Staff Workday Functional Analyst

Okta is seeking a Staff – People Technologies (Workday) to join our Business Solutions Team. In this critical role, you will partner closely with the People Technology leadership and play a key role in our Workday transformation efforts. As part of a cross-functional team, you will collaborate with stakeholders across People, Payroll, IT, Finance, and international offices to optimize and scale our HR systems and processes.

This role is ideal for someone who is passionate about solving complex business challenges, driving innovation through automation, and delivering a best-in-class user experience.

Key Responsibilities:

• Strategic Leadership & Delivery: Lead multi-quarter, VMT-level projects and complex, multi-system initiatives. Manage and maintain roadmaps for aligned stakeholder groups, anticipating industry changes and proactively adjusting team priorities.
• Subject Matter Expertise: Serve as the functional specialist and SME for Workday Payroll, Absence, and Time Tracking. Lead all phases of the Workday configuration lifecycle, including gathering business requirements, designing solutions, system configuration, testing, and deployment.
• Stakeholder Alignment: Act as the strategic liaison between business teams and technical resources. Negotiate detailed requirement and solution design trade-offs, managing conflicting perspectives to reach consensus.
• System Optimization & Innovation: Address complex business problems by offering innovative solutions. Identify and execute enhancements to business processes and system workflows. Manage Workday releases to ensure new features are effectively tested, adopted, and optimized.
• Mentorship & Inclusive Leadership: Act as a role model for inclusive leadership. Mentor and guide junior to intermediate analysts, review their work products requirements, test plans, configurations), and foster a collaborative team culture that leverages diverse perspectives.
• Change Management: Lead change management efforts for new modules and large-scale integrations, ensuring smooth implementations while managing stakeholder expectations and mitigating risks.

Required Skills and Qualifications

• Experience: 8+ years of related experience in a professional role with a Bachelor's degree (or 6+ years with a Master's degree), including 5–7+ years of deep, hands-on expertise configuring and supporting Workday Payroll, Absence, and Time Tracking.
• Workday Skills: Strong proficiency with Workday configuration (Payroll, Absence and Time Tracking), Calculated Fields, custom reporting (Matrix, Composite), dashboards, and navigating the core Workday ecosystem.
• Technical Breadth: Proven capability to manage and support 3 or more systems, products, or functional process areas simultaneously.
• Analytical Problem Solving: Ability to handle complex issues spanning multiple applications, exercising sound judgment in choosing methods and techniques for scalable solutions.
• Communication: Excellent interpersonal skills with the ability to translate complex techni