Analyst - Business Systems; Workday

Analyst - Business Systems (Workday) at Inside Higher Ed

Location: Fox Valley Technical College, Appleton Main Campus, Appleton, WI

Hours: 40 per week

This position is responsible for managing and optimizing the College's Workday system within HR, Payroll, and Finance, ensuring its stability, implementing enhancements, and providing technical support to end users. The role involves collaborating with cross‑functional teams, leading configuration efforts, and driving process improvements to meet the needs of stakeholders across the College.

• Analyze and redesign business processes and perform system configuration to maximize efficiencies and meet business needs.
• Leverage a variety of tools (workflow, condition rules, calculated fields, custom validations, document generation, security, reporting, notifications) to reach desired results.
• Proactively evaluate Workday functionality, identify and drive process improvement, and align enhancements with process gaps.
• Perform impact analysis, organize and lead meetings and communication with cross‑functional stakeholders pre‑implementation.
• Manage system enhancement projects through the full cycle: research, design, development, testing, implementation, and communication.
• Collaborate with internal and external resources—consultants, vendors, project teams—to support efficient execution of implementations, enhancements, and projects.
• Identify and assess issues within the Workday system, including root‑cause analysis.
• Research, troubleshoot, and test resolution options, including creative solutions.
• Provide issue resolution recommendations and implement solutions.
• Offer consultation and technical support to HR and Finance team members and other employees on Workday functionality.
• Prioritize issues among several teams/end users’ needs and adapt quickly to changing priorities.
• Create and maintain end‑user documentation, communication, and training for system changes, enhancements, and new implementations/upgrades.
• Serve as subject matter expert on Workday capabilities within assigned HCM, Payroll, Finance modules (including Absence, Benefits, Compensation, Core HCM, Learning, Payroll, Performance Enablement, Recruiting/Talent Acquisition, Talent Optimization, Time Tracking, Financial Accounting, Grants Management, Expenses, Procurement, Adaptive Planning, Budget, Banking & Settlement).
• Understand touchpoints between various areas, including Workday HCM/Payroll, Workday Finance, Workday Student, and integrated systems.
• Maintain knowledge of current and upcoming system capabilities through training, research, networking.
• Review release notes for weekly and bi‑annual system updates to identify impacts, opportunities for enhancements, and testing and communication needs.
• Structure and develop test plans for unit, end‑to‑end, regression, and acceptance testing.
• Identify internal and external resources for testing and collaborate based on impact.
• Manage acceptance testing with business users, performing system configuration, reporting, and integration testing.
• Evaluate functionality, performance, and fit‑for‑use to meet business requirements.
• Develop reports, dashboards, and analytics for functional areas and end users.
• Collaborate with College Reporting and Integrations teams on college‑wide reports and integrations.
• Perform ad‑hoc data requests for employees, interpreting and reporting on data for state and federal reporting.
• Maintain data integrity by performing system and data audits.

• Bachelor's Degree in Human Resources, Accounting/Finance, Business, Information Technology, or related field.
• Five or more years of recent related experience, including: system configuration experience and working knowledge of system design and development techniques within Workday or equivalent ERP; experience with HR/Payroll/Financial operations, preferably within Higher Education; experience communicating effectively with HR, Finance, IT, vendors, consultants, and cross‑functional colleagues.
• Strong research, critical thinking, and project management skills.
• Experience with project management software and tools.
• Proven analytical skills and ability to think…