Workday Functional Analyst

Workday Functional Analyst

It is inspiring to work in an organization where individuals are deeply committed to the mission and values that drive our success. We are dedicated to delivering expert pension service to Illinois public educators as they earn their promised retirement security.

The Workday Functional Analyst serves as a strategic partner, subject matter expert and platform thought leader of Workday as the system of record for HR and Finance data at TRS. This role owns the full delivery lifecycle, from eliciting and analyzing complex business and technical requirements across HR, Finance, and IT stakeholders through solution design, configuration, testing, implementation, and ongoing governance. This position will translate organizational needs into sophisticated Workday solutions that deliver measurable business value across HCM and Financial modules including Core HCM, Compensation, Payroll, Absence/Time Tracking, Talent/Performance, Recruiting, Learning, FDM, Financial Accounting, Banking, Suppliers, Budgeting, Assets, Procurement, and Financial Planning.

This role designs and governs Workday's security model including domain security policies, security groups, and segregation of duties; enterprise data structure including organization hierarchies and the Financial Dimension Model; and integration framework defining how Workday connects to all upstream and downstream systems. The Analyst leads data migration activities, governs the multi-tenant environment configuration lifecycle, and designs and delivers the full Workday reporting ecosystem: including custom reports across all report types, Prism Analytics datasets, Discovery Boards, People Analytics dashboards, and scheduled report delivery ensuring stakeholders have reliable, real-time access to operational and strategic data.

The ideal candidate brings deep Workday platform expertise, strong requirements analysis skills, and a forward-looking perspective on how emerging platform capabilities, including embedded AI/ML features and the Workday integration ecosystem, can enable TRS's strategic growth and operational excellence.

Essential Functions

• Serve as Subject Matter Expert and platform owner for Workday HCM and Financial modules, including Core HCM, Compensation, Payroll, Absence/time tracking, Talent/performance, Recruiting, Learning, FDM, Financial Accounting, Banking, Suppliers, Budgeting, Assets, Procurement, Financial planning and integrations, ensuring platform integrity and stakeholder alignment.
• Co-own Workday as the system of record for HR and Finance data, ensuring data integrity, completeness, and accuracy across all modules.
• Elicit, analyze, and document business and technical requirements from HR, Finance, and IT stakeholders, translating complex organizational needs into functional specifications, use cases, and system design decisions that drive Workday configuration, integration, and reporting solutions.
• Design and govern the Workday security model including domain security policies, security groups (role-based, user-based, intersection), segment-based security, and segregation of duties across all HCM and Financial modules; administer security group provisioning, modification, and deprovisioning; and serve as the primary escalation point for security issues and audit inquiries.
• Design and govern Workday's enterprise data structure including organization hierarchies (supervisory, company, cost center, location), the Financial Dimension Model (FDM), worktags, cross-module data relationships, and data governance standards within Workday as the system of record.
• Design, build, and govern the enterprise integration framework including Workday integrations using EIB, Core Connectors, and Studio; establish integration design standards, error handling frameworks, monitoring protocols, and pattern selection criteria (EIB vs. Core Connector vs. Studio vs. Cloud Connect); maintain the master integration inventory; and govern the impact assessment process for all upstream and downstream system changes.
• Lead and execute data migration activities including EIB loads, data validation, and reconciliation to ensure data quality and completeness.
• Analyze, design, configure, and validate advanced Workday configurations including complex conditional rules, custom validations, dynamic business process routing, and multi-level approval frameworks; implement system changes including business process design and calculated fields; and establish and enforce the configuration lifecycle across sandbox, implementation, and production environments including promotion standards, regression testing protocols, and go/no-go deployment criteria.
• Analyze requirements, design, build, and deliver Workday reports across all report types (Simple, Advanced, Matrix, Composite, Trending, and Transposed) using appropriate business objects, filtering logic, calculated fields, and prompt-based security; design and govern Prism Analytics datasets, Discovery Boards, People Analytics dashboards, and role-specific dashboards; and configure scheduled and burst report delivery while governing the enterprise report catalog including naming conventions, periodic audits, and design documentation.
• Evaluate bi-annual Workday releases, emerging AI/ML features, and new module capabilities; present business cases to senior stakeholders; develop adoption recommendations; and assist with intake and prioritization of Workday change requests aligned with HR and Finance strategic goals.
• Design, facilitate, and govern UAT frameworks; develop end-to-end testing strategies across all tenant environments; support deployment of system updates and bi-annual releases; and participate in Agile/Scrum sprint planning and change management processes.
• Provide day-to-day system support including troubleshooting, root-cause resolution, and end-user ticket management; and write and maintain system documentation including flow charts, process diagrams, and system capability documentation.

Knowledge, Skills and Abilities

• Deep expertise in Workday HCM and Financial modules including Payroll, Benefits, Compensation, Recruiting, and Talent/Succession.
• Demonstrated ability to design and govern the Workday security model including domain security policies, security groups, and segment-based security.
• Hands-on experience designing and building Workday integrations (EIB, Core Connectors, Studio, or Cloud Connect).
• Experience designing and governing enterprise business process frameworks across multiple Workday modules.
• Proficiency with Workday data structures including organization hierarchies, FDM design, and cross-module data integrity.
• Experience establishing and governing integration design standards and maintaining master integration inventories.
• Proficiency with Workday reporting tools including Report Writer, Calculated Fields, Prism Analytics, People Analytics, and Discovery Boards.
• Experience with advanced business process configuration including complex condition rules, custom validations, and dynamic routing.
• Experience governing Workday multi-tenant environments and configuration lifecycle processes.
• Experience leading data migration and EIB loading activities.
• Demonstrated ability to elicit, analyze, and translate complex business requirements into functional specifications and system design decisions.
• Awareness of Workday embedded AI/ML features and emerging platform capabilities.
• Familiarity with Agile/Scrum delivery methodologies.
• Strong analytical, problem-solving, and communication skills for both technical and non-technical audiences.
• Ability to manage multiple initiatives simultaneously in a fast-paced environment

Minimum Requirements

• Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Business, Information Technology or related field; or equivalent combination of education and hands-on Workday experience.
• 4+ years of hands-on experience configuring Workday HCM and/or Financial modules.
• Demonstrated experience eliciting and documenting business and technical requirements from cross-functional stakeholders.
• Demonstrated experience designing and governing the Workday security model including security groups and domain policies.
• Experience designing and building Workday integrations (EIB, Core Connectors, Studio, or Cloud Connect).
• Experience designing enterprise business process frameworks across multiple Workday modules.
• Experience with Workday data structures including organization hierarchies and FDM design.
• Experience governing multi-tenant Workday environments and configuration lifecycle processes.
• Experience with Workday Report Writing, Calculated Fields, and advanced analytics tools including Prism Analytics.
• Experience supporting Workday through bi-annual releases.

If you thrive in a dynamic environment and enjoy collaborating with driven, enthusiastic professionals, you will find a rewarding career with us.

For Illinois job seekers:

Pay Range

$80,614.20 - $125,758.00

Compensation will be determined based on the qualifications and experience of each candidate.
Benefits TRS is an agency of the State of Illinois. As such, full and part-time employees are eligible for the State of Illinois comprehensive benefits program which includes medical, dental and vision coverage. All employees participate in the TRS retirement pension plan and have the option to contribute to additional State of Illinois deferred compensation plans. The TRS pension plan is a reciprocal system to other state and local pension plans (SERS, SURS, IMRF, etc.)