About the Role

We are looking for an experienced Global Data Migration Lead to take ownership of the end-to-end data migration strategy for a major Workday transformation programme.

This is a brownfield Workday environment rather than a new implementation, so the role will focus heavily on existing tenant data, legacy data quality, cleansing, mapping and migration into a redesigned Workday data model.

You will act as the key business-side migration lead, working closely with the implementation partner, Workday configuration teams and global HR stakeholders to ensure data is accurate, governed and ready for go-live.

Key Responsibilities

• Own the end-to-end Workday data migration strategy, roadmap and governance approach.
• Lead the assessment of existing and legacy HR data, including data cleansing, deduplication and remediation.
• Define the approach for historical data, determining what should be migrated, archived or retired.
• Act as the business owner and key challenger of the implementation partner’s migration and conversion strategy.
• Translate the new Workday data model and job architecture into clear legacy-to-target data mapping requirements.
• Work closely with design and configuration workstreams to ensure changes to the Workday architecture are reflected correctly within migration plans.
• Define and enforce data governance standards, including ownership, stewardship and ongoing maintenance of the new master data model after go-live.
• Assess the downstream impact of data model changes across the wider HR technology landscape, including payroll, benefits, integrations, Talent Acquisition and Talent Management systems.
• Own the migration testing strategy, including mock loads, reconciliation, validation cycles and sign-off criteria.
• Review and challenge migration execution and technical outputs without necessarily performing EIB loads directly.
• Lead data migration cutover planning, including sequencing, data freezes, dependencies, contingency planning and fallback scenarios.
• Ensure migrated data complies with GDPR and relevant local data privacy requirements.
• Identify, manage and escalate migration risks and blockers, working with programme leadership to drive resolution.

Skills & Experience

• Significant experience leading Workday data migration within complex, global transformation programmes.
• Strong experience working within brownfield Workday environments, ideally involving an existing tenant redesign or major data model transformation.
• Strong understanding of Workday HCM Core, Compensation, Absence and Recruiting data structures.
• Good working knowledge of EIBs, data loads and Workday conversion processes, with the ability to interrogate technical outputs and identify potential issues.
• Experience with legacy-to-target data mapping, data cleansing, deduplication and historical data strategies.
• Strong understanding of master data management and data governance principles.
• Experience designing and managing migration testing, reconciliation and validation processes.
• Strong understanding of HR technology dependencies, including integrations, payroll, benefits and talent systems.
• Experience managing complex cutover and go-live migration activities.
• Good knowledge of GDPR, data retention and international data privacy requirements.
• Strong stakeholder and vendor management skills, with the confidence to challenge implementation partners and technical teams.

The Ideal Candidate

You will combine strong Workday data knowledge with programme-level migration leadership. You do not need to be the person physically executing every EIB or data load, but you must understand Workday data and migration processes well enough to challenge technical teams, identify errors and ensure the migration approach is robust.

You will be comfortable working across business, HR, technical and implementation partner teams, taking accountability for ensuring the new Workday data model goes live with clean, accurate, compliant and well-governed data.