The Workday Finance Functional Architect is a senior, client-facing role responsible for designing end to end Workday Financial Management solutions across complex, multi-entity organisations. This role requires deep expertise across Workday Financials functional domains, with the ability to connect data model, processes, reporting, integrations, security and controls into one coherent enterprise design.
The architect provides a global foundation design, legal entity structures, accounting architecture, implementation lessons learnt, operational model impacts, and deployment governance
The role spans presales, solution design, delivery assurance, and executive stakeholder engagement, ensuring solutions are scalable, compliant, and aligned to business outcomes.
Key Responsibilities:
Solution & Architecture Leadership
Own the end‑to‑end Workday Finance solution architecture, ensuring functional coherence across all finance modules and integrations.
Design and govern the Financial Data Model (FDM), including worktags, hierarchies, ledgers, balancing worktags, and reporting structures.
Provide a holistic solution view, covering:
Record‑to‑Report
Procure‑to‑Pay
Order‑to‑Cash
Expenses
Assets
Projects & Projects Billing
Accounting Center (where applicable)
Reporting, Prism, and downstream consumers
Ensure solutions align with Workday best practices, industry standards, and client‑specific regulatory and audit requirements.
Client & Stakeholder Engagement
Act as a trusted advisor to CFOs, Finance Directors, Controllers, and Transformation Leads.
Lead and participate in executive‑level design discussions, articulating solution trade‑offs, risks, and recommendations clearly.
Translate complex business requirements into practical, scalable Workday solutions.
Guide clients through design decisions with a long‑term lens on operability, scalability, and future roadmap.
Delivery Oversight & Assurance
Provide functional design governance across one or more Workday Finance workstreams.
Review and validate solution designs produced by project teams to ensure architectural integrity.
Identify cross‑module dependencies and risks early and drive mitigation strategies.
Support complex problem‑solving scenarios across integrations, accounting treatments, and reporting outcomes.
Act as a delivery assurance role on high‑risk or complex engagements where required.
Pre‑Sales & Thought Leadership
Play a key role in pre‑sales activities, including:
Solution architecture and approach definition
Estimation and scoping
RFP responses
Client orals and solution walkthroughs
Shape solution options and implementation strategies tailored to client maturity and industry context.
Partner with sales and practice leadership to articulate value‑based solutions, not just system features.
Contribute to practice assets, standards, and reusable solution patterns.
Mentoring & Practice Development
Provide functional leadership and mentoring to Principal Consultants, Senior Consultants, and Consultants.
Set quality standards for finance design and solution documentation.
Actively contribute to capability uplift across the Finance practice.
Share lessons learned and best practices across the organisation.
Education and Experience Requirements:
Bachelor’s degree in Finance, Accounting, Business, or a related discipline (or equivalent experience).
10+ years of experience in Finance transformation, ERP implementations, or FP&A/Controllership roles.
6+ years of hands‑on experience implementing Workday Financial Management across multiple industries.
Proven experience designing complex, multi‑entity, multi‑ledger Workday Finance solutions.
Experience working across end‑to‑end finance processes, not limited to a single module.
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Why choose Cognizant:
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