Workday Solution Expert – Finance in Heidelberg

Job Summary

We have recently started an exciting ERP transformation programme and are replacing our existing HR, Finance and Procurement system landscape across all of our six sites with Workday.

We have gone live with Workday HCM (Human Capital Management) in 2025 and are now in the next phase of the transformation for Finance and Procurement.

By standardising and digitalising our tools and processes, we want to optimise our financial and procurement processes.

The Pan-EMBL Workday Solution Expert − Finance drives the development, improvement and adoption of products, tools and processes within the Finance department.

This role acts as the bridge between business needs and technical execution, ensuring that internal stakeholders have solutions that are efficient, scalable, and aligned with organisational goals.

The role acts as the central interface between the Finance business functions and the ERP implementation team, translating business requirements into effective, sustainable Workday solutions across all Finance areas.

The role requires collaborating with various departments and working with colleagues across six locations in five countries to ensure seamless integration and functionality of Workday finance systems.

Key Responsibilities

• Identify departmental needs and translate them into clear product requirements.
• Together with the department management, prioritise features and enhancements based on impact, feasibility and strategic alignment.
• Ensure alignment with organisational standards, compliance requirements and long‑term strategy.
• Collaborate closely with cross‑functional teams (e. g., OMT, ERP, data, leadership) to deliver high‑quality internal solutions.
• Manage product roadmaps, timelines and communication with stakeholders.
• Evaluate new Workday releases, assess their impact on Finance processes and coordinate adoption of new functionality where beneficial.
• Monitor product performance, gather feedback and drive continuous improvement.
• Responsible for day‑to‑day maintenance post implementation.
• Provide training and support to finance staff on system usage and best practices.
• Support and train the wider user community with the support of the stream leads in the respective areas: sourcing, supplier account, inventory and procurement.
• Collaborate with external implementation partners and vendors to ensure they comply with system requirements and address any issues.
• Document process and workflow changes, maintain process maps, training material and desk instructions, and ensure documentation remains up to date.
• Areas of Responsibility
• Financial Accounting and tax
• Budgets
• Banking and Settlement
• Customer Accounts
• Expenses
• Business Assets
• Projects and Project Billing
• Reporting
• Time tracking – (in collaboration with HR and Payroll), ensuring that Finance requirements relating to project costing, payroll accounting and financial reporting are appropriately supported.

Requirements

• Education: Bachelor’s degree in Information Technology, Business Administration, or a related field.
• Experience: Minimum three years' experience in Finance systems, ERP implementation, business process improvement (preferably within finance) or a similar role.
• Experience with Workday system.
• Other ERP systems an advantage.
• Experience in product management, project management or process optimisation.
• Project management skills (Smartsheet).
• Business process analysis and process mapping.
• Requirements gathering and documentation.
• Strong analytical and problem‑solving skills.
• Excellent communication and stakeholder‑management abilities.
• Ability to balance technical understanding with business priorities.
• Ability to draft documentation, training manuals.
• Ability to train and support staff.
• Being comfortable with an agile organisational approach by taking ownership of your work in a self‑organised and structured way.
• Strong problem‑solving skills with attention to detail.
• Strong team player, self‑starter and pro‑active.
• Being excited about working in an international, multicultural and diverse environment.
• Excellent communication and interpersonal skills.
• Fluency in spoken and written English.
• Ability to analyse, describe, present and review complex processes and suggest pragmatic solutions.
• Ability to challenge and question existing processes and suggest improvements.
• Proven ability to deal with multiple stakeholders.
• Flexibility, diplomacy and patience.
• Customer focused.
• Working Conditions
• Office environment with potential occasional travel for training and meetings.
• May require extended hours during peak periods.
• Hybrid working options depending on department protocols.
• Contract and Salary

Contract length: 3 years (renewable up to 9 in total).

Salary: Grade 5 or 6; monthly salary from 4.147,92 EUR or 4.713,20 EUR after tax, plus generous benefits and financial allowances based on individual circumstances.

Excluding 12.99% personal pension and insurance contributions.

Why join us

EMBL is curiosity-driven, community-oriented and international.

As an inclusive, equal opportunity employer, we believe that diversity enables us to collaborate more effectively and be innovative in our approaches.

We are, therefore, committed to creating an inclusive and flexible culture – one where everyone can realise their full potential and make a positive contribution to our organisation.

We encourage applications from individuals who can complement our existing team – we believe that success is built on having teams whose backgrounds and personal experiences reflect the diversity of the populations that our science serves.

We actively encourage applications from all genders and cultures, ethnic groups and all demographics to help us avoid perpetuating biases and oversights at this transformational point in our people strategy.

Benefits

• Financial incentives: Salary free of income tax, Monthly family, child and non‑resident allowances, annual salary review, pension scheme, death benefit, long‑term care, accident‑at‑work and unemployment insurances.
• Flexible working arrangements.
• Private medical insurance for you and your immediate family (including all prescriptions and generous dental & optical cover).
• Generous time off: 30 days annual leave per year, in addition to public holidays.
• Relocation package including installation grant (if applicable).
• Campus life: Free shuttle bus (Heidelberg), library, subsidised on‑site cafeteria, casual dress code, extensive sports and social club activities (on campus and remotely).
• Family benefits: Kindergarten (Heidelberg), 10 days of child sick leave, generous paid maternity/parental leave and monthly family & child allowances.
• Benefits for international newcomers: Visa exemption, education grant for private schooling, financial support to travel back to your home country every second year and a monthly non‑resident allowance.
• What else you need to know

International applicants: We recruit internationally and successful candidates are offered visa exemptions. Visit our International Applicants page to find out more.

EMBL is a signatory of DORA. Find out how we apply DORA principles to our recruitment and performance assessment processes.

Diversity and inclusion: At EMBL, we believe that diverse teams drive innovation and scientific excellence.

We encourage applications from candidates of all genders, identities, nationalities and/or any other diverse backgrounds.

Closing Date 31/10/2026.

Whether you're a scientist, IT specialist, accountant or administrator, you'll help us tackle the challenges of improving human health & biodiversity in the face of climate change on a global scale.

Please visit this page to find out more about the benefits at EMBL.

No problem.

Our special status enables us to hire talented individuals from across the globe.

So far we have 76 nationalities.

We would love to make it 77!

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