Director of Strategic Initiatives - (US Federal)

Location: USA.VA.Reston

Your work days are brighter here.

We’re obsessed with making hard work pay off, for our people, our customers, and the world around us. As a Fortune 500 company and a leading AI platform for managing people, money, and agents, we’re shaping the future of work so teams can reach their potential and focus on what matters most. The minute you join, you’ll feel it. Not just in the products we build, but in how we show up for each other. Our culture is rooted in integrity, empathy, and shared enthusiasm.

We’re in this together, tackling big challenges with bold ideas and genuine care. We look for curious minds and courageous collaborators who bring sun-drenched optimism and drive. Whether you're building smarter solutions, supporting customers, or creating a space where everyone belongs, you’ll do meaningful work with Workmates who’ve got your back. In return, we’ll give you the trust to take risks, the tools to grow, the skills to develop and the support of a company invested in you for the long haul.

So, if you want to inspire a brighter work day for everyone, including yourself, you’ve found a match in Workday, and we hope to be a match for you too.

About the Team

Workday's General Manager for Government is seeking an experienced leader to serve as Director of Strategic Initiatives. This role will drive critical initiatives, ensure operational excellence, and strengthen communication both within Workday and with our Federal customer base.

About the Role

This role will support one or more direct or indirect contracts with the U.S. Federal Government which, due to federal government security requirements, mandates that all Workday personnel working on the contracts be United States citizens (naturalized or native).

Strategic Thinking & Communications

Act as a primary point of coordination with Workday Parent, Customers, Customer Success, and Implementation teams to ensure Federal-specific commitments, risks, and dependencies are visible and well-managed throughout the customer lifecycle.

Partner closely with Engineering and Technical Product leadership to ensure Federal compliance, security, and mission requirements are reflected early in technical roadmap and architecture decisions.

Define and communicate the strategic direction of Workday's Government industry initiatives for Federal.

Serve as the customer advocate within Workday's product organizations, engaging directly with customers to help shape future growth priorities.

Partner with Federal Product & Compliance and Industry Strategy teams to serve as the Federal subject-matter authority — supporting sales, planning and operating Federal industry-specific customer advisory councils, and supporting analyst relations.

Long-Range Planning & Execution

• Own budget planning and tracking for Federal strategic initiatives — partnering with Finance and the GM to build the annual budget, monitor spend against plan, and reallocate resources as priorities shift.
• Advise on and co-define Federal growth initiatives through strategic planning forums and financial reviews.
• Respond to shifting market dynamics by developing alternate strategic options for the Federal team.
• Support Product Lifecycle governance for Federal-specific capabilities — from intake and prioritization through GA and sunset — ensuring compliance, security, and customer requirements are embedded at each stage.
• Partner with Workday's Partner organization to ensure Federal partners (systems integrators, resellers, and implementation partners) are aligned on strategy, enablement, and delivery expectations.
• Own portfolio-level visibility across Federal strategic initiatives: prioritizing investments, tracking execution against milestones, and reporting status and risk to GM and senior leadership.
• Coordinate and run key meetings across the Federal Industry vertical, including staff meetings, stand-ups, leadership offsites, and town halls.
• Establish and own the internal communications strategy for the Product team and Government vertical — across Workday and with external partners.
• Build and nurture relationships with senior leaders across Engineering, Technical Product Management, Product & Technology, Product Delivery, Customer Experience, Marketing, and Sales to align on shared business objectives.

About You

We're looking for someone who consistently delivers results on schedule with a strong focus on customer satisfaction. You're a great communicator who can inspire and motivate a team around a shared vision, and a thoughtful leader with experience building strong, collaborative matrixed teams. You have excellent cross-functional leadership skills and know how to partner effectively across an organization — including with Engineering and Technical Product teams, Customer Success, Implementation, and external Partners — to build alignment and support behind government product roadmaps. Just as important: you're someone people genuinely enjoy working with and respect as a leader.

Basic Qualifications

• 10+ years of proven success in a strategic, operational, or enablement capacity
• Experience with large scale cloud SaaS product, engineering, compliance and platform teams.
• Deep understanding of product lifecycle, security and infrastructure platforms.
• Bachelor's degree or higher required

Other Qualifications

• Demonstrated experience working directly with customers, Customer Success, Implementation teams, and external partners to manage delivery commitments and resolve cross-functional issues
• Proven ability to bring products to market on time with high customer satisfaction
• Experience owning or supporting budget planning and financial tracking for a business unit, program, or initiative portfolio
• Thoughtful people leader with a track record of building strong, cohesive matrixed teams
• Strong cross-functional leadership skills, with the ability to listen and partner across organizations to drive alignment on Government product roadmaps
• Experience partnering with Engineering and Technical Product organizations on product lifecycle management and portfolio prioritization, ideally within a regulated or Federal/Government context

Workday Pay Transparency Statement

The annualized base salary ranges for the primary location and any additional locations are listed below. Workday pay ranges vary based on work location. As a part of the total compensation package, this role may be eligible for the Workday Bonus Plan or a role-specific commission/bonus, as well as annual refresh stock grants. Recruiters can share more detail during the hiring process. Each candidate’s compensation offer will be based on multiple factors including, but not limited to, geography, experience, skills, job duties, and business need, among other things. For more information regarding Workday’s comprehensive benefits, please click here.

Primary Location: USA.VA.Reston

Primary Location Base Pay Range: $193,400 USD - $290,200 USD

Additional US Location(s) Base Pay Range: $175,000 USD - $310,900 USD

Our Approach to Flexible Work

With Flex Work, we’re combining the best of both worlds: in-person time and remote. Our approach enables our teams to deepen connections, maintain a strong community, and do their best work. We know that flexibility can take shape in many ways, so rather than a number of required days in-office each week, we simply spend at least half (50%) of our time each quarter in the office or in the field with our customers, prospects, and partners (depending on role).

This means you'll have the freedom to create a flexible schedule that caters to your business, team, and personal needs, while being intentional to make the most of time spent together. Those in our remote "home office" roles also have the opportunity to come together in our offices for important moments that matter.

Pursuant to applicable Fair Chance law, Workday will consider for employment qualified applicants with arrest and conviction records.

Workday is an Equal Opportunity Employer including individuals with disabilities and protected veterans.

Workday is committed to providing reasonable accommodations for qualified individuals during our application process, in order to perform one or more essential functions of their job, as well as regarding the use of AI tools for employment decision-making to any degree. Please see below for more details including how to request an accommodation as a qualified veteran, due to a disability or for religious reasons, or as otherwise provided under applicable law.

Workday prohibits taking adverse action against any candidate or employee for reporting a possible violation of this policy, requesting one or more work accommodations, exercising a privacy right, or cooperating in an investigation in accordance with applicable law. Any employee who retaliates against a candidate or employee for doing so may be subject to disciplinary action, up to and including termination of employment, to the fullest extent allowable under applicable law.

If you require a reasonable accommodation, you may email [email protected], as far in advance as possible.

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Additional Locations: USA, VA, Remote, USA, CA, Pleasanton