Senior Workday Functional Specialist

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Interested in growing your career at Fanshawe College?
Fanshawe College thrives because of its people. We foster a culture of excellence and see opportunities to turn potential into impact. Leading with empathy, belonging, unity, learning and courage, we guide the learning journey of our students, ensuring they are ready for work and life, today and tomorrow.
Working at Fanshawe College
Fanshawe College is committed to the principles of hybrid work and may offer this option to employees whose work can be performed in an alternate location, without adverse impact to the operations of the College, inclusive of our Student and Staff experience. Confirmation of hybrid work options available to you will be clarified upon hire and may be subject to change based on the duties required of your position. Successful candidates will be required to perform work within Ontario and must be available to work on campus, as required.
Posting Closing Date:
October 29, 2026
Campus Location:
London, ON
Department:
WDS1 Workday Sustainment
Employment Group:
Administrative
Pay Details:
$102,000.00 - $135,660.00 Salary
Worker Sub-Type:
Regular
Time Type:
Full time
Remote Type:
Hybrid
Contract End Date:
Hours of Work per Week:
37.5
Job Description:
Note: This is for 1 Regular Full-Time vacancy. This position is deemed a critical vacancy.
Target hiring range: $102,000 - $118,830 per annum
Work Mode: Hybrid - Occasional in-person work at our London, Ontario campus is required
Hours: Monday to Friday, 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.
Why this Role is Important
Fanshawe College is advancing its digital transformation through the implementation of Workday, a modern cloud-based enterprise platform that is reshaping how we support our employees, finances, and future student services. Having successfully deployed Workday Human Capital Management (HCM), Finance, and Adaptive Planning, the College is now preparing to embark on the next phase of its journey with the implementation of Workday Student.
As Workday becomes the foundation of our administrative ecosystem, access to accurate, timely, and actionable data is more important than ever. To support this evolving landscape, Fanshawe has established a dedicated Workday Sustainment Team responsible for optimizing the platform, driving continuous improvement, and enabling data-informed decision-making across the College.
Reporting to the Director, Workday, the Senior Workday Functional Specialist - Student provides specialized functional and technical expertise in the support, configuration, maintenance, and continuous improvement of Student information Systems with a lens for the Workday Student platform, with a primary focus on assigned modules.
The Senior Functional Specialist leans on their deep Student Information System expertise to help design and configure our new system in Workday and is responsible for analyzing business requirements, configuring and testing system solutions, supporting Workday releases, troubleshooting system issues, maintaining documentation, and ensuring the integrity, security, and reliability of the Workday portfolio functionality. The incumbent collaborates closely within the Workday project team, and operational teams to align cross-functional opportunities. The incumbent works directly with the Registrar's Office, Student Services and other stakeholders to define requirements and outcomes and deliver sustainable solutions that support operational excellence and strategic priorities.
This role supports the ongoing evolution of Workday by identifying opportunities for process improvement, automation, and optimization. The incumbent will develop and maintains expertise in Workday's evolving capabilities, including artificial intelligence, machine learning, intelligent automation, and emerging platform innovations, evaluating and implementing approved functionality that enhances operational effectiveness and user experience.
A customer-focused approach, balanced with strong business process knowledge and system expertise, is essential to proactively identify opportunities, improve business outcomes, and support the continued development of the Workday Centre of Excellence through governance, knowledge sharing, standardized practices, and continuous improvement initiatives.
This position is privy to, responsible for, and entrusted with highly sensitive, proprietary, and confidential information. This includes, but is not limited to, financial data, budget allocations, workforce planning metrics, organizational design, business configuration details, and core operational processes. Safeguarding the integrity, security, and restricted access of this information is a core expectation of the role.
How You’ll Make an Impact
Business Transformation, Design, and Configuration
Lead the functional design, process mapping, and configuration of assigned Workday modules and related business processes to ensure alignment with institutional goals
Through an analysis of current-state needs and system deficiencies, establish and confirm future operational goals for assigned functional areas; make recommendations on process modifications to improve data accuracy, user experience, and efficiency
Map end-to-end business and financial processes, identify downstream change impacts for end-users, and provide strategic input into overall project deliverables and workplans
Participate in implementation and post-go-live activities for assigned functional areas including solution design reviews, configuration workshops, testing activities, knowledge transfer sessions, operational readiness planning, and the progressive transition of responsibilities from implementation resources to sustainment
Investigate, troubleshoot, and resolve system issues, configuration defects, security concerns, and user-reported incidents
Analyze business requirements and develop sustainable configuration solutions that align with college objectives
Analyze proposed changes, enhancements, and operational issues to identify potential impacts across Workday functional areas, engaging appropriate subject matter experts to support solution design, testing, implementation, and issue resolution
Ensure configuration and solutions activities adhere to governance, documentation, security, and quality standards
Business Analysis and Stakeholder Collaboration
Partner with Student Services, Information Technology, and business leaders to understand operational requirements and strategic priorities
Act as the single point of contact to identify, collect, and reconcile business requirements from subject matter experts (SMEs) across Student Services to ensure unified data alignment
Facilitate root-cause analysis and requirements gathering sessions to isolate existing process bottlenecks, translating college operations into clean, sustainable functional specifications
Provide expert advice regarding Workday functionality, best practices, and solution alternatives
Support prioritization and evaluation of enhancement requests and operational improvements
Evaluate business requests and configuration changes for downstream and cross-functional implications, facilitating collaboration with team members, technical resources, and business stakeholders to ensure solutions are aligned, sustainable, and support enterprise objectives
Lifecycle Testing, Releases, and Quality Assurance
Assess the impact of Workday releases and new functionality on supported business processes
Architect comprehensive end-to-end test scripts, validate results, and coordinate the rapid resolution of system defects, ensuring functional decisions are fully