Senior Manager, HR Platforms

• Own and drive Workday tenant management, platform governance, release cycles and continuous optimisation to ensure a secure, stable and high-performing HR technology environment.

• Lead the Workday platform roadmap and end-to-end service delivery, driving strategic enhancements, seamless enterprise integrations and effective release management.

• Lead and inspire a team of Workday specialists, strengthening collaboration, accountability and technical capability while building a high-performing team culture.

• Enjoy a competitive remuneration package, including 17% superannuation.

Why join the University of Sydney?

Join one of Australia’s leading universities at a pivotal point of change, where technology is evolving to better support student learning, empower teaching excellence, and enable research delivery at global scale. 

ICT is central to delivering the University’s academic mission. Working across faculties, disciplines, and research communities, you will shape the platforms, services, and partnerships that enable student success, strengthen teaching, and accelerate research impact. 

This work spans both the critical services that keep the University running every day and the ongoing improvement of systems and experiences.

With strong investment and clear direction, you’ll operate in a large and complex environment where your contribution has visible, meaningful impact across the University. 

You’ll collaborate across academic and professional communities to help shape a more connected and capable University, supporting teaching excellence, research impact, and student success.

The opportunity

As the Senior Manager, HR Platforms, you will take ownership of the University's HR technology ecosystem, with primary responsibility for the strategy, governance, technical delivery and ongoing optimisation of Workday.

You'll bring extensive hands-on technical knowledge and experience across the Workday ecosystem, with a strong understanding of tenant management, configuration, platform governance, security, enterprise integrations and Workday's release cycles.

You'll lead the development and execution of the platform roadmap, overseeing tenant environments, system enhancements, testing, upgrades and release deployments to ensure the platform remains secure, scalable and reliable.

Your technical expertise will extend across Workday HCM, Recruitment, Security, Learning, Advanced Compensation, Absence, Payroll, Integrations and Workday Extend, with a key focus on strengthening integration with the University's broader enterprise technology environment.

Working collaboratively across Human Resources, ICT, Finance and external partners, you'll combine deep technical expertise with strategic leadership, influencing senior stakeholders, managing vendors and driving continuous improvement to deliver sustainable organisational value.

About the team

You'll lead a dedicated team of Workday Specialists and Administrators responsible for the ongoing management, support and enhancement of the University's HR technology platforms.

A key priority will be building a collaborative, accountable and high-performing team culture, bringing together specialist capabilities and encouraging greater knowledge sharing, teamwork and continuous improvement.

As an experienced people leader, you'll provide strategic direction, coaching, mentoring and technical guidance, while establishing clear expectations, strengthening team capability and supporting individual professional development.

You'll play a pivotal role in shaping the team's next phase, balancing day-to-day operational service delivery with longer-term strategic priorities, while creating an environment where people feel supported, empowered and motivated to deliver exceptional outcomes.

This is an opportunity for a technically accomplished Workday leader who is equally passionate about developing people, building strong teams and driving meaningful organisational change.

What you'll do

• Own the strategy, governance, roadmap and end-to-end lifecycle of the University’s Workday platform environment 

• Establish effective governance and operating practices across tenant management, security, releases, enhancements and service delivery.

• Oversee Workday capabilities across HCM, Recruitment, Security, Learning, Advanced Compensation, Absence, Payroll, Integrations and Workday Extend. 

• Lead the integration of Workday with finance, payroll and other enterprise applications, working closely with architecture, integration and ICT teams.

• Partner with senior stakeholders to shape priorities, support discovery and planning, and translate business needs into strategic platform outcomes. 

• Manage vendors, implementation partners and augmented resources, while acting as the escalation point for complex platform and service issues. 

• Lead and develop a team of Workday specialists and administrators, strengthening capability, collaboration, accountability and continuous improvement. 

What we're looking for

• Extensive experience owning or managing Workday within a large and complex enterprise environment.

• Broad expertise across the Workday ecosystem, including HCM and multiple functional areas such as Recruitment, Security, Learning, Absence, Payroll, Integrations and Workday Extend.

• Strong experience in platform strategy, governance, tenant management, release management, security, platform optimisation and continuous improvement.

• Deep understanding of enterprise integrations and experience connecting Workday with finance, payroll and other core business applications.

• Proven people leadership experience, including coaching, performance management, workforce planning and building capability across specialist technical teams.

• A track record of creating a positive and accountable team culture, managing conflict and leading teams through change.

• Experience leading complex platform initiatives involving senior stakeholders, vendors, implementation partners and cross-functional teams.

• Strong communication, influencing and commercial skills, with experience across service delivery, vendor management, budgets, risk and resource planning.

Remuneration & Benefits

This position is a full-time continuing basis.

Be rewarded for your expertise with a competitive remuneration package, including an impressive 17% superannuation, while enjoying the benefits of working at one of Australia's leading universities.

At the University of Sydney, we recognise that a rewarding career is about more than just remuneration. We're committed to supporting our people through a range of benefits designed to enhance your professional growth, personal wellbeing and work-life balance.

Our benefits include:

• 17% superannuation to help build a stronger financial future 

• Generous parental leave entitlements to support you and your family

• Salary packaging options to help maximise your take-home benefits

• Flexible and hybrid working arrangements to support work-life balance

• Career development and learning opportunities to help you grow and achieve your professional goals

• Health and wellbeing initiatives, including access to Fitness Passport

• A vibrant and inclusive university community, offering the opportunity to connect, collaborate and make a meaningful impact

Join a university where your expertise is valued, your professional growth is supported, and your work contributes to something bigger.

Accessibility and inclusion

University of Sydney is committed to providing an inclusive and accessible recruitment experience for all candidates.

If you require any adjustments or additional support during the recruitment process, please let us know. This may include changes to the interview format, additional time, breaks, accessible interview locations, materials in advance, or other practical support to help you participate comfortably.

Pre-employment checks

Any offer of employment will be subject to the successful completion of required pre-employment and background checks. Ongoing employment may also require you to maintain relevant clearances or checks required for the role.

To meet the University’s obligations under the National Higher Education Code to Prevent and Eliminate Gender-Based Violence, you may also be asked to declare whether you have been investigated for, or found to have engaged in, sexual harm or gender-based violence during previous employment or through a legal process.

Sponsorship / work rights for Australia

To be eligible for this role, you must have unrestricted work rights in Australia for the duration of the appointment. Visa sponsorship is not available for this position.

How to apply

If you’re looking to contribute to meaningful work in a world-class university environment, we’d love to hear from you.

For a confidential discussion about the role, or to request reasonable adjustments or documents in alternate formats, please contact [email protected]

The University reserves the right not to proceed with any appointment.

Click to view the Position Description for this role.

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