Workday Communications Specialist

Please see Special Instructions for more details.

Job Summary

The Communications Specialist plays a critical role in the successful implementation of the Workday project which entails replacing our 30-year-old legacy system, Banner, with a cloud-based ERP , Workday, in the areas of Human Resources and Finance. This role is central to ensuring the successful adoption of Workday across the institution by leading the execution of a community wide communications plan for a multi-year enterprise transformation.

This position is joining Oberlin at a pivotal moment, helping shape how the institution transitions from a legacy ERP system to a modern platform that will support the College for decades to come.

This is a full-time, 1-year renewable position reporting to the Director of IT Project Management.

Responsibilities

Develop and manage the overarching project communication plan, aligned with key project milestones (discovery, architect, configure, test, deploy, etc.). Identify project stakeholders and develop targeted, audience-specific communication strategies for faculty, staff, and administrative units to support effective engagement and adoption. Collaborate with the Change & Adoption Manager to ensure communications support the broader organizational readiness goals.

Execute the project communication plan by writing, editing and designing a wide range of materials including campus-wide emails, newsletters, FAQ documents and website content. Ensure alignment with Oberlin's campus culture and the overall project strategy and messaging. Develop targeted, audience-specific communication strategies for faculty, staff, and administrative units to support effective engagement and adoption. Translate technical Workday terminology into language that resonates with the campus community.

Collaborate with the Change & Adoption Manager to develop training documentation, videos and course content. Align training with Workday business process changes and support the transition to standardized best-practice workflows.

Collaborate with the Change & Adoption Manager to manage training resources, assign online training, and deliver in-person training related to Workday and other CIT
-supported systems, technologies, services, and institutional initiatives as assigned.

Ensure training effectiveness through feedback loops, user assessments, and continuous refinement of materials.

Participate in project team meetings to stay up to date on project progress and business process changes that will impact end users. Work closely with the project team to identify potential risks to user acceptance. Partner with functional leads to ensure a positive change experience for end users. Contribute to project governance by identifying, tracking, and escalating change-related risks and ensuring alignment with project milestones and timelines.

Work with a group of “Workday Champions” across campus to understand a variety of perspectives across campus to guide communications.

Develop dashboards and reporting mechanisms to track engagement with communication & training resources.

• High levels of user adoption and engagement across campus
• Successful training completion and user readiness prior to go-live
• Minimal disruption during go-live and strong post-go-live stabilization
• Positive user experience and confidence in Workday
• Strong alignment and engagement with campus stakeholders and leadership

Required Qualifications

• Exceptional writing skills and creative outlook with strong attention to detail, editing, and tone
• Works independently and can provide high-quality solutions
• Ability to prioritize and perform multiple tasks in a dynamic and fast-paced team environment
• Creativity in building communication and trainings assets
• Ability to manage multiple projects concurrently while meeting deadlines
• Outstanding organizational and planning abilities
• Must be an effective team…