Workday HCM, Consulting Manager

About the Role

We are seeking a Senior Consultant with strong experience in Workday Talent, Performance, and Extend. This role is highly consultative, requiring exceptional stakeholder management, leadership, and advisory skills. The ideal candidate will guide clients through strategic HR transformations, focusing on talent optimization, performance enablement, and leveraging Workday Extend for innovative solutions.

In this role you will

·       Lead Performance Management Initiatives: Manage cyclical processes for Promotions, Ratings, and Goal Setting across Mid-Year and Year-End cycles. Oversee applications including Promotions App (Workday Extend), Ratings Dashboard, AI Goals Coach, and Forward Looking Slate (FLS).

·       Consultative Program Leadership: Drive stakeholder meetings with Centers of Excellence and PMO; influence decisions and manage expectations. Outline project plans, manage “Run of Show” activities, and ensure timely updates to leadership. Maintain critical data repositories (job mapping, notifications, security matrices).

·       Product Management & Delivery: Gather and document new requirements and enhancements each cycle; lead discovery sessions. Create and maintain Jira stories and backlog items; ensure prioritization alignment with PM and development teams. Collaborate with UX designers to validate requirements against design standards. Develop testing strategies, scripts, and lead end-to-end and UAT testing sessions; track execution and manage bug resolution. Support cutover activities, sign-offs, and participate in retrospectives.

·       Innovation & Advisory: Advise on best practices for talent management, goal setting, and performance frameworks. Leverage Workday Extend to design scalable solutions that enhance employee experience. Contribute to thought leadership and practice development initiatives within Cognizant Consulting.

·       Contributes to innovative business solutions that anticipate client challenges.

·       Supports the business development activities of senior-level leaders (e.g., proposals, commercial presentations, business analysis).

·       Extracts and develops reusable consultative strategies and solutioning approaches in support of business development and expansion activities.

·       Contributes to the development and maintenance of knowledge repositories (e.g., case studies, center of excellence information, accelerators, tools).

Work Model

We strive to provide flexibility wherever possible. Based on this role’s business requirements, this is a remote position open to qualified applicants in the United States. Regardless of your working arrangement, we are here to support a healthy work-life balance though our various wellbeing programs. 

What you need to have to be considered

·       5+ years of experience in HR consulting or HR technology implementation, with emphasis on Talent and Performance.

·       Strong understanding of Workday HCM, particularly Talent, Performance, and Extend modules.

·       Proven ability to lead consultative engagements and influence senior stakeholders.

·       Excellent communication, facilitation, and executive presence skills.

·       Experience in organizational design, change management, and HR strategy preferred.

·       Workday certification (Talent & Performance or Extend) is a plus.

·       Bachelor’s degree in Business, HR, or related field; MBA preferred.

These will help you stand out

·       Strong consultative mindset with the ability to influence and guide senior stakeholders.

·       Exceptional relationship-building and stakeholder engagement skills across multiple business units.

·       Ability to translate business objectives into actionable HR technology strategies.

·       Skilled in facilitating workshops, discovery sessions, and executive-level discussions.

·       Comfortable managing ambiguity and driving clarity in complex, fast-paced environments.

Work Authorization

Cognizant will only consider applicants for this position who are legally authorized to work in the United States without company sponsorship (H-1B, L-1B, L-1A, etc.)

Salary and Other Compensation:
Applications will be accepted until January 4, 2026.

The annual salary for this position is between $81,450 - $129,500 depending on experience and other qualifications of the successful candidate. This position is also eligible for Cognizant’s discretionary annual incentive program, based on performance and subject to the terms of Cognizant’s applicable plans.

Benefits:
Cognizant offers the following benefits for this position, subject to applicable eligibility requirements:  

· Medical/Dental/Vision/Life Insurance
· Paid holidays plus Paid Time Off.
· 401(k) plan and contributions.
· Long-term/Short-term Disability.
· Paid Parental Leave.
· Employee Stock Purchase Plan