Director, Corporate Accounting

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 At Workday, we help the world’s largest organizations adapt to what’s next by bringing finance, HR, and planning into a single enterprise cloud. We work hard, and we’re serious about what we do. But we like to have fun, too. We put people first, celebrate diversity, drive innovation, and do good in the communities where we live and work. About the Role We are seeking an experienced, innovative, and transformation-minded Director of Corporate Accounting to join our Accounting leadership team. Reporting to the VP Controller, this role will be responsible for leading key corporate accounting functions, managing a team of direct reports, and helping shape the future of the controllership organization. The ideal candidate brings the technical depth, judgment, and operational discipline of a traditional Director, while also approaching the role with a forward-looking and improvement-oriented mindset. This person will be expected to maintain strong accounting execution, internal controls, and reporting discipline, while also identifying opportunities to modernize processes, improve efficiency, reduce manual work, and bring innovative ideas to the table. Responsibilities: Lead and oversee core corporate accounting functions, ensuring accurate, timely, and complete accounting results in accordance with U.S. GAAP, company policies, and internal control requirements. Manage month-end and quarter-end close activities, including review of journal entries, account reconciliations, fluctuation analyses, supporting schedules, and close deliverables. Oversee key operational accounting workflows, including technical revenue recognition (ASC 606), contract reviews, and deferred revenue reconciliations. Partner closely with the VP Controller and the other Directors of Corporate Accounting to ensure clear ownership, alignment, and coordination across the controllership organization. Manage, coach, and develop a team of senior accountants and analysts, fostering a culture of accountability, collaboration, continuous improvement, and professional growth. Evaluate existing accounting processes and procedures with a fresh perspective, identifying opportunities to simplify, automate, standardize, and improve efficiency. Drive process transformation initiatives that reduce manual effort, improve close timelines, strengthen controls, and enhance the quality and scalability of accounting operations. Partner cross-functionally with FP&A, Real Estate, Tax, Legal, Internal Control, Procurement, HR, Business Technology and other business stakeholders to support business initiatives and improve end-to-end workflows. Maintain and enhance internal controls, including SOX compliance activities, control documentation, audit support, and remediation of control gaps as needed. Support financial reporting requirements, including preparation and review of schedules, analyses, and documentation for internal reporting, external reporting, and audit purposes. Lead the team through finance transformation initiatives with strong communication, empathy, and change management skills, preserving institutional knowledge while guiding the function toward a more efficient future state. Identify and implement opportunities to leverage technology, automation, data, and reporting tools to improve accounting operations and decision-making. Ensure work is appropriately prioritized, documented, controlled, and aligned with broader Accounting and Finance goals. About You Required Qualifications: Bachelor’s degree in Accounting, Finance, or a related field required. 10+ years of progressive accounting experience, including significant corporate accounting leadership experience. Solid working knowledge of ASC 606 revenue recognition guidelines is required. Proven people leader with experience managing, coaching, and developing a team. Other Qualifications: Strong knowledge of U.S. GAAP and/or other relevant standards (IFRS), corporate accounting, financial reporting, account reconciliations, close processes, internal controls, and SOX requirements. Public company experience is strongly preferred, ideally within a large, complex, high-growth, technology, SaaS, or enterprise software environment. Practical experience with revenue accounting software or modules is a plus. Experience with ERP systems, accounting automation tools, reporting tools, and finance systems is highly preferred. Familiarity with Workday Financials or similar enterprise systems is a plus. Ability to understand complex accounting processes and identify practical opportunities to improve accuracy, efficiency, and scalability. Demonstrated ability to look beyond standard execution and identify ways to improve how work gets done. Proven success driving process improvements, automation, standardization, close acceleration, workflow redesign, or finance transformation initiatives. Must be comfortable challenging legacy processes respectfully, bringing new ideas forward, and balancing innovation with strong controls and operational discipline. Excellent verbal and written communication skills with the ability to clearly explain accounting matters, process changes, risks, and recommendations to finance leadership, business partners, auditors, and team members. Strong cross-functional collaboration skills and the ability to build trusted relationships across Accounting, Finance Systems, FP&A, Tax, Legal, Internal Audit, Procurement, HR, and other business teams. Able to influence without authority and drive alignment across stakeholders. Ability to lead a team through transition, establish trust quickly, and create a culture of accountability, inclusion, continuous improvement, and high performance. Strong prioritization, decision-making, and change management skills. Must be able to provide continuity for an established team while also setting a vision for process improvement and future-state operations. 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. 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 accommodations@workday.com , as far in advance as possible. Are you being referred to one of our roles? If so, ask your connection at Workday about our Employee Referral process! At Workday, we value our candidates’ privacy and data security. 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