Job Summary
The Principal Workday Analyst – Grants Management serves as a senior functional expert for Workday Financials and Workday Grants Management, with primary responsibility for sponsored research, grants, and contracts operations. This role combines deep Workday expertise, research administration knowledge, systems governance, and analytical capability to ensure that WHOI’s financial and grants systems support accurate, compliant, and efficient management of sponsored funding. The incumbent will be the go-to resource for solution design, configuration, optimization, reporting, troubleshooting, and training across the grants lifecycle, while serving as a trusted advisor to Finance & Accounting, Grant and Contract Services, Research Administration, and institutional leadership. This role may include mentoring team members and leading complex, cross-functional Workday initiatives.
Job Description
Essential Duties and Functions
Workday Financials Leadership and Strategy
- Serve as the principal functional lead and subject matter expert for Workday Financials and Workday Grants Management, partnering closely with Grant and Contract Services, Research Administration, Finance & Accounting, Information Systems, and other institutional stakeholders.
- Lead the design, configuration, review, testing, maintenance, and optimization of Workday solutions supporting sponsored research and core financial operations.
- Own the functional design and ongoing optimization of the sponsored research lifecycle in Workday, including award setup, budgeting, amendments, cost sharing, facilities and administrative costs, billing, revenue recognition, invoicing, reporting, and closeout.
- Translate complex grants, contracts, accounting, and research administration requirements into scalable Workday configurations, business processes, security roles, integrations, and controls.
- Ensure Workday configurations and processes align with sponsor terms, institutional policies, accounting standards, and applicable federal requirements, including the Uniform Guidance under 2 CFR Part 200.
- Serve as a key functional leader during Workday implementations, releases, enhancements, and optimization initiatives, providing direction on priorities, risks, dependencies, and long-term system strategy.
Business Process Design and Continuous Improvement
- Lead requirements gathering, stakeholder consultation, business process mapping, gap analysis, and future-state design for grants, contracts, finance, and sponsored research workflows.
- Evaluate current-state processes and recommend improvements that strengthen compliance, internal controls, data quality, efficiency, user experience, and audit readiness.
- Lead or coordinate system testing, user acceptance testing, issue resolution, release readiness, and deployment activities in partnership with business and technical teams.
- Guide the design and support of integrations between Workday and other institutional systems, sponsor or government portals, reporting tools, and related research administration applications.
- Establish and maintain functional documentation, configuration standards, process controls, and governance practices that support consistent and sustainable use of Workday.
Reporting, Analytics, and Data Governance
- Design, develop, and maintain Workday Financials and Grants reports, including standard, custom, advanced, and composite reports, to support sponsored research, financial management, compliance, and leadership decision-making.
- Develop dashboards, metrics, and analytical tools that provide visibility into award activity, budgets, expenditures, cost sharing, F&A, billing, revenue, closeout, and other key grants and financial indicators.
- Lead data governance and quality practices for grants and financial data, including data definitions, reconciliation, validation, security, privacy, and stewardship across connected systems.
- Analyze financial and sponsored research data to identify trends, control gaps, reporting inconsistencies, and opportunities for process or system improvement.
- Support internal and external audits, compliance reviews, sponsor inquiries, and management reporting by ensuring data is accurate, traceable, and appropriately documented.
Stakeholder Partnership and Functional Advisory
- Serve as a trusted advisor and primary escalation point for Finance & Accounting, Grant and Contract Services, Research Administration, and the broader Workday user community on grants and financial systems matters.
- Lead cross-functional initiatives and facilitate decisions among stakeholders with differing operational, compliance, and technical needs.
- Develop and deliver end-user training, workshops, office hours, user guides, and process documentation tailored to a complex, grant-funded research institution.
- Mentor and guide team members and institutional partners in Workday configuration, grants management processes, reporting, data governance, and best practices.
- Communicate complex technical and regulatory concepts clearly to technical and non-technical audiences and foster a culture of collaboration, accountability, and continuous improvement.
Implementation, Testing, and Operational Readiness
- Coordinate and lead system testing, user acceptance testing, regression testing, issue resolution, release readiness, and deployment activities with business owners, Information Systems, implementation partners, and other stakeholders.
