Workday Product Owner

Be the one who makes a difference!

At Vertex Education we are a team of high achievers, courageous leaders, and passionate believers in changing lives through education. As a purpose-led education services provider, our mission is destined to benefit many and yet it starts with just one person inspired to work together with us to make a memorable and meaningful difference for our clients, schools, students, and communities. Be the one who makes a difference—with us.

Vertex Education is seeking an experienced and strategic Workday Product Owner to lead the transformation and long-term success of our Workday platform. This role owns the product roadmap, drives platform optimization, manages execution across configuration, security, and integrations, and leads a small but capable systems team. The ideal candidate will bring both strategic clarity and operational rigor - ensuring Workday delivers real, measurable value to HR, Finance, and the broader organization.

This is a pivotal leadership role focused on converting a fragmented, under-leveraged system into a high-performing platform that enables efficient, scalable operations in service of our schools and students.

Key Responsibilities:

1. Strategic Roadmapping & Prioritization

Build and maintain a clear, actionable 12–18 month roadmap for all Workday modules (HCM, Payroll, Time, Recruiting, Financials).

Develop and manage a prioritization matrix that evaluates requests based on impact, urgency, complexity, and alignment with organizational priorities.

Own and continuously refine the Workday backlog, ensuring it is groomed, well-documented, and focused on value-creating work.

Evaluate and lead adoption planning for Workday’s bi-annual feature releases, ensuring intentional uptake of relevant functionality.

2. Process Optimization & Stakeholder Diagnostics

Lead requirements gathering sessions, business diagnostics, and design workshops to uncover root causes and improvement opportunities.

Partner with HR, Finance, and school support teams to understand operational pain points and design scalable, user-centered solutions.

Translate stakeholder needs into process improvements and system changes that reduce manual effort, streamline approvals, and improve data accuracy.

3. Team Execution & Agile Delivery

Lead the Workday team (2 HRIS Analysts, 1 Financial Analyst) to deliver enhancements and fixes through disciplined, value-focused sprint cycles.

Ensure the team is operating with clarity, velocity, and quality—by setting sprint goals, removing blockers, and driving retrospectives.

Provide direct coaching and support to team members to grow capabilities and maintain high standards.

4. System Configuration, Security & Integrations

Oversee system configuration, security roles, business process design, and validation—ensuring they meet business needs and audit standards.

Manage and monitor Workday integrations (e.g., benefits, time & attendance, accounting), ensuring data integrity and reliability across platforms.

Define and enforce documentation standards, naming conventions, and change control processes across all modules.

5. Vendor & Spend Management

Act as the primary manager for Workday-related third parties—consultants, implementation partners, and vendors.

Develop clear scopes of work, success criteria, and performance metrics for all external engagements.

Monitor and manage Workday-related spend, ensuring a clear return on investment for all contracted work.

6. Reporting, Governance & Value Measurement

Deliver accurate, actionable reporting from Workday that enables informed decision-making at every level of the organization.

Establish system governance and intake processes to ensure prioritization is transparent and aligned with business goals.

Define and track KPIs that reflect real business value—e.g., automation rates, turnaround times, error reduction, and system adoption.

Education & Experience:

Required Qualifications:

Bachelor’s degree in Business Administration, Information Systems, a related field, or equivalent experience.

Minimum of 4 years of experience in product ownership or product management, preferably in enterprise systems or ERP platforms.

Proven experience working cross-functionally with HR, Finance, IT stakeholders, and managing vendor relationships to deliver platform enhancements.

Experience managing or coaching a team and overseeing roadmap prioritization and delivery of platform features.

Preferred Qualifications:

Workday Pro certification or equivalent ERP-related credentials.

Experience supporting Workday across multiple modules, including HCM, Payroll, and Finance.

Familiarity with Workday release planning and stakeholder training/communication strategies.

Be excited to be a part of our team and grow your career with us!

Be the one who enables us to positively impact over 258,000 students across multiple states while driving our growth forward so we can enrich even more lives. Be the one who helps us achieve excellence for over 226 schools that we support with academics, finance, technology, human resources, communications, marketing, facilities, construction, and food services. Be the one who is a diverse thinker, a team player, a smart risk taker, an innovator, and a difference maker by encouraging others to climb higher and reach farther to further education.

Be yourself surrounded by wonderful people who care about you, value your unique skills, and lift you up.

Be supported in your work by caring leaders and team members who want you to succeed.

Be empowered to make a difference and climb higher and reach farther to change lives through education.

Be well in all aspects of your life from your physical, mental, and emotional wellbeing to your finances.

Enjoy industry-leading pay, rewards, referral bonuses, with unlimited flexible paid time-off for performance.

Be able to care for your health and your family with comprehensive medical, dental and vision benefits and invest in your future with 401(k) plans with a 6% employer match on your contributions.

Enhance your growth and development with mentoring and money to take training classes.

Thrive in a welcoming, supportive, and inclusive environment where we treat others with fairness and respect, celebrate diversity, and elevate equality and inclusion as an equal opportunity employer.

Be the one who makes a difference!