LocationGreater London, South East, England
Salary (Per Annum)Competitive Day Rate - Outside IR35
Workday HCM Functional Lead
Contract: Full-Time Contract
Duration: 3–4 months initially, with scope for extension
Start Date: September 2026
Location: UK — ideally within commuting distance of London
Day Rate: Competitive, Outside IR35
The Opportunity We are seeking an experienced Workday Functional Lead to join a high-profile transformation programme with a household-name UK organisation.
This is an excellent opportunity to work with a prestigious brand and deliver meaningful impact across the Workday estate. The successful candidate will operate at Functional Lead / Solution Architect level, providing senior functional leadership across system realisation, adoption, stabilisation and ongoing optimisation.
With a strong blend of Workday deployment and BAU experience, you will be comfortable operating strategically with senior stakeholders while also having the functional depth to drive solutions through to successful delivery.
Key Responsibilities
You will be confident challenging and advising senior stakeholders, comfortable navigating complex Workday environments, and capable of moving seamlessly between high-level solution design and detailed functional discussions.
You will bring a pragmatic, delivery-focused approach, with the credibility to operate as the functional authority for Workday throughout the engagement.
Why This Role?
Contract: Full-Time Contract
Duration: 3–4 months initially, with scope for extension
Start Date: September 2026
Location: UK — ideally within commuting distance of London
Day Rate: Competitive, Outside IR35
The Opportunity We are seeking an experienced Workday Functional Lead to join a high-profile transformation programme with a household-name UK organisation.
This is an excellent opportunity to work with a prestigious brand and deliver meaningful impact across the Workday estate. The successful candidate will operate at Functional Lead / Solution Architect level, providing senior functional leadership across system realisation, adoption, stabilisation and ongoing optimisation.
With a strong blend of Workday deployment and BAU experience, you will be comfortable operating strategically with senior stakeholders while also having the functional depth to drive solutions through to successful delivery.
Key Responsibilities
- Provide senior functional leadership across the Workday HCM landscape.
- Lead functional activities through system realisation, deployment, adoption, stabilisation and optimisation.
- Act as the key functional point of contact between business stakeholders, Workday teams and technical/project delivery teams.
- Shape and validate Workday solutions in line with business requirements and best practice.
- Provide expert guidance across configuration, business processes and functional design.
- Support the resolution of complex functional issues and drive continuous improvement across the Workday platform.
- Lead workshops and discussions with senior business and HR stakeholders.
- Translate business requirements into pragmatic, scalable Workday solutions.
- Support governance, decision-making and solution assurance across the programme.
- Ensure successful transition from deployment into BAU and ongoing optimisation.
- Champion Workday adoption and help maximise the value of the platform.
- 6+ years of Workday experience in senior functional roles.
- Strong experience across both Workday deployment and BAU environments.
- Proven experience operating as a Workday Functional Lead, Senior Functional Consultant or Solution Architect.
- Strong hands-on functional expertise across:
- Workday HCM
- Workday Absence
- Workday Compensation
- Experience taking Workday solutions through implementation/deployment and into stabilisation and BAU.
- Strong understanding of Workday functional architecture, business processes and solution design.
- Proven ability to work with and influence senior stakeholders.
- Excellent communication, workshop facilitation and stakeholder management skills.
- Ability to operate at both strategic and detailed functional levels.
- Strong problem-solving and analytical capability.
- Workday Learning experience.
- Experience within a large, complex UK enterprise environment.
- Experience supporting Workday adoption and organisational change.
- Experience with Workday optimisation and continuous improvement programmes.
- Previous experience working for a major household-name organisation.
You will be confident challenging and advising senior stakeholders, comfortable navigating complex Workday environments, and capable of moving seamlessly between high-level solution design and detailed functional discussions.
You will bring a pragmatic, delivery-focused approach, with the credibility to operate as the functional authority for Workday throughout the engagement.
Why This Role?
- Work with a household-name UK organisation.
- Excellent brand/logo exposure for your CV.
- Senior Workday Functional Lead / Solution Architect-level position.
- Opportunity to influence a major Workday estate beyond initial deployment.
- Initial 3–4 month contract with scope for extension.
- Competitive day rate, Outside IR35.
- Start September 2026.
- UK-based, with proximity to London preferred.