Key Responsibilities and Required Skills for Workday HRIS Analyst

🎯 Role Definition

The Workday HRIS Analyst is a subject matter expert responsible for the configuration, maintenance, integration, and optimization of the organization's Workday HCM tenant(s). This role partners directly with HR centers of excellence, IT, payroll, benefits, and business stakeholders to translate HR requirements into secure, scalable Workday solutions — including business process design, custom reporting, integrations, security models, testing, deployment, and end-user adoption. The ideal candidate balances deep Workday technical knowledge with strong project management and stakeholder communication skills to deliver reliable HR systems that support workforce operations and strategic HR initiatives.

📈 Career Progression

Typical Career Path

Entry Point From:

HRIS Specialist with hands-on Workday exposure
HR Generalist or HR Operations Analyst transitioning into systems work
Technical Business Systems Analyst with HR/payroll background

Advancement To:

Senior Workday HRIS Analyst / Workday Technical Lead
HRIS Manager / Workday Administrator
Director of HR Systems or Workday Solutions Architect

Lateral Moves:

Payroll Systems Analyst
Business Systems Analyst (HR or broader enterprise)
HR Data & Analytics Specialist

Core Responsibilities

Primary Functions

Lead full lifecycle Workday configuration projects, including requirements gathering, design, build, test, deploy and post-deployment stabilization for Workday HCM modules such as Core HR, Absence Management, Time Tracking, Benefits, and Compensation.
Design, configure and maintain Workday business processes and change workflows (Business Process Framework) to align system behavior with HR policy, regulatory requirements, and user experience standards.
Build and maintain robust integrations between Workday and internal/external systems using Workday EIB, Workday Studio, Workday Web Services (SOAP and REST), RaaS, and third-party middleware (e.g., Dell Boomi, MuleSoft), ensuring secure, reliable data exchange for payroll, benefits, recruiting, and time systems.
Create, optimize and maintain complex Workday custom reports, composite reports, calculated fields and dashboards using Report Writer and Workday Prism Analytics to deliver actionable HR metrics, headcount reporting, and compliance reporting across the organization.
Lead tenant management and configuration governance, including security role administration, tenant provisioning, business process security, and auditing to ensure least-privilege access and regulatory compliance (SOX, GDPR where applicable).
Plan and execute Workday release management activities including impact analysis, sandbox refreshes, release testing, documentation of release notes and implementing required configuration changes during quarterly Workday updates.
Serve as primary SME for Workday security model design and maintenance — designing domain and business process security, role-based access, segregation of duties, and provisioning processes to protect sensitive HR/compensation data.
Execute end-to-end data migrations and mass data loads using Workday IT/HR tools (EIB, CSV loads) and validate data integrity by reconciling source systems to tenant data and resolving discrepancies.
Develop, document and maintain detailed functional and technical specifications, integration mapping documents, runbooks, test scripts and user guides to support operations and future maintenance.
Coordinate and lead unit, integration, and user acceptance testing (UAT) cycles; validate scenarios, manage defect tracking, and guide stakeholders through acceptance criteria and sign-off.
Troubleshoot, analyze and resolve production incidents and integration failures quickly, driving root-cause analysis, corrective action plans and communication to impacted stakeholders.
Partner with payroll, benefits, recruiting, talent, and finance teams to design cross-functional solutions that maintain payroll accuracy, benefits enrollments, time/attendance integrity, and cost allocations.
Act as primary liaison with Workday Support and third-party consultants for escalations, technical issues, patch recommendations, and complex tenant configurations to accelerate issue resolution.
Implement and maintain time tracking, absence, and leave of absence configurations ensuring compliance with local, state, and federal regulations and accurate accrual and payroll interfaces.
Manage Workday security and identity integrations including SSO/SSO providers (SAML, Okta, Azure AD), LDAP synchronization, provisioning and de-provisioning processes as part of identity and access management.
Configure and support Workday compensation modules including salary planning, merit cycles, variable pay programs, and integration with compensation planning tools and payroll systems.
Drive HR systems automation opportunities by identifying repetitive manual tasks and implementing EIB/Studio-based automation and workstreams that reduce time to complete and increase accuracy.
Provide strategic input and domain expertise for HR data governance, master data definitions, adoption metrics, and data quality improvement initiatives in partnership with HRCOEs and data teams.
Deliver onboarding, training sessions, and change management communications for HR and business users; create training materials, job aids and role-based access documentation to drive adoption and reduce helpdesk tickets.
Monitor and measure the effectiveness of Workday processes and reports, proposing continuous improvements while aligning to IT governance and enterprise architecture standards.
Participate in cross-functional project teams, providing Workday feasibility analysis, impact assessments and timelines for new HR programs, acquisitions, reorganizations and global rollouts.
Manage vendor relationships and professional services engagements for Workday custom development, integrations, and health-check assessments ensuring deliverables meet quality, timelines and budget expectations.

