Position Summary

We are seeking an experienced Workday Benefits Product Architect to own the Workday Benefits product roadmap and serve as the primary strategic partner for Benefits, Payroll, HR, Finance, and business stakeholders. This is a true Product Ownership role focused on product strategy, roadmap management, stakeholder engagement, and driving business value–not hands-on Workday configuration.

You’ll work closely with the Enterprise Applications team, who own the technical configuration and administration of Workday, allowing you to focus on defining priorities, evaluating new functionality, and ensuring the platform continues to meet evolving business needs.

Key Responsibilities

• Own and manage the Workday Benefits product roadmap and backlog.
• Partner with Benefits, Payroll, HR, Finance, and business stakeholders to gather requirements and prioritize enhancements.
• Translate business needs into scalable Workday solutions.
• Evaluate new Workday functionality and drive release adoption.
• Collaborate with the Enterprise Applications team on solution delivery and implementation.
• Lead roadmap planning, governance, and Product Ownership best practices.
• Coordinate User Acceptance Testing (UAT) and support successful deployments.
• Present recommendations and product strategy to business leaders.
• Support ongoing optimization and continuous improvement initiatives across the Workday Benefits platform.

Required Qualifications

• 7+ years of Workday experience with deep expertise in Workday Benefits.
• Experience as a Product Owner, Product Manager, Functional Lead, or Senior Workday Subject Matter Expert (SME).
• Proven ability to manage product roadmaps and backlogs.
• Strong stakeholder management and executive communication skills.
• Experience leading Workday release planning and feature adoption.
• Ability to prioritize competing business initiatives in a fast-paced environment.

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience leading Open Enrollment initiatives.
• Benefits vendor integration experience.
• Knowledge of ACA administration and Leave of Absence processes.
• Payroll experience or strong cross-functional partnership with Payroll teams.
• Experience supporting large enterprise Workday environments.

What You’ll Accomplish in Your First 90 Days

• Build relationships with key Benefits, Payroll, HR, Finance, and business stakeholders.
• Assess and prioritize the current Benefits backlog.
• Identify opportunities to leverage upcoming Workday releases.
• Evaluate current processes and recommend future-state improvements.
• Establish yourself as the strategic owner of the Workday Benefits roadmap.
• Help mature Product Ownership processes and governance.

About GQR’s Workday Practice

GQR is a Certified Workday Partner, connecting organizations with specialized Workday professionals across the entire Workday ecosystem, including HCM, Financials, Supply Chain, Adaptive Planning, Extend, Prism, and Payroll. With teams across North America, Europe, and APAC, we help clients build high-performing Workday teams across every phase of their journey–from implementation and optimization to ongoing support.