- Provide oversight and direction throughout implementation and post-production activities to ensure requirements are complete, solutions are thoroughly tested, and business owners are prepared for adoption.
- Identify and resolve complex system issues, configuration challenges, data concerns, and process dependencies across Workday Financials and connected systems.
- Develop implementation plans, project documentation, risk assessments, readiness materials, and communications for complex system initiatives.
- Lead the evaluation and implementation of Workday enhancements, upgrades, audit recommendations, risk assessment findings, and other system improvement opportunities.
Training, Documentation, and Continuous Improvement
- Develop and deliver end-user training, workshops, office hours, user guides, process documentation, and other resources that support effective use of Workday Financials.
- Coordinate ongoing support, enhancements, upgrades, testing, training, documentation, and maintenance activities across the Workday Financials environment.
- Establish repeatable support and knowledge-management practices that improve service delivery and reduce reliance on individual subject matter experts.
- Mentor and guide team members and institutional partners in Workday functionality, business process design, reporting, data governance, and best practices.
- Continuously identify opportunities to improve system usability, productivity, process consistency, and the overall Workday user experience.
- Foster a culture of collaboration, accountability, service, and continuous improvement across Finance Systems and its institutional partnerships.
Required Skills & Experience
- Bachelor’s degree in Accounting, Finance, Business Administration, Information Systems, Research Administration, or a related field; or 8+ years of equivalent, related work experience.
- 8+ years of progressively responsible experience supporting financial systems, grants management systems, research administration, or related enterprise applications.
- 5+ years of hands-on experience with Workday Financial Management and/or Workday Grants Management, including implementation, configuration, administration, optimization, and production support.
- Deep knowledge of sponsored research and grants management business processes, including award setup, budgeting, amendments, cost sharing, F&A, billing, revenue recognition, reporting, compliance, and closeout.
- Demonstrated ability to lead requirements gathering, process design, gap analysis, configuration decisions, testing, and complex system improvement initiatives.
- Strong experience developing Workday Financials and Grants reports, dashboards, and analytics, including custom and composite reporting.
- Experience working in or closely with higher education, nonprofit research institutions, federal contractors, or other grant-funded organizations.
- Strong understanding of federal sponsored research requirements, including 2 CFR Part 200 Uniform Guidance and related audit and compliance expectations.
- Proven analytical, organizational, and problem-solving skills, with a strong commitment to data quality, system integrity, and internal controls.
- Excellent written and verbal communication skills, with the ability to build relationships and partner effectively across diverse stakeholder groups.
Preferred Skills & Experience
- Master’s degree in Accounting, Finance, Business Administration, Information Systems, Research Administration, or a related field.
- Workday Financial Management and/or Workday Grants Management certification.
- Experience supporting complex, decentralized research institutions or organizations with federal, industry, and nonprofit sponsors.
- Experience with Workday Accounting Center, Financial Reporting, Adaptive Planning, or integrations involving grants and financial data.
- Professional certification in grants management, research administration, accounting, project management, or a related discipline.
Additional Job Requirements
Salary Range: $145,747-190,852
The salary range provided for this position reflects the expected minimum and maximum base pay for new hires. Actual compensation will be determined based on factors such as relevant skills, experience, and qualifications, as well as internal equity and market conditions. In addition to base salary, eligible employees also receive a comprehensive benefits package.
WHOI accepts applications on a rolling basis - applications will be reviewed as they are received, and we encourage you to submit your application as soon as possible to ensure full consideration. While we will continue to review applications until the position is filled, and early applicants may have an advantage in the selection process.
EEO Statement
Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI) provides equal employment opportunities to all employees and applicants for employment and prohibits discrimination and harassment of any type without regard to race, color, religion, age, sex, national origin, disability status, genetics, protected veteran status, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, or any other characteristic protected by federal, state or local laws.
It is unlawful in Massachusetts to require or administer a lie detector test as a condition of employment or continued employment. An employer who violates this law shall be subject to criminal penalties and civil liability.