Secondary Functions

Support ad-hoc data requests and exploratory data analysis.
Contribute to the organization's data strategy and roadmap.
Collaborate with business units to translate data needs into engineering requirements.
Participate in sprint planning and agile ceremonies within the data engineering team.
Provide after-hours or on-call support during major deployments or critical production incidents.
Conduct periodic tenant health checks, documentation audits and orphaned configuration clean-up to maintain optimal tenant performance.
Assist HR leadership with headcount forecasting, workforce planning reports, and ad hoc organizational design scenarios using Workday data.
Mentor junior HRIS analysts and engineers on Workday best practices, troubleshooting techniques, and documentation standards.

Required Skills & Competencies

Hard Skills (Technical)

Deep expertise with Workday HCM configuration: business processes, security, business objects, calculated fields, and report writer.
Workday integrations experience: EIB, Workday Studio, RaaS, SOAP and REST APIs; familiarity with middleware platforms (Dell Boomi, MuleSoft, Workato).
Strong reporting and analytics skills: custom report building, advanced calculated fields, composite reports, matrix reports, and Workday Prism fundamentals.
Data management skills: data mapping, mass loads, reconciliation, data cleansing, and migration using EIB and inbound/outbound integrations.
Workday release management experience: sandbox refresh strategy, impact analysis, regression testing and configuration updates with each quarterly release.
Identity and access management knowledge: SAML/SSO, Okta/Azure AD integrations, user provisioning, role-based access control and security auditing.
Experience with payroll and benefits integrations, including payroll vendor file formats, benefits carriers, ACA reporting and regulatory compliance considerations.
Proficiency in SQL, Excel (advanced formulas, pivot tables), and scripting for data extracts and transformation tasks.
Familiarity with Agile delivery methodologies, JIRA/Confluence or other ticketing and documentation tools.
Workday certification(s) preferred (e.g., Workday HCM, Integrations, Reporting) or equivalent hands-on experience.
Experience with time tracking, absence management, compensation setups and organization management within Workday.
Strong knowledge of HR processes (recruiting, onboarding, pay, performance, succession) and how they map to Workday functionality.

Soft Skills

Exceptional stakeholder management: ability to influence cross-functional partners, translate technical concepts to non-technical audiences and drive consensus.
Strong written communication: producing clear technical documentation, user guides, and release notes tailored to multiple audiences.
Analytical mindset with a detail-oriented approach to problem solving, root-cause analysis, and data validation.
Project management skills: ability to plan, estimate, track and deliver configuration projects on time and within scope.
Customer-centric service orientation, prioritizing end-user experience and minimizing business disruption.
Adaptability and resilience: comfortable with frequent product updates, evolving requirements and cross-geography coordination.
Collaborative team player: works effectively with HR, IT, vendors and external consultants to achieve business outcomes.
Training and facilitation skills: able to design and deliver workshops, UAT sessions and knowledge transfer activities.
Time management and prioritization skills, balancing multiple concurrent integration and configuration requests.
Continuous improvement mindset: proactively identifies opportunities to streamline processes, increase automation, and reduce technical debt.

Education & Experience

Educational Background

Minimum Education:

Bachelor's degree in Human Resources, Information Systems, Computer Science, Business Administration, or related field; or equivalent practical experience.

Preferred Education:

Master’s degree in HR Analytics, Information Systems, or an MBA is a plus.
Workday certifications (Workday HCM, Workday Integrations, Workday Reporting) strongly preferred.

Relevant Fields of Study:

Human Resources / HR Management
Information Systems / Management Information Systems (MIS)
Computer Science / Software Engineering
Business Administration / Finance

Experience Requirements

Typical Experience Range:

3–7 years of progressive HRIS or Workday experience for mid-level roles; 5+ years preferred for senior-level positions.

Preferred:

3+ full Workday deployment cycles and hands-on experience across integrations, reporting and security.
Experience supporting global Workday tenants with multi-country payroll/benefits exposure is a plus.
Prior experience working with payroll vendors, benefits carriers, and identity management teams.