Workday HRIS Lead Specialist

Workday HRIS Lead Specialist - Office Hybrid in Dublin, Ireland

ICON is a global healthcare intelligence and clinical research organisation united by a mission to bring new medicines and treatments to patients faster.

As a values-driven organisation, integrity, collaboration, agility, and inclusion are at the heart of how we work and interact with each other, customers, patients and suppliers.

As a HR Technology Lead at ICON, you will oversee the strategy, implementation, and optimization of HR technology solutions to support our organizational goals and enhance the employee experience.

What You Will Do:

You will manage day-to-day human resources activities, supporting your team to deliver quality outcomes.

Workday HRIS Operations & Governance

Act as escalation point for complex Workday L2/L3 cases across HCM, Recruiting, Compensation, Absence and Integrations

Manage direct escalations from Tier 1 analysts and HR/TA stakeholders on urgent or sensitive cases

Provide decisioning and risk management for high-impact issues affecting hiring, pay or executive populations

Oversee HRIS backlog prioritisation and recurring refinement forums

Ensure documentation and governance controls are in place

Functional Team Leadership & Configuration Direction

Provide day-to-day leadership and support to the functional HRIS team across HCM, Recruiting, Compensation and Absence

Act as first point of contact for complex functional or technical queries where analysts require confirmation or direction

Support the team in assessing requirements, options and impacts before configuration changes are made

Guide next steps on configuration for Change Requests (CRs) and project work, including tenant strategy (sandbox vs preview vs production)

Help shape and validate configuration approaches to ensure they align to global design, governance standards and downstream impacts

Remove blockers by advising on sequencing, dependencies, testing approach and stakeholder alignment

Supplier, Contract & SOW Management

Coordinate SOW preparation, internal approvals and VP signature routing via DocuSign

Liaise with Procurement and Legal to ensure commercial and contractual compliance

Maintain oversight of active AMS and project SOWs

Release Management

release impact assessment

change gating/evidence

deployment coordination

post-release stabilization

Annual Process Governance & Traceability

Responsible for BAU delivery (e.g. performance review, compensation cycles and benefit enrollment events)

Workday security/data reviews & access governance

Working with cross functional teams to ensure all security related requirements are fully analysed and appropriate checks and balances applied.

Facilitating weekly team and quarterly SLT governance forums.

Your Profile:

You will have solid human resources experience , with the ability to manage competing priorities and develop your team.

Required qualifications and experience:

Bachelor's degree in information systems , human resources, business administration, or a related field, or equivalent experience.

Extensive experience in HR technology management , including implementation and oversight of major HR platforms e.g., Workday, SAP, Oracle.

Strong strategic thinking skills with a proven ability to align technology with business goals.

Excellent communication and leadership abilities, with experience managing teams and cross-functional projects.

A commitment to continuous improvement, innovation, and delivering a high-quality employee experience through technology.

Willingness to travel as required (approximately 5%)

#LI-MK2

#LI-Hybrid

Employment with ICON is contingent upon having the legal right to work in the country where the role is based.

Rewards & Benefits

ICON offers a competitive and comprehensive total rewards package designed to support your health, wellbeing, and career development.

Benefits may include:

Competitive base salary and performance related incentives

Health and wellbeing programmes including medical, dental, and vision coverage where applicable

Retirement and pension plans

Life assurance and disability coverage

Employee assistance programmes and wellbeing resources

Learning and development opportunities through structured training and career pathways

Benefits may vary depending on role and location.

Visit our careers site to about the benefits ICON offers.

Inclusion and Accessibility

If you require reasonable accommodations during the recruitment process, please let us know or submit a request .

Are you a current ICON Employee?