Workday Grants Lead

Seeking a manager-level Workday Grants Lead to serve as the sub-workstream lead for Grants Management within a large-scale higher education Workday Financials implementation. This role will own the design, configuration oversight, and testing coordination for grants-related processes, ensuring alignment across multi-source funding environments (federal, state, city, and private). The individual will partner closely with Finance, Research Administration, and cross-functional Workday teams.

Key Responsibilities

Workstream Leadership

• Lead the Grants sub-workstream within Workday Financials
• Act as the primary functional SME for grants lifecycle and accounting
• Drive design decisions, requirements validation, and solution alignment

Design and Functional Alignment

• Define and validate end-to-end grants lifecycle: Proposal → Award → Budget → Spend → Billing → Closeout
• Ensure alignment with Restricted funds accounting, Cost share tracking, F&A / indirect cost allocation.
• Ensure solution supports multi-sponsor funding scenarios (federal, state, city, private), and blended or pass-through funding models
• Partner with technical teams around Integrations (sponsor systems, billing, reporting), and data conversion strategy

Compliance & Controls (Practical)

• Support implementation of allowable vs restricted spend controls, award-level budget tracking and controls, and Indirect cost / overhead calculation frameworks
• Ensure alignment with audit and sponsor reporting expectations (without requiring deep regulatory specialization)

Testing & Deployment

• Lead test scenario design and execution (SIT, E2E, UAT)
• Validate items including multi-source funding scenarios, indirect cost calculations, and budget vs actual controls
• Support defect triage and resolution prioritization

Stakeholder Engagement

• Interface with sponsored Programs / Research Administration, Finance and Accounting, and Central and campus-level stakeholders.
• Translate business needs into Workday-compatible solutions

Operating Model Awareness

• Work effectively in decentralized, multi-entity environments (e.g., central office + campuses + affiliated entities).
• Support alignment across pre and post-award functions / Central finance and distributed stakeholders.

Governance & Delivery

• Support RAID management for grants-related risks/issues
• Drive decision readiness for design approvals
• Contribute to cutover and go-live readiness planning

Required Qualifications

• 3-5+ Workday Financials implementations
• At least 1-2 implementations with Grants / Sponsored Programs exposure
• Experience with Workday Grants / Projects / Awards / Billing integration points
• Experience in Higher Education, Research, or Public Sector environments strongly preferred

Experience Working In Environments With

• Federal research funding (e.g., NIH, NSF, DOE or similar)
• State and/or city-funded programs
• Private foundation or philanthropic funding
• Multi-source funding structures (blended or pass-through funding)

Functional Expertise

• Grant lifecycle management (proposal → closeout)

• Budget vs actual tracking at award level

• Indirect cost / F&A allocation methods

• Familiarity with:

• Audit and reporting expectations in regulated funding environments

• General awareness of federal grant frameworks (e.g., Uniform Guidance)

• Prior role as Workstream Lead, Lead Consultant, or Manager-level SME

• Comfortable operating in large, multi-stakeholder programs - Hybrid Agile / Waterfall environments

Preferred Certifications

• Workday Partner Certification is required

Workday Financials Certification

• Workday Projects Certification
• Certified Research Administrator (CRA) - strong preference
• Certified Government Financial Manager (CGFM) - nice to have
• PMP (optional)

#DICE