Workday Platform & Governance Owner - Workday SME

Summary   The Workday Platform & Governance Owner serves as the technical subject matter expert (SME) and governance authority for the Workday ecosystem supporting 10,000+ employees.   This role is responsible for tenant management, security administration, production change control, configuration standards, and complex cross-module configuration within Workday.  This position operates within IT, operating within a structured HRIS (functional design) and HRIT (technical delivery) model.  This role ensures Workday remains secure, architecturally aligned, compliant, and technically optimized. While HRIT Engineers own module delivery, this role serves as the enterprise technical SME across all Workday domains and provides hands-on configuration for complex or cross-functional initiatives.

Enterprise Technical SME (All Workday Modules)   Serve as the senior technical authority across:  Core HCM  Position Management & Job Management  Benefits  Compensation & Advanced Compensation  Recruiting  Talent Management  Workday Learning  Payroll  Time Tracking & Absence  Security  Integrations (EIB, Core Connectors, APIs, Studio fundamentals)  Responsibilities include advising HRIT engineers on complex configuration design, new releases, AI agents and new functionality, validating cross-module impacts, supporting troubleshooting of high-severity issues, and mentoring team members on advanced configuration practices.  Hands-On Configuration Responsibilities   Configure complex cross-domain business processes  Design and implement advanced security groups and domain policies  Configure complex eligibility rules and condition logic  Support advanced compensation cycle setup  Configure complex Position Management structures  Build enterprise-impact calculated fields  Support integration troubleshooting  Perform configuration clean-up and technical debt remediation  Tenant Management & Environment Governance   Create and Maintain Tenant Management Plan Oversee all Workday tenants (Production, Sandbox, Dev, Preview)  Coordinate sandbox refresh schedules  Enforce Dev → Test → Prod migration controls  Approve production configuration migrations  Oversee release preview cycles  Maintain production access governance  Support emergency change management  Lead governance processes, including prioritization of enhancements, upgrades and releases. Establish and enforce technical and application change management standards, ensuring compliance with documentation and audit requirements Security & Access Governance   Maintain enterprise Workday security model  Monitor and remediate segregation of duties (SOD) conflicts  Conduct periodic security reviews  Review elevated access requests  Partner with IT Security and Audit teams  Production Change Control & CAB Leadership   Chair Workday Change Advisory Board (CAB) for Intake and Demand Review cross-module impact of proposed changes  Validate testing documentation prior to approval  Maintain structured change control records  Required Qualifications   7–10 years HRIS experience  5+ years advanced hands-on Workday configuration  Workday Pro Certifications  Deep expertise across all major Workday modules   Strong Position Management and Job Management experience  Experience designing and maintaining security architecture  Strong understanding of SOD and audit controls  Experience operating within a multi-tenant governance model  Location: Three days a week at a Guardian office in New York, NY, Holmdel, NJ or Stanford, CT> Salary Range: $152,290.00 - $250,195.00 The salary range reflected above is a good faith estimate of base pay for the primary location of the position. The salary for this position ultimately will be determined based on the education, experience, knowledge, and abilities of the successful candidate. In addition to salary, this role may also be eligible for annual,