Workday Platform & Governance Owner - Workday SME

Position Summary   The Workday Platform & Governance Owner serves as the technical subject matter expert (SME) and governance authority for the Workday ecosystem supporting 10,000+ employees.   This role is responsible for tenant management, security administration, production change control, configuration standards, and complex cross-module configuration within Workday.  This position operates within IT, operating within a structured HRIS (functional design) and HRIT (technical delivery) model.  This role ensures Workday remains secure, architecturally aligned, compliant, and technically optimized. While HRIT Engineers own module delivery, this role serves as the enterprise technical SME across all Workday domains and provides hands-on configuration for complex or cross-functional initiatives.  Key Responsibilities   Enterprise Technical SME (All Workday Modules)   Serve as the senior technical authority across:  Core HCM  Position Management & Job Management  Benefits  Compensation & Advanced Compensation  Recruiting  Talent Management  Workday Learning  Payroll  Time Tracking & Absence  Security  Integrations (EIB, Core Connectors, APIs, Studio fundamentals)  Responsibilities include advising HRIT engineers on complex configuration design, new releases, AI agents and new functionality, validating cross-module impacts, supporting troubleshooting of high-severity issues, and mentoring team members on advanced configuration practices.  Hands-On Configuration Responsibilities   Configure complex cross-domain business processes  Design and implement advanced security groups and domain policies  Configure complex eligibility rules and condition logic  Support advanced compensation cycle setup  Configure complex Position Management structures  Build enterprise-impact calculated fields  Support integration troubleshooting  Perform configuration clean-up and technical debt remediation  Tenant Management & Environment Governance   Create and Maintain Tenant Management Plan Oversee all Workday tenants (Production, Sandbox, Dev, Preview)  Coordinate sandbox refresh schedules  Enforce Dev → Test → Prod migration controls  Approve production configuration migrations  Oversee release preview cycles  Maintain production access governance  Support emergency change management  Lead governance processes, including prioritization of enhancements, upgrades and releases. Establish and enforce technical and application change management standards, ensuring compliance with documentation and audit requirements Security & Access Governance   Maintain enterprise Workday security model  Monitor and remediate segregation of duties (SOD) conflicts  Conduct periodic security reviews  Review elevated access requests  Partner with IT Security and Audit teams  Production Change Control & CAB Leadership   Chair Workday Change Advisory Board (CAB) for Intake and Demand Review cross-module impact of proposed changes  Validate testing documentation prior to approval  Maintain structured change control records  Required Qualifications   7–10 years HRIS experience  5+ years advanced hands-on Workday configuration  Workday Pro Certifications  Deep expertise across all major Workday modules   Strong Position Management and Job Management experience  Experience designing and maintaining security architecture  Strong understanding of SOD and audit controls  Experience operating within a multi-tenant governance model  Location: Three days a week at a Guardian office in New York, NY, Holmdel, NJ or Stanford, CT> Salary Range: $152,290.00 - $250,195.00 The salary range reflected above is a good faith estimate of base pay for the primary location of the position. The salary for this position ultimately will be determined based on the education, experience, knowledge, and abilities of the successful candidate. In addition to salary, this role may also be eligible for annual, sales, or other incentive compensation. Our Promise At Guardian, you’ll have the support and flexibility to achieve your professional and personal goals.  Through skill-building, leadership development and philanthropic opportunities, we provide opportunities to build communities and grow your career, surrounded by diverse colleagues with high ethical standards. Inspire Well-Being As part of Guardian’s Purpose – to inspire well-being – we are committed to offering contemporary, supportive, flexible, and inclusive benefits and resources to our colleagues. Explore our company benefits at www.guardianlife.com/careers/corporate/benefits .  Benefits apply to full-time eligible employees. Interns are not eligible for most Company benefits. Equal Employment Opportunity Guardian is an equal opportunity employer. All qualified applicants will be considered for employment without regard to age, race, color, creed, religion, sex, affectional or sexual orientation, national origin, ancestry, marital status, disability, military or veteran status, or any other classification protected by applicable law. Accommodations Guardian is committed to providing access, equal opportunity and reasonable accommodation for individuals with disabilities in employment, its services, programs, and activities. Guardian also provides reasonable accommodations to qualified job applicants (and employees) to accommodate the individual's known limitations related to pregnancy, childbirth, or related medical conditions, unless doing so would create an undue hardship. If reasonable accommodation is needed to participate in the job application or interview process, to perform essential job functions, and/or to receive other benefits and privileges of employment, please contact MyHR@glic.com . Please note: this resource is for accommodation requests only. For all other inquires related to your application and careers at Guardian, refer to the Guardian Careers site. Visa Sponsorship Guardian is not currently or in the foreseeable future sponsoring employment visas. In order to be a successful applicant. you must be legally authorized to work in the United States, without the need for employer sponsorship. Notice Regarding Guardian’s Use of Artificial Intelligence in Recruitment   As part of Guardian’s job application process, Guardian may use artificial intelligence tools (“AI Tools") to automate the sorting and filtering of information provided by applicants as part of its preliminary screening. This preliminary screening may be used to help identify applicant materials and resumes relative to their indication that the applicant meets the requirements for the specific job for which they are applying, as specified in the listing posted on Guardian’s jobs website (Careers at Guardian at https://www.guardianlife.com/careers ). At Guardian, we do not use AI Tools to substantially assist or replace human judgment or discretionary decision making in our hiring process. All hiring decisions will be made by Guardian colleagues.   Please be aware that if you apply for a specific position with Guardian, you will have the choice of opting out of Guardian’s use of AI Tools during the job application process. If you would like to request an alternative process that does not utilize AI Tools or would like to request a reasonable accommodation, within ten business days of your position application, you must email your request to MyHR@glic.com , making sure to provide your name and job requisition identification number. Guardian will retain your applicant materials and resume and all information therefrom in accordance with Guardian’s document retention policy, a copy of which you may request via MyHR@glic.com .   Additionally, at applicable times, Guardian will make public the most recent bias audit results for such AI tools, which may be found here .  Current Guardian Colleagues: Please apply through the internal Jobs Hub in Workday.