Senior Workday HCM Lead

At Lyft, our purpose is to serve and connect. We aim to achieve this by cultivating a work environment where all team members belong and have the opportunity to thrive. 

We're looking for a Senior Business Systems Engineer (Level 5) to join our People Technology team and serve as a technical expert for our Workday HCM platform. In this role, you'll define the technical roadmap and architecture for Workday, own complex configurations, and play a critical role in M&A integrations as we scale our global workforce. You'll partner closely with People, Finance, IT, and Security teams to deliver solutions that are compliant, secure, and built for scale.

This is a high-impact role for someone who thrives at the intersection of HR technology and business transformation—bringing deep Workday expertise, a strong compliance and security mindset, and the ability to lead large projects from inception to execution while mentoring others and enhancing team effectiveness.

Why Join Us

• High-impact role on a team driving AI-first transformation and operational excellence
• Opportunity to lead critical M&A integration work at scale
• Collaborative environment that values engineering discipline and continuous improvement
• Competitive compensation, equity, and benefits

How We Work

• We Are Customer Obsessed
  • Proactively identify and develop solutions that enhance the customer experience while meeting business goals
  • Leverage customer data and feedback to prioritize improvements to your work
  • Advocate for the customer by integrating user experience insights into decisions and communicating the potential impact of solutions on customer satisfaction
• We Strive for Excellence
  • Set high expectations and encourage others to push boundaries on what is possible
  • Demonstrate breadth of knowledge in your area of specialization while challenging the status quo
  • Consistently seek and deliver actionable feedback—up, down, and across
  • Adjust project priorities to achieve team goals
• We Are Accountable
  • Lead work from idea to execution with minimal oversight
  • Partner to solve team-level problems and upskill others
  • Hold team members accountable and expect the same in return
  • Lead by example in sharing successes and owning mistakes
• We All Belong
  • Actively remove barriers to create a welcoming team environment and foster growth
  • Navigate difficult conversations empathetically and address behaviors that negatively impact team dynamics
  • Encourage open dialogue and ensure all voices are valued

Responsibilities:

• Define technical roadmap and architecture for Workday HCM, produce detailed design documents spanning multiple subsystems, establish best practices, provide architectural oversight, and drive adoption of new technologies
• Lead configuration, optimization, and enhancement of Workday HCM modules (Core HR, Benefits, Absence, Time Tracking, Talent) including business processes, calculated fields, and custom reports while serving as subject matter expert
• Lead Workday workstreams for M&A including due diligence, data migration, Day 1 readiness, harmonization, and integration strategies for consolidating acquired company HR systems
• Design and maintain SOX-compliant security configurations, business processes, and system controls documentation while partnering with auditors to support testing cycles and ensure compliance and change management
• Configure and maintain Workday security roles, domains, and policies using least-privilege principles, conduct periodic access reviews, and ensure compliance with data protection regulations (GDPR, CCPA)
• Understanding of Workday integrations (EIBs, Core Connectors, Studio, APIs), identify automation opportunities to eliminate manual work, and support downstream system dependencies
• Design and implement AI-powered automations to streamline HR processes using tools like Workato AI agents and Claude LLMs, while identifying high-value use cases within the Workday ecosystem
• Act as core partner for business stakeholders, facilitate cross-functional alignment, lead large projects with high quality, and drive incident resolution and postmortem discussions
• Provide technical mentorship to junior team members, improve team processes, enhance overall team effectiveness, and participate in hiring decisions
• Lead end-to-end process design efforts, apply process improvement methodologies to re-engineer operations before automating, and create comprehensive process documentation

Experience:

• Required
  • 6+ years of hands-on Workday HCM configuration experience across multiple modules
  • Demonstrated experience supporting M&A activities, including system consolidation and data migration
  • Strong understanding of SOX compliance requirements as they relate to HR systems and internal controls
  • Deep expertise in Workday security architecture, including role-based access, domain security, and security groups
  • Experience creating complex calculated fields, custom reports (Advanced, Matrix, Composite), and business process configurations
  • Proven process design experience—ability to map current state, identify gaps, and architect future state solutions
  • Demonstrated ability to define and communicate architectural designs and roadmaps while leading large projects efficiently
  • Strong cross-functional collaboration skills—ability to align teams and stakeholders through effective communication and relationship-building
  • Proficiency in measuring and improving system reliability, with the ability to identify opportunities for automation and process improvements
  • Proven ability to translate business requirements into technical solutions while managing stakeholder expectations
  • Strong documentation skills and attention to detail in a controlled environment
  • Experience mentoring team members and contributing to team effectiveness
• Preferred
  • Workday Pro certification in HCM or other relevant areas
  • Experience with Prism Analytics
  • Experienced with Workato, including recipe development, automation workflows, and AI agent capabilities
  • Experience working with payroll systems (ADP, Dayforce) and understanding of downstream data dependencies

Benefits:

• Extended health and dental coverage options, along with life insurance and disability benefits
• Mental health benefits
• Family building benefits
• Child care and pet benefits
• Access to a Lyft funded Health Care Savings Account
• RRSP plan with company match to help save for your future
• In addition to provincial observed holidays, salaried team members are covered under Lyft's flexible paid time off policy. The policy allows team members to take off as much time as they need (with manager approval). Hourly team members get 15 days paid time off, with an additional day for each year of service 
• Lyft is proud to support new parents with 18 weeks of paid time off, designed as a top-up plan to complement provincial programs. Biological, adoptive, and foster parents are all eligible.
• Subsidized commuter benefits and Lyft ride credits

Lyft is committed to creating an inclusive workforce that fosters belonging. Lyft believes that every person has a right to equal employment opportunities without discrimination because of race, ancestry, place of origin, colour, ethnic origin, citizenship, creed, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, age, marital status, family status, disability, pardoned record of offences, or any other basis protected by applicable law or by Company policy. Lyft also strives for a healthy and safe workplace and strictly prohibits harassment of any kind.  Accommodation for persons with disabilities will be provided upon request in accordance with applicable law during the application and hiring process. Please contact your recruiter if you wish to make such a request.

Lyft highly values having employees working in-office to foster a collaborative work environment and company culture. This role will be in-office on a hybrid schedule — Team Members will be expected to work in the office at least 3 days per week, including on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays. Lyft considers working in the office at least 3 days per week to be an essential function of this hybrid role. Your recruiter can share more information about the various in-office perks Lyft offers. Additionally, hybrid roles have the flexibility to work from anywhere for up to 4 weeks per year. #Hybrid

The expected base pay range for this position in the San Francisco area is CAD $129,000 - CAD $161,250, not inclusive of potential equity offering, bonus or benefits. Salary ranges are dependent on a variety of factors, including qualifications, experience and geographic location. Your recruiter can share more information about the salary range specific to your working location and other factors during the hiring process.

Lyft may use artificial intelligence to screen applicants, however, Lyft employees make the ultimate selection and hiring decisions.

This job fills an existing vacancy.