Workday Implementation Project Manager

Concordia University is a Lutheran higher education community committed to helping students develop in mind, body and spirit for service to Christ in the Church and in the world.

Position Description

The Workday Implementation Project Manager will lead the planning, execution, and successful delivery of the university's Workday implementation project (HCM, Finance, and Student/Adaptive Planning modules). This role serves as the central coordinator for cross-functional teams, external implementation partners (Workday and Avaap [Implementation Partner]), and university stakeholders including HR, Finance, Student Success, IT, Registrar, Business Office, Financial Aid and Executive leadership.

The Project Manager will ensure the project is delivered on time, within budget, and aligned with university strategic goals, while navigating the unique complexities of higher education (e.g., shared governance, data governance, and academic processes). The Project Manager reports jointly to the CFO, CTO, and CIO.

The Project Manager may be asked to participate in additional University capital and enterprise projects where appropriate.

Job Duties & Responsibilities

* Lead all phases of the Workday implementation following Avaap's deployment methodology (Plan → Architect/Configure → Test → Deploy → Stabilization), including project initiation, scope definition, design, configuration, integration, data conversion, testing, training, cutover, and application support.

* Develop and maintain comprehensive project plans, including detailed schedules, resource allocation, milestones, dependencies, and critical path analysis.

* Manage project scope, budget, timeline, risks, issues, and quality; proactively identify and mitigate risks in a complex higher education environment.

* Serve as the primary point of contact and liaison between university stakeholders, Avaap, third-party vendors, and internal IT/functional teams.

* Facilitate project governance meetings (Steering Committee, Core Team, functional team leader meetings) and prepare executive-level status reports, dashboards, and presentations.

* Coordinate system configuration, business process design/redesign, data migration from legacy systems (Ellucian Banner), integrations (e.g., with student systems, payroll, benefits, third-party tools), and security setup.

* Drive change management, user adoption, and training strategies in collaboration with organizational change management resources.

* Ensure compliance with university policies, federal/state regulations (e.g., FERPA, HIPAA where applicable, grant compliance, GLBA, GDPR), and higher education best practices.

* Monitor and report on project health, including budget tracking, resource utilization, and deliverable quality.

* Support post-go-live stabilization, knowledge transfer, and transition to operational support/AMS (Application Managed Services).

* Perform other related duties as assigned

Knowledge, Skills, & Abilities

* Exceptional organizational and problem-solving abilities.

* Strong leadership presence and ability to manage conflict/resistance to change.

* Proficiency in Microsoft Office Suite, project management software, and collaboration tools.

* Ability to thrive in a fast-paced, deadline-driven environment with competing priorities.

* Supportive of the mission and values of Concordia University Wisconsin/Ann Arbor and the Lutheran Church Missouri Synod (LCMS)

Education & Experience

Required:

* Bachelor's degree in Business Administration, Information Technology, Project Management, or related field.

* 5-8+ years of progressive project management experience within ERP systems (HCM & Finance).

* Demonstrated experience managing ERP implementations (HCM and/or Finance; Student experience a strong plus).

* Proven track record leading large-scale, cross-functional projects with budgets exceeding $3-10M+.

* Strong knowledge of project management methodologies (e.g., Waterfall, Agile, hybrid) and tools (e.g., Microsoft Project, Jira, Smartsheet, Workday Project tools).

* Excellent communication, facilitation, and stakeholder management skills - able to influence without direct authority in a matrixed, shared-governance…