Sr. Manager, Application Development (Workday)

Mode of interview: 1^st round virtual, 2^nd round in person

Contract Legnth:1+ Year

Location: 5 days on site ( but will have 50 remote days to choose from + every federal holiday off and the week of Christmas/new years employees are completely remote.)

Sr. Manager, Application Development (Workday) role. Below are the main takeaways and what we should be screening for.

Role Overview
This person will support the HR and Finance space within the Workday ecosystem. They need to be both highly technical and a strong leader.

The role itself will not be hands-on day-to-day, but they need to have been hands-on with Workday throughout their career and stayed close enough to the technology to lead technical teams, challenge decisions, and speak confidently with senior leadership.

They will report to Steve and work closely with leaders across HR, Finance, IT, and potentially the CIO around deliverables, progress, and any issues impacting delivery.

Top Must-Haves

8–10+ years of deep Workday experience preferred; 6–8 may work depending on depth
Experience across both Workday HR/HCM and Finance
Needs broad Workday ecosystem knowledge — not just one module
Should understand core HR areas such as HCM, payroll, recruiting, time tracking, etc., in addition to the Finance side
Strong technical/application development background
AWS is very important
Java/application development exposure
Strong leadership experience in addition to technical experience
Comfortable working directly with senior executives and business leaders

Workday Experience – Important Distinction
Someone who has only:

Administered Workday
Participated in one Workday implementation
Specialized in one module
Worked for a client that happens to use Workday

will likely not have enough depth.

Consulting experience can work, but ideally they have been consulting specifically within the Workday ecosystem and have had broad exposure across the platform.

Team Structure
This person will have an existing Manager reporting into them, and that Manager oversees a small team of permanent employees and contractors. The Sr. Manager may also oversee additional consultants/contractors directly.

We should look for someone who has experience leading technical teams and ideally has experience managing managers, not just individual contributors.

Culture / Leadership Fit
They want someone who:

Can push both the team and the business forward
Holds people accountable
Delivers and executes
Has urgency and passion
Can challenge people without being overbearing
Can balance the needs of two different business groups — HR and Finance
Is comfortable stepping in quickly and owning deliverables

Red Flags

Only 3–4 years of Workday
Workday administration only
One-time implementation experience
Only HCM or only Finance experience
Narrow module specialization
Pure people leader who has been removed from the technology for several years
Consulting experience with limited Workday ownership
No meaningful AWS/cloud exposure

Interview Process

Submit candidate through Workday
First round – approximately 30-minute virtual/video interview
Second round – panel interview with approximately 3–4 people
Final round – onsite

The biggest focus should be finding someone with the combination of deep Workday HR + Finance experience, technical credibility, AWS exposure, and strong senior leadership experience.

Zensark Inc

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Sr. Manager, Application Development (Workday) role