Workday Product Owner (f/m/d) in Köln

BERNER pushing the limits – for those who dare more Making a choice about your career and your employer is a choice about your future - a future where you will invest your passion and a large portion of your time, energy, and capacity. Are you a visionary Workday Product Owner ready to drive innovation and lead our company to new heights? We are looking for a dynamic and experienced professional to join our team and make a significant impact. Join our team and contribute to our success! Shape the future of HR technology at BERNER The BERNER Group has successfully implemented Workday across 21 countries and continues to expand the platform to support its global HR and digital transformation journey. Current modules include Core HCM, Basic and Advanced Compensation, Talent, Recruiting, Absence, Reporting and Prism with a long-term vision to establish Workday as the single global HR platform covering additional HR domains (eg. Time Tracking, Workforce Planning). As Workday Product Owner, you will be responsible for the overall strategy, governance, stability and continuous improvement of the global Workday platform especially in relation to existing and future HR processes and operating model. You will act as the bridge between HR, business stakeholders, IT and external partners, ensuring that Workday delivers business value while remaining scalable, compliant and user-friendly. This role owns the Workday roadmap, backlog, budget and service performance across the organization.

YOUR TASKS

• Own the global Workday strategy, roadmap, standardization and governance.
• Manage and prioritize the Workday backlog and demand pipeline.
• Coordinate testing, functional validation and release readiness, ensuring relevant owners approve business outcomes before deployment.
• Actively manage relationships with country HR operations and stabilize adoption, HR process efficiency and digitization.
• Jointly drive communication, user enablement and adoption, working with HR Business Partnering to incorporate local needs and user feedback.
• Actively manage relationships with key business stakeholders and counterparts, aligning priorities, managing expectations and driving decisions on the Workday roadmap.
• Ensure stable system operations, service quality and compliance.
• Translate functional requirements into scalable Workday solutions.
• Lead vendor relationships, licensing and external partners.
• Define priorities and investment decisions together with stakeholders.
• Drive adoption of new Workday functionality and releases.
• Monitor KPIs, risks, budget and overall platform performance.
• Coordinate cross-functional teams including Functional Analysts, Technical Analysts and Process Owners.
• Manage the team supporting Workday operation and configuration.

YOUR PROFILE

• Strong combination of professional HR background with deep Workday expertise, or alternatively, SAP SuccessFactors/ Oracle HCM Cloud expertise.
• 5+ years of experience with Workday, or alternatively, SAP SuccessFactors/ Oracle HCM Cloud in a global environment with practical exposure to HR processes.
• Deep understanding of end-to-end HR processes and international process standardization.
• Experience in product ownership, governance, service management or HRIS leadership.
• Ability to manage stakeholders across multiple countries and functions.
• Strategic mindset combined with hands‑on execution skills.
• Analytical thinking combined with a pragmatic, business‑oriented mindset.
• Experience working with external vendors and implementation partners.
• Fluent German and English language skills, both written and spoken.

WHY BERNER?

• Job bike leasing (JobRad)
• Commuting allowance
• Wellpass membership & corporate benefits
• Company pension scheme
• Opportunities for further training
• Technically modern equipped workplace
• Company restaurant in Künzelsau or meal vouchers in Cologne
• Attractive conditions for our products in the BERNER online shop

The BERNER Group is a European trading company serving professionals in the mobility, construction, and industrial sectors. We are the leading B2B specialist and an innovative manufacturer of chemical products. Our purpose is: “We are pushing the limits of the possible for the shapers of a better tomorrow.” With our strong brands - BERNER, BTI by BERNER, and CCS - we empower our customers to keep their businesses running successfully. Join our team and shape the future with us! The BERNER Group as employer, dare to differentiate ourselves and provide every employee the opportunity to and enable them to dare to be more. Together, we push our own limits and contribute to shape a better tomorrow. Making a choice about your career and your employer is a choice about your future - a future where you will invest your passion and a large portion of your time, energy, and capacity. For those who dare to go further in their job and put their whole experience into practice. For those who dare to challenge the status quo and speak up. For those who are brave enough to innovate their business and shift the ordinary to extraordinary. At BERNER, we understand the importance of building strong relationships and fostering a sense of connection. When you contact us, you’ll be given personalized assistance from start to finish. Our team will work directly with you to identify the types of jobs that fit your skills and experience, answer any questions or concerns you may have, and provide resources to help you navigate our career website and job posts. You may wish to include any relevant websites or your Linkedin profile as part of your application. In our company culture, questioning and disagreeing is rewarded. Every leader will take on the challenge! Important is to speak out about what makes us better. We don’t like standards, we love excellence. Whoever works for us wants to change and create something. And last but not least, we are a b.brave culture. Have the courage to disagree and challenge the status quo. Have the courage to dare to do something new, to develop yourself. Christian A. W. Berner, Chairman of the Executive Board & Chief Executive Officer (CEO) BERNER Group

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