Workday Financials Senior Principal Consultant - Accounting Center & Prism

Job description

The Senior Principal Consultant will act as a strategic bridge between business and technical teams, leading complex Workday Financials engagements with a focus on Accounting Center and Prism Analytics. This role combines deep functional finance expertise with advanced data, reporting, and transformation capabilities to deliver scalable, data-driven accounting solutions.

You will guide clients through transformation, implementation, and operational phases, while shaping solution design, driving delivery strategy, and leading high-performing teams.

Key Responsibilities

- Act as a subject matter expert in Workday Financials, with deep specialization in Accounting Center and Prism Analytics.

- Lead the end-to-end design and delivery of Accounting Center solutions, including accounting rules, journal generation frameworks, and source data integration.

- Architect and oversee Prism Analytics data pipelines, datasets, and reporting solutions to support financial insights and decision-making.

- Drive solution design workshops, translating complex business and data requirements into scalable Workday configurations.

- Define and lead data strategy, including ingestion, transformation, reconciliation, and auditability of financial data.

- Provide strategic guidance to clients on data-driven accounting models and reporting transformation.

- Own and drive delivery across multiple workstreams, ensuring alignment between finance, data, and technical teams.

- Identify dependencies and manage integration between source systems, Accounting Center, and Prism Analytics.

- Act as a trusted advisor to senior client stakeholders, including Finance and IT leadership.

- Lead, mentor, and develop consultants and analysts, fostering both functional and technical capability growth.

- Oversee testing strategies, validation processes, and issue resolution to ensure high-quality deliverables.

- Take leadership roles such as Engagement Lead, Solution Architect, or Delivery Assurance Reviewer.

- Ensure adherence to organisational standards, delivery methodologies, and best practices.

- Support business development activities, including solution shaping and client proposals where required.

Skills & Requirements:

- Bachelor’s degree or equivalent experience.

- 8-12+ years of ERP consulting experience, with strong exposure to finance transformation and data-led solutions.

- 5+ years of Workday Financials implementation experience, including Accounting Center and/or Prism Analytics.

- Proven expertise in:

- Accounting Center design (accounting rules, journal processing, event-driven accounting)

- Prism Analytics (datasets, pipelines, reporting, and data modelling)

- Strong understanding of core finance processes, including general ledger, accounting, and financial reporting.

- Experience delivering data transformation and reporting solutions within ERP or SaaS environments.

- Experience integrating multiple source systems into financial platforms.

- Proven ability to lead complex, multi-workstream programmes and make tactical delivery decisions.

- Strong stakeholder engagement and communication skills, with experience working with senior business leaders.

- Proven leadership and mentoring experience within consulting teams.

- Minimal travel required, but must be willing to travel on‑site as needed

- Eligible for SC Clearance - you must have been a UK resident for the last five years and be legally entitled to work in the UK

#LI-Remote

Why choose Cognizant:

- Entrepreneurial environment that welcomes your ideas

- Opportunity to do great work

- Outreach programs that support communities and tap into your volunteer spirit

- Learning opportunities to help current needs and advancement

- Global operations, with opportunities in North America, Europe and Asia Pacific

- An abundance of Affinity groups to meet your needs

Cognizant Core Values:

- Work as One: We think beyond roles, relying on each other’s strengths to win as a team.

- Raise the Bar: We always aim for excellence in how we work and what we deliver.

- Dare to Innovate: We push boundaries and take chances to reimagine what’s possible.

- Do the Right Thing: We all lead with integrity and always make the ethical choice.

- Own It: We own the outcomes for our company, colleagues, and community.