leverage AI to improve financial operations, forecasting, and reporting efficiency.
• Define AI governance, responsible AI controls, and model oversight standards.
• Define and enforce architecture standards, integration patterns, and governance frameworks.
• Establish Service-Oriented Architecture (SOA) principles and API-first design strategies.
• Ensure solutions are scalable, secure, reusable, and aligned with long-term enterprise architecture goals.
• Establish KPIs and success metrics to measure system performance and business value.
• Lead design reviews and ensure adherence to best practices across all technical implementations.
• Drive solution delivery using Agile and modern implementation methodologies.
• Provide technical leadership, mentorship, and guidance to engineering and integration teams.
• Collaborate cross-functionally to ensure alignment across Finance, IT, HR, and external vendors.
• Manage complex issues with a high degree of autonomy and provide strategic recommendations.
• Oversee performance optimization, logging, monitoring, and reporting capabilities.

Experience Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, Information Systems, Finance Technology, or related field.
• 8+ years of experience in software development, systems architecture, or enterprise applications.
• 5+ years of experience designing and implementing integration architectures.
• Proven experience with Workday Financials architecture and integrations strongly preferred.
• Experience with enterprise integration platforms (e.g., MuleSoft, Boomi, TIBCO, Oracle SOA, webMethods).
• Experience implementing ERP/Finance transformation initiatives.
• Experience leading enterprise-scale Workday Financials transformations in complex organizations.
• Deep understanding of Workday architecture, integrations (EIB, Studio, APIs), and data structures.
• Expertise in API management, microservices, and SOA architecture.
• Strong knowledge of integration patterns (REST, SOAP, JSON, messaging systems such as pub/sub, MQ).
• Experience with cloud-based architectures and distributed systems.
• Solid understanding of data architecture, warehousing, and data flow optimization.
• Familiarity with AI/ML frameworks and data-driven solution design.
• Strong systems thinking with the ability to design scalable, enterprise-grade solutions.
• Exceptional problem-solving and debugging capabilities.
• Able to translate complex technical concepts into clear business value.
• Strong stakeholder management and communication skills.
• Proven ability to influence, lead, and mentor technical teams.
• Strong executive presence with ability to present recommendations to senior leadership.
• High degree of autonomy with the ability to handle complex challenges.
• Experience designing intelligent logging, monitoring, and performance optimization frameworks.
• Solid understanding of financial systems, reporting, and compliance requirements.
• Knowledge of security, governance, and risk management in enterprise systems.
• Experience working in Agile and fast-paced transformation environments.

Work Environment

• Duties and responsibilities are typically performed in a professional office setting, but there may be times where you will need to be in operating areas.
• In these areas, you may be exposed to environmental factors including, but not limited to, second hand smoke and excessive noise.
• The employee must frequently lift and/or move up to 50 pounds.
• Specific vision abilities required by this job include close, distance, color, and peripheral vision, depth perception and ability to adjust focus.